This may have become my new favorite Spanish word as I went around happily shouting it at random strangers. To me, it sounds a lot like mother f#@$er. Which is always a plus.
Mofongos is a Puerto Rican restaurant in North Hollywood, California whose website claims is "The only place for Puerto Rican food in Los Angeles."
While I'm not sure I believe that assessment, it is definitely a nice place to get authentic Puerto Rican cuisine, verified by my authentic Puerto Rican friend, Lorena Bruno, who took me there.
What is a mofongo?
It is a traditional Puerto Rican dish made of fried green plantains, garlic, olive oil, and pork rinds mashed together with chicken broth poured over the top. This restaurant serves the mofongos in a bowl shape to hold the meat of your choosing.
I ordered the Mofongo de Carne Guisada:
A mofongo filled with beef stew. I wish I could say I loved it, but it was definitely an acquired taste for my picky tastebuds. Let me be clear here: it was good, it just wasn't something that would make me return to a restaurant.
The problem is, I can't tell if I wasn't excited about the beef stew or the mofongo.
The actual meat was delicious, but I've never really enjoyed any kind of stew and think that may have been where my less-than-adventurous tastes lacked enthusiasm. I get scared when I can't tell what exactly is in my food. So once olives and other unidentifiables started popping up, I just focused my attention on the beef.
Something I REALLY enjoyed were the tostones.
Lorena knew what she was doing when she ordered these fried plantains as a side dish, almost like getting chips or french fries with the meal.
Apparently Puerto Ricans are bananas for plantains! (Yeah...I had to.)
And so was I! Lorena requested a special sauce, that was mayonnaise and ketchup combined, which was perfect for these salty treats.
Next time, I would be really interested in trying one of their sandwiches with those trademark plantains. Here is their to-go menu, and more information may be found at their easily navigable website.
The restaurant itself, right off Lankershim, was small with no parking. There was a weird moment at the beginning of our experience as there were three of us, but one of our friends went to the bathroom, and we were sat at a four-top (as opposed to the only other options in the space, two-tops). Then, while the two of us were sitting there, a man approached us and said the table was reserved. However, the waitress explained that we were a party of three causing him to retract his statement.
I understand that with the size of his restaurant he would want us to sit at the appropriate size table, but the way the situation was handled just came off as a bit strange. Thankfully, the service quickly turned around and we were well taken care of by our helpful waitress.
She was very kind and spoke to me afterwards, which I will write about for Thoughtful Thursday.
All in all, this was a lovely spot with delicious, authentic Puerto Rican cuisine. Our only complaint was the lack of drinks as Lorena exclaimed, "what kind of Puerto Rican restaurant doesn't have alcohol?"
Open everyday 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
(818) 754-1051
5757 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
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Which restaurant should I try next? What is your favorite Puerto Rican dish? Let me know with a comment below!
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