6108 S Dixie Highway Ste 4, West Palm Beach, FL 33405
In today's review we will be looking at a personal favorite with Caribbean cuisine. I had a few people recommend La Casa Del Mofongo to me and as a proud Puerto Rican I knew I had to give them a shot. Plus, I haven't had mofongo in awhile and have been craving it for a few months. For those of you that may not be familiar, mofongo is a traditional Puerto Rican dish that consist of fried green plantains, garlic, seasoning, and chicharron (fried pork skin), mashed up in a wooden pilon. It's a great comfort meal, and as simple as it sounds to make it is surprisingly difficult to find consistently good mofongo. On to the review...
FLAVOR
We sampled a few different things on the menu. For an appetizer, I ordered some some platano maduros (fried sweet plantains) and some shrimp stuffed tostones (fried green plaintains. Both these dishes were very good. The sweet plaintains were sweet with a little crunch to them how they should be, but they did come out a little unevenly cooked when I flipped them over. The stuffed tostones were perfectly crunchy with a well balanced flavor profile with the shrimp and sauce on the tostones. These were probably the best part of the meal for me.
Now on to the main attraction, I decided to visit Casa Del Mofongo after a friend told me about their Chapiadora. The Chapiadora is a mound of Mofongo wrapped in churrasco with skewers of shrimp, chicharron, and longaniza plunged into the mofongo and topped with a white cream sauce and garnished with avocado. The presentation was very nice as you can see in the photos but the actual food was not as good as I was hoping. The shrimp, chicharron, sauce, and avocado were very tasty, but the churrasco and longaniza were definitely overcooked. The mofongo had good flavor but chicharron in the mofongo had no crunch which is very important to me, and the mofongo was a little drier than I would like. Overall, it wasn't the worst mofongo I've had in south florida but also was not the best.
My Flavor Ruling:
SERVICE
The service we received was solid. We were able to be seated immediately, and our orders were also taken shortly after we arrived at the venue. The waitress also had a very positive vibe and was friendly while serving us. I may have been concerned if I was in a bigger party because they did disappear for long periods at a time without checking in with us, but since there was only two of us we didn't really need too much assistance. Only other complaint I could make about the service was the food took a while to come out and wasn't particularly hot when it came out, but overall we had a very pleasurable experience.
My Service Ruling:
VENUE
The venue was probably the bright spot for me on this dining experience. Since I am Puerto Rican, I always enjoy a venue that attempts to capture that Caribbean atmosphere. The art on the walls along with the items used to decorate and music all reminded me of Puerto Rico. The person I was dining with noted that some of the cups that were hanging on the wall are the same type that she used in Puerto Rico as a child so I thought that was cool. There was ample parking and the only complaint I could find about the venue would be the lack of space and seating.
My Venue Ruling:
VALUE
Value is the one area of this dining experience that I was left wanting. Based on the quality of the food, venue, and service I truly feel this menu is a bit over priced. The Chapiadora itself was $40 and the rest of the menu had prices comparable to some of the nicest restaurants I've been to in south Florida. On the plus side, it is a pretty big dish that could satisfy 2 or 3 people depending on their appetite. I enjoyed the meal but don't feel the meal was as good as I would expect from the menu prices.
My Value Ruling:
OVERALL
The food was good and the service was helpful and welcoming but the pricing makes this a difficult restaurant to recommend because you can probably find better Caribbean food for a cheaper price at other locations. I do think the Chapiadora is a unique dish and if you're looking for something different on date night or want to treat some Caribbean relatives to a dinner out Casa Del Mofongo is a great option.
My Overall Ruling: 3 Gavels
