669 Fennell Ave. E., Hamilton

905-385-7420

The look: Modest but bright.

The feel: Informal.

What you'll pay: Soups like oxtail with corn, carrots and zucchini are $6.25, corn tortillas with pork are $1.75 and tamal de pollo, chicken wrapped in corn flour dough, then boiled in a banana leaf, is $1.99. Tacos with beef or chicken are $6.25, fajitas with steak or chicken are $7.45, burritos are $7.25 and quesadillas $6.95. The grilled steak dinner with rice, refried beans, salad, tomato sauce and corn tortillas is $12.99.

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday to Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible.

I was feeling a bit "dundo," Salvadoran slang for dumb, as I contemplated the sea bass platter.

The good-sized pan-fried fish was nicely crisped but the rice and salad components were plain, no sauces or dressings evident.

I contemplated the slices of lime and hot sauce, not understanding that the custom in El Salvador is to use a simple combination of lime and salt on most food.

So when in El Salvador restaurant, which just celebrated its first year on Fennell Avenue East, you follow the custom.

On my second visit I amply doused my hen soup with lime juice and a bit of salt and, voila, it was transformed.

But back to the sea bass platter ($12.99). The fish came with head on, bones in and lots of tender moist flesh.

It, too, benefitted from the lime application and the bones stayed behind as the chunks of bass were lifted away.

The small salad of tomato, cucumber and lettuce was fresh but plain and no dressings were offered, though some were available. The rice was moist, fluffy and, again, plain.

The dinner also came with two thick and hot corn tortillas that were fresh but neutral in taste.

But in terms of quality, spicing aside, the fish dinner was quite good for the price.

Other diners on this Saturday night visit were Spanish-speaking, as owner Ana Maria Escobar has created a home away from home for Hamilton's Latinos. The coffee- and light-green walls bear bright and vivid art of Latin American scenes.

On a second visit for lunch, I mused over the soup list, passing on hoof with tendon and tripe as a bit too adventurous and settled on the hen soup ($4.99).

It was different, with a chunk of wing and body sitting in the middle of the big bowl with skin on. At least, I reckoned, you didn't have to wonder if the soup had a passing acquaintance with fowl. Clearly it was intimate.

And the broth with massive wheels of carrot and chunks of yucca and chayote, a zucchini-like vegetable, had a strong chicken flavour with the piece of hen giving up some big chunks of flesh.

I followed that with fried yucca ($4.95) another unusual presentation by Canadian standards.

The humble root veg was a surprise, the browned chunks easily mistaken for roast potatoes and therefore quite nice.

There were five large pieces at the bottom of a bowl with a kind of cole slaw, light tomato sauce and chunks of pan-fried ham scattered over top. A corn tortilla came with this, too.

Only the ham pieces failed to impress as they were mostly tough. The other components, though a seemingly odd combination, worked OK for these tastes.

I finished with a tres leche cake ($3.95) , a squat chunk of plain cake that had soaked in a combination of condensed, evaporated and regular milk.

Service was quick and friendly, though some explanation of the spicing would have been helpful on that first visit.

The food, though different, was generally good and the atmosphere, with lively Latin music at medium pitch, had a certain buzz.

jkernaghan@thespec.com 905-526-3422