Puerto Ricans and Angelinos have a new restaurant to enjoy. Old San Juan, a new Pueto Rican restaurant has opened in Los Angeles. Old San Juan Restaurant is the second Puerto Rican restaurant in Los Ageles. The first one was Mofongo restaurant, in North Hollywood, which we wrote about sometime ago.
Old San Juan Restaurant is located in the area of Los Angeles called Atwater Village. The exterior of Old San Juan Restaurant, is painted gray and white just like La Fortaleza, the Governor's Mansion in Puerto Rico. The restaurant is comfortable with tables and booths, and is decorated with pictures and decorations of Old San Juan and Puerto Rico. Old San Juan Restaurant offers all the traditional Puerto Rican dishes
you expect: pasteles, arroz con gandules, lechon, alcapurrias, etc.
When we visited we tried a number of entree and appetizers from their extensive menu. We had: Bacalaitos, alcapurrias, sorullitos, pasteles, camarones al ajillo (garlic shrimp) with arroz con gandules, carne guisada (beef stew) with white rice and amarillos, pastelon (plantains and ground beef) and arroz con gandures and arugula salad. For desert it was flan de queso (caramel cream cheese custard).
We enjoyed the ambiance, the music and everyone was very friendly and attentive. When you are in the restaurant you forget that you are actually in Los Angeles and not in Puerto Rico. The owner and executive chef of the restaurant is Chef Luis Castro who used to be the chef at Madres, the former Jenefer Lopez restaurant in Pasadena. Old San Juan Restaurant has live music, lechon a la varita (pork on a stick) on Friday's, a daily buffet of Puerto Rican food on weekdays and an area for private parties. Call the restaurant for more information.
If you have plans to visit Puerto Rico, go to Old San Juan or Mofongo restaurant and try some of the Puerto Rican cuisine before your trip.
Arroz Con Gandules, Boiled Banana, Roasted Plantain And Pork In Puerto Rico
Pork Roasted On A Spit In Puerto Rico
On the weekends during the day, Puerto Ricans go in search for lechon
(Pork). The popular places for lechon en la varita or pork roasted on a
spit are in Guavate, near Cayey, Puerto Rico. In the mountainous
region of Guavate you will find many lechoneras, outdoor restaurants
that have a whole pig slow roasted over an open fire pit, so that the
pork is tender, moist and full of flavor. You can order lechon with rice and pigeon peas, yellow or green plantains, sweet potato, and
boiled banana. For those who do not eat pork, turkey and chicken is
available. It is best to get there by noon on the weekends. Some of
the lechoneras are open during the week.
To get to Guavate from San Juan, go southbound on the Luis A. Ferre Expressway (PR-52) to Cayey. This will take about 30 minutes. Then exit at PR 184 and go up the mountain to Guavate. On this road you will see the lechoneras. Enjoy and buen provecho!
Planning your trip to Puerto Rico? Is this your first trip to the island? Here are five ideas to help you plan your trip to Puerto Rico:
Bring sunscreen and sunglasses
The sun is strong in Puerto Rico. Make sure you bring sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher and apply it every 2 hours. Having a hat is also good idea.
Learn a little Spanish
People in Puerto Rico understand English, but it would be fun to try to communicate in Spanish with the locals. A few words in Spanish, will go a long way.
Prepare your taste buds
Puerto Rico has great tasting food. Be open minded and try some traditional cuisine, like mofongo (plantain dish), arroz con gandules (rice and pigeon peas), or arroz con pollo (Chicken and rice).
Bring some dressier clothing
Puerto Ricans like to dress up in the evenings whether going to restaurants or clubs. Actually, some clubs have a dress code, no tennis shoes or shorts, and most hotels do not allow beach attire or shorts in the lobby, during evening hours. You do not need anything fancy, just a nice pair of pants and a shirt.
Prepare to stay up late
Puerto Ricans like to enjoy life and are always ready to party. Nightlife begins after 10:00 P.M. and goes until the early hours of the morning. Get ready to dance, play at the casino, or listen to music, at a favorite bar, all night long!
Remember that life on the island runs slower than the mainland. Take your time to explore the sights and take in the scenery. Welcome to Puerto Rico and have a wonderful time!
The Puerto Rican "Pastel" is the gastronomical symbol of Puerto Rico. Pastel is a dish which includes diced pork with olives, chicken, capers, raisins, chickpeas, spices, sweet peppers, sofrito, and garbanzo beans. This mixture is centered in dough made mainly of green bananas with a small portion of plantain, yautía, and potato. The dough is tinted with annatto oil. It is wrapped in palm leaf, tied with string, boiled, and later served with arroz con gandules (yellow-rice with pigeon peas).
The boiling and tying of the "Pastel" is Taino, the plaintain dough is African, and the meat and raisins are Spanish. This is the fusion of the three cultures of Puerto Rico. Pasteles is the signature dish during Christmas in Puerto Rico.
