A few a days after Halloween, Bridget and I made it back home from Philly. We spent the weekend free of the dogs just drinking and eating the days away. We enjoyed a few cheese steaks from Pat’s and Gino’s, the most famous of Philly. However we may have eaten a whole lot but we walked over 40,000 steps according to Bridget’s pedometer so why not keep eating and this time something that makes us think of home (Miami), Puerto Rican!
I found a local food truck called Borinquen Lunch Box that has authentic Puerto Rican food. Turns out every Monday in November they are parked in Navy Yard, 2 blocks from Bridget’s office. As I waited for Bridget I talked to the lady on the truck and told her I was looking forward to the cuisine. I told her we were from Miami and missed this type of food badly. She told me they were from Orlando and went to school in South Florida too.
I went a little nuts, as I couldn’t just choose one thing to choose to eat. The menu wasn’t vast but everything looked right up my alley.
Borinquen Lunch Box has many different types of authentic Puerto Rican cuisines. I had to get the special of the day as the main dish, then I wanted a sandwich, oh and there were empanadillas plus tostones. I had no idea what to get plus wanted to wash it all down with a Kola Champagne. So as I was going to order I just got a bit of everything.
As stated there were tostones and empanadillas. Tostones are fried green plantains. After having a great conversation with the lady on the truck she threw in a few extra for us.
Also ordered were a couple of empanadillas; otherwise known as empanadas. I went crazy and bought 2 of these, pollo y carne stuffed. I also got a different kind of empanadilla, an Alcapurria. Alcapurrias are green bananas fried and stuffed with meat. It was an odd type of empanada but enjoyed nonetheless.
Starting with the main dish, the special of the day: Pollo Asado. Now this dish sounds normal for latin america but came with a side of Arroz Y Habichuelas (rice and red beans.) The seasoning in the sauce was beyond good, mixed with the rice. The roasted chicken was placed right on top of the rice and beans with a side of plantains as well.
Also ordered was a Tripletas, a sandwich that consists of three types of meats. Tripletas are a Puerto Rican street food that is to die for. The sandwich was so big it fell apart as soon as we unwrappe the foil. Not only does it have three meats: steak, lechon (pork) and ham, it is topped with potato sticks. It was quite salty but it was a hell of a sandwich to be enjoyed. One that I would of loved on the beaches of Puerto Rico instead of the streets of DC, but it’ll due.
We ordered a Kola Champagne, a very very very sweet soda from the islands. This drink was invented by a man from Puerto Rico. It has a bubble gum flavor and we soon came to find out over 100g of sugar, helping my teeth fall out as I drank it. This washed the meal down well enough.
As you might be able to tell we enjoyed this large amount of food on a park bench. The weather was gorgeous, maybe not Puerto Rican weather, but nice enough so we could eat outside. The food brought so many memories of eating Latin cuisine in Miami. I was a big fan of the Borinquen Lunch Box and the music that all sounded like Danza Kuduro blasting out the sides of the food truck.
-Matt
Eat Around the World in 2015 