From Puerto Rico w. Love and Food Reviews

Hey y’all!

I finally decided to get on a plane... it’s been 1 year and 1 month since the pandemic hit the US. The family and I have been cautious and definitely has halted all traveling.

It had been on my to do list to get to Puerto Rico. Zain and I never had a honeymoon bc little Miss Zara had me in labor literally 24 hours after we were married (omg). I’ll share that story on another day.

Never the less I had booked a flight last year but COViD hit.

I grew up on a street where there were Puerto Rican families all around me. I would smell the Spanish foods out the windows. I would see how they did life just a tad different than us. Sooo to get to the PR was a treat. I also love love love the Caribbean.

Once we got here it was on and poppin...to the beach I go. If you know me you know that I love a beach. My daughters get so annoyed when traveling to an island bc they know I need my beach time before we go touring the cities lol.

My first dabble of food were these Mahi-mahi bites w. Aioli . Ohhh my...Zain had to think what in the world woman it’s just fish. They were made in a tempura batter which gave them this light and airy texture. Sooo good. I had about 4 orders of them our entire stay at the resort. I was looking for to their version of Queso Frito which was made of Gouda however they were out all week.

The next note worthy dish was off the resort at Platos restaurant. Mind you we tried to days to get into this place. Between curfew and the popularity they stopped seating at 7 ish. We finally got in during the early afternoon hours. I tried a Coconut Sangria, which all of the locals raves about. It was tasty and strong but too close to a Pina Colada (I’m not a fan of the texture of Cream of Coconut). I ordered the Queso Frito but the cheese was just to dry for me.

Zain had Salmon a rice or what they call “Mamposteado”. It’s was really good. They way that the Salmon was prepared medium well with course seasonings on top. Yum.

I was dying for a Skirt Steak w. Chimmichurri. The steak was excellent but I like my Chim more savory than sweet.

Overall still really good.

And I tried mussels again after maybe 20 years y’all 🙃

The best dish by far was at Raices where I had a whole Red Snapper stuffed w. Puerto Rican rice and Seafood. I have died and went to food heaven lol.

We were wrapping up our day in Old San Juan when we decided to stop at a local spot to have food.

The presentation of my dish was amazing but the taste...oh my. The batter that the fish was coated in was perfectly seasoned and the rice had shrimp and mussels and veggies in abundance. The garnish consisted of pickled red onion and red bell peppers which added a nice bite. And let’s not forget a beautiful sangria to add. Amazing!

Have you ever wanted to experience things based on your encounters in life, or your friends cultures or just out of curiosity?

Do it! Put it on your to do list and make it happen. I was just 12 or 13 when I started noticing the cultures and making Puerto Rican friends in my neighborhood and look 30 years later finally made it to their island.

What cultures are your friends from? Does it intrigue you to learn more about them?