RESTAURANT REVIEW / EL CONKISTADOR : Sensual Meal : Although not much to look at, the place is filled with sounds, smells and tasty Salvadoran snacks.

“Great pupusas in this place over on 5th Street,” exclaimed my friend, who lives in Oxnard on very little money but who likes good food, especially if it’s exotic.

“ Pupusas? “ I mumbled. It sounds almost obscene, or at least sensual. But since the feel, taste, aroma and the texture of food are a large part of the enjoyment we get in eating, and since sensuality takes in all of these, I could hardly wait to find out about pupusas .

Los Angeles, I understand, is full of restaurants and food stands that sell these hot, tasty snacks which are a staple in El Salvador. As far as I know, the only place in Ventura County where you can even get pupusas is at El Conkistador Restaurant, which bills itself as a restaurant specializing in both Mexican and Salvadoran foods.

The restaurant, run by Jose Losa, is a very plain storefront, half a block off Oxnard’s main thoroughfare, in the midst of the town’s Latino community. Perhaps a third of the menu is typical Salvadoran dishes.

Three of the nine dishes are pupusas , made on the premises, by cooks who take a thick ball of fresh cornmeal, shape it into a pocket-like form, stuff it with Monterey jack cheese, ground pork (called chicharron at El Conkistador) or a combination of the two, and cook it on the grill.

It’s not a taco, since the cornmeal completely surrounds the filling; it’s more like a turnover or an empanada. The way you eat pupusas to best advantage seems to be to cover them with a side dish of marinated cabbage, somewhat like a slaw, with onions and carrots, but especially crispy and slightly spicy.

El Conkistador is not a spot one would pick for fine dining. It’s not even plain enough to give it reverse snob appeal. One simply comes here to eat Mexican or, in my case, Salvadoran food. And to yell at one another over the surrounding noise.

Some of the din comes from a couple of arcade machines in the corner. More of it comes from the television. Then there’s the radio. And let’s not forget the kids screaming, back in the kitchen.

If you’re trying out the Salvadoran cuisine, besides pupusas there’s the yuca con chicharron , hunks of well-cooked pork served with chunks of yucca root. The pork, dry as it is, can always use some of the moderately hot green sauce on the table. The yuca is deep-fried, crisp and starchy.

The tamal de elote , elsewhere on the menu, is pure cornmeal, but this time in a sweet form--it’s sort of a dessert, and when it’s covered with sour cream the contrast of sweet and sour flavors and warm cornmeal hits the palate beautifully. I’d avoid the tamal de carne , which is served as a soft, almost gruel-like form with very little meat.

In the midst of all this, you look up and realize that something is missing. There’s no beer. This cuisine seems to cry out for beer to go with it.

* WHERE AND WHEN

El Conkistador Restaurant, 124 E. 5th St., Oxnard, 487-6310. Open six days, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; day closed varies. No credit cards, no liquor, no reservations. Lunch or dinner for two, $8-$15. Recommended dishes: pupusa de queso , $1.30; godornis , $6.50.