Tasty Mofongo + delicious and new ice creams in Lares :P

It was early when we arrived to the restaurant. I was expecting a good number of people, but the place was empty, mmm, a bad sign??? well, actually it was too early, haha. We'd be the first, so maybe it happened the same as in the caverns. We arrived the first but by the time we left parking place was full and there was a line, lol.

Nevermind, we went inside the restaurant. No problems to get a free table, haha. I saw on the wall 2 flags. One was the Puerto Rican, but what abou the other? Well it was Lares' one. The waiter came with the menus and left them. Well, I didn't have any clue what about to order. I just knew I wanted a mofongo. A couple of minutes later, the waiter came back, but we weren't ready, sorry... the 3rd time she asked if we wanted to drink anything. Mmm, they didn't have diet sodas, grrr. So I started to look at the menu when I found natural juices and one got my attention: "Puerto Rican berry" Perfect! This would be the one I get, hehe. Mark has already ordered a coke, but changed his mind. We were in Puerto Rico and needed to get as much as Puerto Rican stuff as possible, haha.

The girl came with the drinks. The Puerto Rican berry was "acerola". I liked it. Not too sweet and a bit sour, tasty and refreshing :P Francisco told us, he used to have an acerola tree at home when he was a child and loved that fruit. By that time we knew what to order. We weren't hungry, so we decided to get no big dishes - at least that was what we thought, hehe. I was about saying I would like to have a salad when Francisco gave me a look and said: "Come on, Yadi! You are in Puerto Rico, no salads!" Mark got a yuca pie and Francico & me will share the famous "mofongo". Ok, time to wait for our food.

A bit later, the waiter came with Mark's pie. It looked like a tamal, covered with a banana lief. I tried a bite and was expecting for a tamal's flavor, but was different a bit blend. Then she came with our mofongo. When I looked the picture of the dish at the menu it looked like a small cup. It even looked like a "leche de tigre" shot. But that cup was huge! Well, what can I say about the mofongo? It was delicious!!!! I'll try to describe it... it could be stuffed with beef, chicken or shrimp - ours was with chicken - and it's about mashed plantain or yuca. We chose the plantain. It was so tasty!!! We tried a mofonguito (little mofongo) last night - but this one was the real stuff!

Neither of us could finish our dishes, but there is always space for dessert, haha. Mark wanted to check the menu at the restaurant, but Francisco told us we would have ice creams in a famous ice cream store in Lares town. So, better save space and start moving. By the time we were leaving, people were arriving. Mmm, I recognized their faces. Some were people who work at the "Camuy Caverns" and others were tourists, haha.

After a short drive, we arrived to the main square in Lares town. This ice cream shop is famous. We just had to ask about the Lares' ice creams and they gave us the directions. By the way almost all the directions include a Burger King, haha. There are tons of them in Puerto Rico, lol! Anyway, we found a perfect parking spot next to the main church. And almost in front of us there was the famous Lares' ice creams.

This was a small place, but all the walls were covered with magazines', newspapers' reports, pics, etc, saying this place was unique. But this wasn't the most amazing thing. We turned back and saw the flavors they offer, besides the traditional ones and ones related to local fruits, you could find crazy flavors such as: garlic, avocado, rice & beans, sweet plantain, etc. I'll write a review about it. Francisco got chocolate, Mark got the acerola - our latest discovery - and I got another local fruit "parcha". I was really excited about this novelty, but it turned to be it was passion fruit and I had that at home but with another name :P

Our ice creams where delicious, but I didn't leave the place without trying a couple of strange flavors, lol! We left the place and took a small walk around the main square. This town was really quiet and peaceful. People were friendly but a bit shy. It remembered me the towns in Peru. Our countries are so similar!

Well, it was time to start going back to San Juan. We had another visit to do before going to the airport for the other TB's. In our way we stopped to get a fresh and juicy "china". Well, the china is the orange and Puerto Rico is the only place where they call the "naranja" "china", haha. The shop was an old school bus parked next to the road, haha. There I saw different kind of roots and vegetables. Oh! the chinas were delicious :P Ok, keep on moving we had to stop somewhere else before going to the airport. This stop was one of the most waited / wanted, haha. So we were in our way to...