Once again I found myself in San Juan, with no plan except to indulge in a giant plate of mofongo. The quintessential Puerto Rican dish is made from frying green plantains, then mashing them and frying them again. It is all topped with either chicken, steak, fish or, in the case of some of our friends that dined elsewhere, lobster.
The Celebrity Reflection docked in San Juan at 3:30 PM, just in time for happy hour (because, you know, we hadn’t had a cocktail in at least twenty minutes…) We departed the ship and made our way through the narrow streets of old San Juan, en route to Rosa De Triana, the first place FKGuy and I had ever enjoyed mofongo.
It concerned me that we oversold the greatness of the mofongo to our friends, but we pressed on, and after a short walk found our way to our destination, across for El Convento hotel. It was an odd time for a meal, so the restaurant was empty. Our party of ten was not deterred. We sat, ordered sangria and enjoyed the historic surroundings.
The building currently occupied by Rosa De Triana was built in 1523 and served as the first city hall of San Juan. The cellars were the first jail. Behind the dining room the tunnels and jail cells are still visible. I always enjoy a bit of criminal history with my happy hour.
OK, enough about jail cells. How was the food, you ask? Delicious. The menu is extensive and next time we go, I will enjoy a full meal. This time we had tostones (fried plantains), mofongo topped with chicken, and our friends enjoyed a number of mofongo dishes as well as some buñuelos, little dumplings stuffed with spinach.
Everyone enjoyed the snack, the tasty sangria and the history. We were well fed in preparation for more wandering around the town, and our return to the ship.
Rosa De Triana is located in the heart of old San Juan at 72 Caleta de San Juan, and is open for lunch and dinner daily.
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