Tukan Restaurant

Great service! Love the food feels like home! I love that have many options my son is picky eater. Only bad thing is horchata tastes water down. The owners are sweet every time we go.

I’ve been here twice now and love the food. I haven’t tried their tex-​mex food, but I observed a lot of people ordering it, so I assume it’s good. I opted for the El Salvadorean fare, as it’s harder to find in this area. I’ve ordered the carne asado, the chicken tamales, several types of pupusa (I recommend the cheese and loroco ones!), fried plantains, and their fried cassava. Food is served with several types of homemade hot sauces as well as the standard Salvadorean curtido, or spicy fermented cabbage relish.
The lady who works there is wonderful and always super friendly to me. I get a great positive feel from everyone there, which makes the place more than just business as usual.
The décor is very basic and utilitarian, more of a diner cafeteria-​style than fancy restaurant, but it’s always been clean and well-​maintained, including the bathrooms located downstairs.

Food was delicious and the service fun, friendly and helpful. The décor may need an upgrade but it reminded me of some Spanish restaurants we visited when driving through the US. Don’t let appearances turn you away! we will be back and are already telling our friends to go check it out.

OK — this is a hard one to review — I want to give them a 4 star, because I really enjoyed my lunch! I’d do a 3.5 if Unilocal would let me. (Been a while since I said that.)
The woman who greeted and served us was wonderful — she was happy to explain what everything was, and what to think about ordering for Salvadorian food, and what goes with what. She made us feel very welcome.
The food was simple and wonderful. I enjoyed everything I tried — the fish tacos, the tamale, the thing that looked like a large perogie and the flat pupusas (Yes, I should have paid more attention to the names, but I was having an in-​depth conversation with a friend!)
The décor was aged, the tables and chairs simple. Nothing glamorous or trendy — and yet, I did decide I liked it. Fake stone flooring, simple furniture. It suited the food in many ways. If décor and trendiness matter more to you than anything else, don’t go here.
So even though I’ve given them a 3 star (still a great rating) if you want to try Salvadorian food (not something you find a lot of in Ottawa — or anywhere I’ve lived), check them out. Much of the food is good for sharing with friends. (For example, the fish tacos come in 4s, so split that and some of the appetizers for a great meal.)
Now the really telling part of the review:
Would I return: Yes. I definitely will return. Food was different, tasty and enjoyable and the waitress (likely the owner) was wonderful.
Would I recommend: Yes. If we have out-​of-​town guests that like trying new foods we’ll show up here. Also, will direct co-​workers here.

This is the second time my family has eaten at this lovely establishment. The atmosphere is extremely child friendly. Wonderful service from the waitress whom I’m assuming was also the owner.
The beans, rice and salad were mediocre — I wouldn’t write home about them. The salad was over dressed and not exciting. Beans I’m assuming are from a can.
The chimichanga was fantastic. I had the beef chimichanga and expected ground beef — it was a nice quality pull apart beef. Nicely cooked. Cheese and peppers inside were also nice.
The pupusas were delicious. I liked that the toppings were served separately so you could dress them yourself. They brought them out one at a time so they were very fresh.
We also got two pitchers of tamarindo for the table which was delicious and felt very homey.
I will consider going again if we are in town. It was moderately expensive for the number of people we had with us.

Food was kind of cold-​ish.
Wasn’t the best food I’ve had, though this was my first time eating this type of food.
Service was good though.

I’m giving this place 4 stars based on the fact that I already know and like Salvadoran food. If you are unsure, be prepared to start slow. Go in for a snack of pupusas and a beverage. See how you like them and then come back for a full lunch or dinner if you do. Salvadoran entrees tend to be some kind of grilled meat or fish, a scoop of flavoured rice, a scoop of refried beans, and a little green salad — not incredibly saucy, fancy or spicy. However, there should be some red and green salsas on the table. The red salsa is mild. The green is very hot. Also, there will be curtido, the pickled coleslaw that Steph mentions. The idea is to layer the hot pupusa with both the red sauce and the curtido.
The tucan is not fancy at all. Central American satellite tv plays over the bar. Service is very attentive and friendly.
The neighbourhood is classic Vanier: payday loans, massage parlours, head shops and lots of small restaurants with food from different cultures. You might consider a visit to the giant bingo hall across the street afterwards :)
I liked it all very much but found the prices a little high. ($ 15 entrees, pupusas around $ 3.00 each) But maybe it is because I am used to paying so little for the same food in El Salvador.

I went for lunch and we were the only people in the restaurant. This is normally not a good sign, but thankfully in this case it was misleading.
We only ordered from the Salvadorean part of the menu and I will definitely be back for more. We got two dishes that I had tried before and so I am able to offer a comparison. Both the pupusa and the platano frito, were the best I had ever had, cooked perfectly with excellent flavour. The other dishes we got were pasteles and Yuca Con Chicharron. I have never had those before so I an only offer my impressions of the dish. The pasteles were fairly bland and doughy, a bit like a fried samosa without the spices. The Yuca Con Chicharron had fried yuca spears, pork and coleslaw. Sounds weird but together it was excellent. The pork is fried in such a way that it is very dry with zero moisture however I got the impression that it was meant to be like that and it worked with the overall dish.
The atmosphere was kind of latin american kitsch but it fit and they bring you containers of coleslaw and hot sauce to dress up your dishes. The waitress was incredibly nice and knowledgeable.
I certainly recommend a visit as it would be a shame to lose such a wonderful spot.

El Tucan is a sit-​down, Salvadorian restaurant located in Vanier. Their menu changed not too long ago, and they now offer Tex-​Mex, Salvadorian and «Canadian» food. They offer a full bar and lots of non-​alcoholic drink options. The menu is diverse enough that it can accommodate vegetarians.
The Salvadorian food is great. They offer the best pupusas in the city. For those of you who have never tried a pupusas, they are a traditional dish consisting of corn tortillas with a meat, vegetable or dairy filling, that are pan fried. They are typically served with curtido, a coleslaw with chilles and salsa. Pupusas are about 3 – 4 $ each and are quite filling! They also offer pasteles Salvadorian style, fried plantains, tamales, and many Salvadorian deserts. El Tucan has jumped on the poutine train and now offer yuca poutine, a Salvadorian spin on a Québécois dish. It’s made with yuca, gravy and cheese. Unfortunately, they use grated cheese which is a bit of a bummer.
I’m going to be frank here; I suspect El Tucan has expanded their menu in hopes to attract a larger clientèle. I wouldn’t go to a Salvadorian restaurant to have a club sandwich. Ottawa already offers delicious cantina style Mexican food. El Tucan should stick to Salvadorian dishes. It’s a Vanier gem that I suspect is being under appreciated.