Puerto Rico Part 4: Cafeteria Eljibario

Early in our trip to Puerto Rico, we stopped a police officer in the middle of the street to ask for restaurant recommendations (I don't know what the crime rate is in Puerto Rico, but policemen outnumber puppies there. There's at least 2 at every street corner - usually doing nothing but looking pretty).

Initially he told us about his favorite sushi place. Fail. Second try, he told us about a "fantastic" Thai place. Fail #2. The dude didn't seem to grasp the concept that there are Sushi/Thai places galore in Boston. What we wanted was authentic Puerto Rican food. We wanted enough mofongo that it would be oozing out of our pores by the time we were seeing patients again come Monday.

Finally, Mr. Police officer was able to tell us about a popular restaurant in Old San Juan that specializes in authentic Puerto Rican cuisine called Cafeteria Eljibario

The restaurant itself was very casual, tucked away in one of the narrow alleys that Old San Juan seems to have everywhere, but the food was hearty and simple with amazing prices

We shared some pork empanadas as an appetizer:

(a bit stingy on the pork)

Hyon Jae and I both chose the mixed plate that contained fried rice with pork and beans, roasted pork, and pastele (green banana mass with pork filling wrapped in a banana leaf = similar to the Mexican Tamale):

The boys both got the mofongo (common trend this trip) with pork (unpictured because they were hungry and dug in right away

For dessert I tried their individually prepared tres leches cake:

And Jason got the caramel flan:

Also included are a few pictures of Old San Juan - just for fun :)