Restaurant Review: El Salto

When we arrive at El Salto (No. 2, 8816 Waltham Woods Rd, 410-668-3980) on a rainy Wednesday evening around 7 p.m., it's packed. A few parties are waiting ahead of us, but we get seated within 10 minutes of arriving. It's not my first visit, but it is a first for my dining companions. We receive chips and salsa directly after we are seated. The salsa comes in a carafe and you can pour it into the dish as needed. My dining companion thinks the salsa tastes like plain tomato sauce, equating it to Hunt’s ketchup.

We order margaritas on the rocks with salt ($5.25) and a bottle of Pacifico beer ($3.75) to start. For appetizers, we order stuffed jalapenos ($3.95) and cheese dip ($2.75). We choose entrees chilaquiles Mexicanos ($7.95), el pescador ($10.25) and the # 24 combination of one burrito, one enchilada and one chile relleno ($7.95) as our entrees.

The cheese dip comes out first, and the dish consists of a small bowl of very pale yellow, almost white, cheese sauce that seems mild at first bite, but does have some minced jalapenos to provide a bit of heat on the back of the palate.  

Next comes the stuffed jalapeno appetizer. This is four heavily breaded jalapenos stuffed with cheddar cheese on a plate with shredded lettuce and tomato. Upon inspection, the jalapenos seem to be only half of a pepper, and the breading is so heavy that it obscures the pepper's spiciness.

The chilaquiles Mexicanos is a traditional Mexican dish that combines chicken, cheese, tortilla chips and a special sauce and is baked, casserole-style, to produce a mix of flavors guaranteed to satisfy. The tortilla chips get soft and infused with the cheese and the sauce, almost like enchiladas. The dish covers half the plate, with the other half covered with rice and a salad of guacamole, shredded lettuce and tomatoes.

El pescador is three soft tacos filled with flounder that has been lightly breaded and fried and crumbled into soft taco shells with shredded lettuce. It's served with rice, refried beans, pico de gallo and a special sauce. The pico de gallo is wonderful, with fresh jalapenos, tomatoes, onions and cilantro coarsely chopped and tossed.

The special sauce is an adobo or ranchero-style sauce, smoky and creamy and a little spicy with chipotle peppers. The fish tacos are best with a generous dose of the pico de gallo and special sauce, giving the best combination of smoky and spicy and crunchy and savory.

The combination platter is an enchilada, a burrito and a chile relleno on a plate smothered in a tomato-based enchilada-style sauce and melted cheese. The combo is piping hot from the kitchen,  and well-seasoned with a good amount of cheese. The burrito somehow manages to avoid the sogginess that can ruin the dish sometimes, but the entire platter could have benefitted from sour cream. The chile relleno is huge, taking up almost half the plate, and gets spicier from the tip to the base of the poblano pepper, which is filled with cheese, battered and fried and topped with the tomato sauce. Delicious!

The menu is extensive, with plenty of traditional Mexican fare: enchiladas, burritos, tacos, nachos and quesadillas. The service is quick, even when the restaurant is packed. As for the food: The entrees are delicious, while the appetizers seem to suffer as an afterthought.

Stick with the entrees at El Salto and you won’t be disappointed!