Puerto Plata

Puerto Plata off of Blanding Blvd is another one of our favorites (I have the full menu with prices at the bottom of this post.) They serve Latin Cuisine and are as authentic as they come! My husband is from Puerto Rico and he knows authentic when he tastes it (I like to think that I have been to the island enough to know my way around a plate too!)

On this trip we pretty much got our usual. We started off with a plate of Tostones for our appetizer. The portion is big enough for 4 people, but we finish off a plate by ourselves :) The plantains are nicely cooked and come with a side of garlic butter for dipping. The hubby likes to inform me that real Puerto Ricans only add salt to their tostones...and I tell him that I am a white girl and I link to dunk into the garlic butter!


I got the Camarones al ajillo (Garlic Shrimps) for my entree. I opted for yellow rice because I always get white rice and just needed a change. The meal also comes with your choice of red or black beans (it does not state this on the menu, but they have never charged us extra.)
The shrimp was served (with tails) in a bowl with tons of garlic and butter sauce. If you are a garlic lover, you will be in heaven! The rice was good but I was a little thrown off by the peas. Typically, latin yellow rice has pigeon peas instead of actual peas, so that was different. Nevertheless, it still tasted wonderful and I am pretty sure that the yellow rice will now be in my rotation. I got red beans with my meal, and in true Puerto Rican style, proceeded to smother the rice with them! Delicious!


My husband got the Bistec Encebollado (steak with onions). This is one of my favorites as well, but I had to stop getting it because I burned it out so bad once I discovered it! As with the other meals, you have a choice of white or yellow rice and red or black beans. He went for the white rice and black beans.
The steak is not your typical "steakhouse" steak. It is thin and juicy and melts in your mouth. The onions add a nice bit of flavor and are big enough that you can still pick them off (if you are a hater like me.)


Just a bit of a warning - the beverages (soda) come in cans with no refills. This doesn't bother us because at $0.95 a can, you can get 2 for the same price you would pay in a restaurant for a fountain drink.


Here are a few of my other recommendations:
  • Mofongo - served with pork skin mashed into the plantains. I prefer my mofongo skin free, but the hubby seems to enjoy it.
  • Camarones a la diabla (Spicy Shrimps) - Please believe the menu when it says spicy. This is "slap your momma" spicy and you need to be prepared when ordering this. I really like this dish, but it always clears out my sinusus :)
  • Pernil - Roast pork at it's finest. Enough said.
  • Marcitas de carne frita - This entree consists of fried pork cubes. Again, enough said.
Puerto Plata is a wonderful restaurant and I hope you all will give it a try.
 Make sure to bring your appetite because the portion sizes are massive...you might also want to bring some stretchy pants with you :)

On a serious note: I have no idea why the Urbanspoon rating is so low. All I can guess is that people unfamiliar with the cuisine have been bringing it down. Please don't let that discourage you. We have been going here for 3 years and have never had a bad dish.

Puerto Plata on Urbanspoon

Comments

  1. I love Puerto Plata & have never had a bad meal either! Their pernil is amazzzzzzzzinnnnnnng!!!! MMM!

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  2. You know what's funny? My father in law found this place when he was visiting from Puerto Rico. I had no idea it existed before that LOL!

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  3. The food was awesome! I had arroz con gandules, pernil and tostones. Thanks Jill!!!

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  4. I love Puerto Plata! But this is more Dominican style food than Puertorrican, and people in JAX are not that familiar with Dominican cuisine. I can see why this can affect the ratings. The mofongo is purely Puertorrican, and perfectly done in this restaurant. Domicans love garlic, so we like garlic in out tostones, that is why they serve them like that, with a garlic/oil sauce. The Chivo is my favorite! I pair it with a mofongo. Yum! Love your blog! Nice work!

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  5. Thanks for your comment! The chivo is also my favorite part! I had no idea about the Dominican/garlic connection, but now it makes sense. Also, if you are looking for a good Puerto Rican place, there is one on Southside Blvd called Las Antillas. I am about to do a blog post about it, so keep an eye out!

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