Customer reviews
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- Best Mexican on Oahu-- Hands Down!by Kevo (1 review)Hot homemade salsa, hole in the wall atmosphere. I eat here all the time and its never crowded. The staff is always warm and friendly. Great place to take a date for quiet conversation, but I don't feel bad taking my rambuctious 6 year old boy either. Personal Favorites- Alambrados and Torte. Only negative thing I can say is they don't have carnitas, but no carnitas is better than bad carnitas right? Haven't tried the shrimp, but pork, steak and chicken are all awesome
- When I'm eating here, I feel as if I'm right back home in Texas eating my mom's home cooking! Obviously, nothing beats mom's home cooking but El Palenque comes close.Seating is limited due to the restaurants tight space. Parking is right next to the building.
- I've been dying for good Mexican food since I moved here and this definitely satisfies my cravings! If you're looking for fine dining, go somewhere else! El Palenque is meant for those seeking a homestyle authentic Mexican cooking and atmosphere.
- Yes, a hole in the wall type place, but they have GREAT authentic Mexican food! The menudo and the huevos con chorizo tastes just like my grandma's. This place makes me feel like I'm home again :)
- This is the best Mexican food I have found so far in Hawaii. Specifically Oahu. Always delicious and spot on. None of this weird Hawaiian style salsa, or other surprises, just plain delicious Mexican food. I've had their chicken quesadilla and their pollo ranchero which both came with guacamole, salsa, beans and rice. Their guacamole is SO good, that I've officially made it my new favorite (which is helpful since my old favorite is in Monterey, CA). So don't be afraid of the way the outside looks, just go on in or order ahead of time and enjoy the taste of El Palenque!
- I am not going to lie... I live in Wahiawa and from the outside this place looks kind of scary. The hours of operation are listed right on the door in those gold foil stickers that people use on their mailbox. But I decided to try it since I love mexican food and I'd read some pretty good reviews.
On the inside, the restaurant is just as small but not as scary as it looks from the outside. I think there's maybe 6 tables tops. We were helped right away and the waitress was friendly. It took some time for us to decide what we wanted and in the meantime we were served salsa and chips. The salsa was very different from other places... it had a smoky kind of flavor, wasn't chunky, and boy was it hot (but i like it hot). It was pretty addicting because I couldn't stop eating it.
I couldn't decide what kind of enchilada I wanted so I got the mixed enchilada plate. It came w/3 different types of enchilada and it was good. I didn't really care for the mole, but i've never been a big fan of the sweet sauce anyway. It also came with beans and rice which tasted pretty good to me.
The other half ordered the steak fajitas. He really liked it and i tasted the guacamole that came with it... SOOOOOOO gooooood! I think I could devour a whole order of that guacamole and then some, that's how good it was. oooooh... just thinking about makes me want to eat some right now. - Great hole in the wall spot, the most 'authentic' mexican so far, altho that comes from a socal girl who is used to San Diego mexican food. Will expand more on the review as I try more of their dishes, but so far the enchiladas were great, their mole sauce is sweet and spicy, and their corn tortillas are pretty much to die for.
It's definitely worth the trek to wahiawa to try this place out. Do it, soon, you won't be disappointed.
Oh yeah, the salsa served with the chips is nice and spicy, just the way it should be.
Also, it's BYOB. - I FINALLY made it to this place. This place has been highly recommended to me from a lot of my Mexican friends who have come in from California to do work as well as my ex-neighbor, who is from Mexico.
Now, if my neighbors (from Guadalajara, originally) tell me that this is a good place to go, I trust them. I grew up with the sound of Mexican folk music being played every day, with real tortillas and tamales, posole and menudo eaten in my home (and theirs) on a regular basis. I know how good queso fresco and corn tortillas taste together, Ceviche? I can eat it for days on end. Saimin with tapatio y lime? I could go on....
I've been wanting to try this place for a while, but I never got up there, that is until yesterday.
We stopped into the restaurant on a friend's suggestion. I'm glad I finally made it into this place. It's very hole-in-the-wall, and home-style. The music plays in the background, just like it used to when I was a kid. It was just like coming home to my house years ago. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I came here.
The group ordered a bunch of dishes. I tried the Ceviche. Yum! This one was made out of shrimp, which is a little different than the recipe that I use of white fish. OMG. Grinds! It's not a small portion that was served either, like you get as an appetizer in a fancy restaurant. I probably could have eaten the whole plate by myself, but I restrained.
I also ordered the tamale plate. You know how much love goes into cooking when you order a tamale. These tamales were very very good. The masa was flavorful (not tasteless when you don't use traditional methods) and the meat was flavored and had a little kick in it!
The salsa they served at the table was a monster. It was hot! I'm not used to hot, but there are members of my family who like it, and are always on their lookout for hot, flavorable salsa, and this was!
The small size of the restaurant was also great. Since we were here on a Saturday, it wasn't too busy, but it soon filled up with people. I like the size. Just enough to keep people who can't deal with the quaintness of the restaurant out.
A lot of people complain about the parking. There is parking, you just need to know where to look. There is a municipal parking lot across the street between the florist and the mini-mart store.
I'm so going back. This is one of those places I am DEFINITELY going back to! It's almost like going home!