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I’m in Puerto Rico this weekend attending the food festival Saborea Puerto Rico, and if the meal I had last night is any indication, it’s going to be good.
Our hosts took us Piñones, where food stands lining the road sell all sorts of fried deliciousness such as bacalaitos (fish fritters) and alcapurrias (croquettes made from spiced mashed green plantain and stuffed with meat). Our group dined at a funky beachfront place called Soleil, and I’m still full from the experience.
To prime our stomachs, Soleil’s exec chef and co-owner Juan Carlos Madera put on a spread of some of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. We started with a tasting plate of crisply fried bacalaitos, alcapurias and coconut shrimp; ceviche; and skewers of griiled mahi-mahi, which were served with an AMAZING mango salsa. (I’ll be sharing chef Juan Carlos’ easy-to-make, oh-so-easy-to-love recipe with you soon.)
Most of us were already stuffed, but that didn’t stop us from digging into the main course of what must have been The World’s Largest Lobster, which arrived on a platter bathed in a buttery sauce. (I ordered mine with a side of mofongo, the traditional Puerto Rican fried green plantain mash. Me gusta!)
After that food orgy, I’m almost too embarrassed to share what we had for dessert. But because I’m all about full disclosure and journalistic professionalism, I’ll reveal that it was Bananas Foster made with local guineo bananas and a homemade caramel sauce laced with rum. Safe to say, we’re going to have to do a lot of walking around at the festival today to burn off those calories.
Have you been to Soleil? And what are your favorite local specialties? Any San Juan restaurant recommendations? We've got a bunch of them in our Local Flavor column in our May issue, so check it out.
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