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| - This one is really hard.
Based on other Yelp reviews, I went to Eliana's to pick up lunch last week. It's close to my work, and it sounded like such a nice departure from my usual lunchtime rounds. This past weekend, my boyfriend and I went to dinner there, because I thought it deserved a second try. I'll tell you a little about both experiences.
After perusing all of the (mostly) helpful and honest reviews here, I really psyched myself out about giving it a try and just HAD to go there for takeout that VERY SAME DAY - I'm not a delayed gratification kind of person, despite my best efforts. I ended up at the restaurant at around 11:00, and it was empty. The lady behind the counter seemed a little frosty at first, but then she started in with calling me "mija," and I was a goner. I'm not sure why, but some little, older lady calling me a term of motherly endearment always softens me right up.
I ordered the Pollo Encebollado, described in the menu only as "chicken with onions." Hm. Well, I like chicken, and I like onions...so...that sounded pretty good! I was imagining something akin to an El Salvadorian fajita. As I picked up my order and drove back to work to enjoy it at my desk, visions of chunks of seasoned chicken and sauteed onions danced through my head. I settled down at my desk, took a deep breath, opened the nicely wrapped Styrofoam container, and...chicken on the bone? What? Who said anything about chicken on the bone? With some reddish, tomatoey-looking sauce? What is this? Where are the delicious, unauthentic strips of white meat chicken? The browned onions, all oily and slippery? THIS ISN'T FAJITAS!
Well, no. It isn't fajitas...fajitas are somewhere else on the menu. This is Pollo Encebollado, and I didn't know what I was ordering. Pollo Encebollado, at Eliana's, is two drumsticks covered in a flavorful, tomato-based sauce, paired with a few cooked onion slices. The meal includes rice, beans, and tortillas, but I went for double rice, which is kind of yellow in color and studded with chopped carrots and onions. The tortillas are like fat little pancakes that taste like tortillas, if that's not a completely ignorant description.
I don't generally eat chicken on the bone, but, hey. I ordered it, I was really wanting to try it, so I broke a personal rule and dove in. While it wasn't quite what I had imagined, I liked it well enough and was able to finish it.
I wasn't sure what to think. I wasn't too into it...definitely not enough to order that same thing again, but I didn't want to write Eliana's off completely, based merely on some weird, prissy, arbitrary issue I have with chicken on the bone.
I told my boyfriend about the restaurant, and suggested that we go try it out together. He had actually heard of it before from a Salvadorian coworker who raves about it frequently.
We went on a Friday evening at around 5:00...the restaurant was, again, nearly empty. A very friendly man seated us and took our drink orders.
I first tried the Orchata, which was very different from the Mexican variety I'm sure most of us are familiar with. It was actually a milky brown in color, rather than white...it looked, to me, like a glass of chocolate milk. The color, I found out later, comes from the addition of an ingredient called Morrow Seed. It also tastes a little different, in a way that is hard to explain...I'd also probably chalk that up to the Morrow Seed.
For our entrees, my boyfriend had the Chile Relleno, and I ordered the Arroz a la Valenciana...mostly because it is painted on the outside of the restaurant, and seems to be their "hallmark" dish.
Note: before your order arrives, you receive a salty little cup of chicken soup. I wasn't too into the soup itself, but I was oddly touched by the effort to add a little something extra and a little something nice to the dining experience. Maybe I'm a sappy weirdo. Well, not maybe, I definitely am, but between the "mija"s and the cute little soups, I felt very charmed by the man and woman working there, and really, really wanted to enjoy my food so I could write a big, long review on Yelp about how wonderful their restaurant is.
Neither my boyfriend or I really enjoyed either of our dishes. My dish was served cold, which I wasn't expecting, and seemed very flavorless to me...other than the unusual taste of bananas I seemed to pick up from the rice. The man helping us suggested that I pour the bean substance on my dish to "create a new flavor." I thought this was also a really cute thing to say, but, unfortunately, I followed his advice and did not enjoy the "new flavor" I created. All in all, I enjoyed the Arroz a la Valenciana much less than the Pollo Encebollado.
Annnnd I'm out of characters. If you want to hear about the Chile Relleno or the Ensalada beverage, message me!
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