If you live or are visiting Los Angeles, California, make sure to stop by Mofongos Comida Caribena, the only Puerto Rican restaurant in Los Angeles. If you are looking for authentic food from Puerto Rico, this is the spot. Mofongos Restaurant is small (they are currently expanding), and Puerto Rican decorations are proudly displayed. The restaurant is located in the North Hollywood Arts District. Their signature dish is mofongo, a bowl of mashed plantains where seafood, meat, or vegetable is added. I went to the restaurant on a recent visit, their mofongo was delicious with a homemade taste, as well as the other items on the menu:
Steak and onions with rice and pigeon peas/arroz con gandules, pasteles/Puerto Rican tamales, sorullitos de maiz/cornsticks, and alcapurrias.
Arroz Con Gandules
Pastel
Sorullitos De Maiz
Alcapurria
So, if you are having cravings for Puerto Rican food, or if you have never tasted food from Puerto Rico, head over to Mofongos Restaurant.
Arroz con gandules (Rice with Pork & Pigeon Peas) is a favorite dish in Puerto Rico. Arroz con gandules is enjoyed all year through, especially during the Christmas season.
Ingredients:
2 Pork Chops (bone in) cut into bite
size pieces, including bone
Salt
Garlic Powder
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Pam Spray (Olive Oil)
1-16 oz can Goya green pigeon peas*
(gandules)
3-4 Tablespoons of prepared Goya
"Sofrito" *
1 envelope Goya Sazon with cilantro and
achiote *
1-8 oz can tomato sauce
2 Knorr ham broth cubes
1-1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
Several dashes of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cilantro leaves
3-1/3 cups water, including liquid from gandules
1-1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 cups short grain rice
Wash pork pieces and season with salt and garlic
powder, to taste.
Saute in 2 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan
until golden brown and almost done.
Spray the bottom and sides of a 4-quart
microwaveable pot, with Pam spray.
Add all the ingredients to the pot, except for pork
gandules, olive oil, liquid, salt, garlic powder,
and rice. Stir the ingredients.
Microwave covered, for 4 minutes on High.
Drain the liquid from gandules, measure
and add enough water to make 3-1/3
cups. Add the gandules, pork, and 1/2 of the
liquid to the pot. Microwave covered on High Power
for 15 minutes.
Stir the ingredients. Add rice, remaining liquid
and olive oil to pot. Stir well. At this time, you
should taste. If needed, add additional salt and/or
garlic powder.
Microwave covered for 15 minutes on high Power.
Stir well, bringing rice on the bottom to the top.
Cover, and microwave for 16 -18 minutes at Medium power.
Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Taste rice to
make sure it is cooked and that all the water has
been absorbed.
If after the resting time, you find that the water is
not completely absorbed, cover rice with paper
towel. Microwave covered for 4 to 5 minutes more
at Medium power.
If, on the other hand, you find that rice needs more
cooking, place 4 to 5 ice cubes on top of rice.
Microwave covered for an additional 4 to 5 minutes
at Medium Power.
Place on serving dish. Serve with roast pork,
roast turkey, or baked ham.
Christmas in Puerto Rico is celebrated like no other place in the world. The Christmas season in Puerto Rico is long. The Christmas celebration starts right after Thanksgiving and continues through the mid of January, a long and delightful party time. Christmas day, New Years, and Three Kings Day on January 6, are all Holidays. The Holidays in Puerto Rico are spent with family and friends, and there is always a party almost every day, either at a friends house, relatives, or at work.
There are many events during Christmas time in Puerto Rico: Festivals, boat parades, and New Year's Eve party celebrations. Most of the big parties are held at the hotels, such as the New Year's Eve party. Puerto Ricans come out dress to impress, and to party all night long. Smaller parties are held at relatives and friends homes.
Food is an important element during the Christmas Holidays in Puerto Rico. Some of the typical dishes this time of the year are: Arroz con gandules, pasteles and lechon ( pork). Puerto Ricans go to the countryside to eat pork roasted on a spit, it is very popular on January 6 ( Three Kings Day). The Holiday of January 6, (El Dia de Los Reyes) is as important as Christmas Day. Children receive gifts on both days, on December 25th the gifts come from Santa, and on January 6, they come from the Three Kings.
Aguinaldos (carols) are the custom sounds this time of the year in the island. Puerto Ricans get together to sing and dance. A typical custom, but not practiced very much these days, are the parrandas or asaltos. It is like Christmas caroling, but with an edge. The custom here, is to go to a relative or a friends house after midnight ( or wait until they have gone to sleep), with a group of people and musical instruments, to sing and wake them up. After your parranda or group has been let in the house, there is more singing and dancing, and then the recipients of the parranda joins the group, and they all go along to another house to deliver another parranda. This can go on all night long!
Now, you may be asking, don't Puerto Ricans have to go to work in between all these celebrations? Yes, people still have to work, but work takes a back seat during this time of the year. If you want to experience the Christmas Holidays like you have not experienced them before, head over to Puerto Rico. The weather is great, the people are happy, the beaches are inviting, and you will participate in a very festive time: Feliz Navidad in Puerto Rico.
Take a look at this YouTube video with the sounds and images of Christmas in Puerto Rico:
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