Caribbean Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico's Best Mofongo Restaurants Mofongo is Puerto Rico's national dish - here's where to try it for yourself. By Robert Curley Robert Curley LinkedIn Twitter Robert Curley is a freelance writer and guidebook author specializing in Caribbean Island and Rhode Island travel. TripSavvy's editorial guidelines Updated on 06/25/19 Fact checked by Erin Medlicott Fact checked by Erin Medlicott LinkedIn Twitter New York University Rutgers University Erin Medlicott is a fact checker and researcher with a background in lifestyle and finance. Prior to her work at TripSavvy, she did financial research for the American Express Departures Magazine as well as the Wall Street Journal. She earned a TripSavvy's fact-checking Mofongo, a popular dish in Puerto Rico, can range from simple to sublime. The dish begins with the basic ingredient of pickled, fried and mashed plantains. These are then mixed with garlic, pork cracklings and bacon, and typically shaped into a ball before being served. But from there, pretty much anything goes in terms of added flavors and preparations. Seafood, chicken, beef and pork may be added, usually piled into a cavity indented in the top of the mofongo. The meat can be served as cooked or enhanced with various sauces. Endlessly versatile, mofongo serves as the base of local dishes and, unadorned, also works as a popular side dish. No trip to Puerto Rico is truly complete without at least trying mofongo, which represents local culture as well as anything else on the island. Fortunately, there are plenty of places to get mofongo within easy reach of San Juan's tourist areas. Here are the top mofongo restaurants and cafes in and around the city -- the best and easiest places for Puerto Rico visitors to delve into the endlessly creative world of mofongo! Check Puerto Rico Rates and Reviews at TripAdvisor 01 of 09 El Jibarito, Old San Juan viviandnguyen_/CC by SA 2.0 View Map Address 280 Sol St, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-725-8375 Web Visit website This Sol Street restaurant in Old San Juan brings the outside in with an interior design inspired by its brightly painted neighborhood. As for the food, it's inexpensive Puerto Rican Creole cuisine. The restaurant is known for its "trifongo" -- a mix of sweet plantains, cassava, and green plantain. 02 of 09 Punto de Vista, Old San Juan View Map Address 307 C. de la Fortaleza, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico Get directions For mofongo with a view, check out Punto de Vista, located on the rooftop of the Hotel Milano in Old San Juan. The shrimp and chicken mofongo are among the best in the old town. 03 of 09 Santaella Courtest Santaella restaurant View Map Address 219 C. Canals, San Juan, 00907, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-725-1611 Web Visit website Santaella is close to the Santurce barrio's Farmer's Market, known as La Placita. The restaurant is known for its comida criolla influenced by the cooking of Spain, India, and Africa. Ask for the lobster mofongo, pictured here. The restaurant and market are within walking distance of the Doubletree by Hilton San Juan and other Condado hotels. 04 of 09 Mi Casita, Isla Verde View Map Address CXRH+QQG, PR-37, Carolina, 00979, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-242-4075 Web Visit website Located in a strip mall in the Isla Verde neighborhood, Mi Casita is a very local restaurant that's often the first place tourists taste mofongo, thanks to its location close to the airport and the beach resorts of Isla Verde, including the Ritz-Carlton San Juan, the Intercontinental, and the El San Juan. The shrimp mofongo is their signature dish. Continue to 5 of 9 below. 05 of 09 Oceano, Condado Oceano restaurant View Map Address 2, Cll Vendig, San Juan, 00907, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-724-6300 Web Visit website Flavor your mofongo with a sea breeze at Oceano, an upscale eatery in a modern, multistory building overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in Condado. Executive Chef Eric Gonzales tops his colossal shrimp mofongo with a passion-fruit reduction and also serves up a vegetarian version. 06 of 09 Molini's Cafe View Map Address 1859 Puerto Rico, 1857 C. Loíza, San Juan, 00911, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-726-2024 Hipster hangout Santurce is home to Molini's Cafe, a budget-friendly local restaurant with well-regarded crab, chicken, and steak mofongo. 07 of 09 Orozco's, Condado View Map Address 1126 Ashford Ave, San Juan, 00907, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-721-7669 Web Visit website Family-friendly Orozco's is located in the heart of Condado and is a bright and cheerful place to dip into the world of mofongo. Wash down a generous helping of their shrimp mofongo with a big minty mojito! 08 of 09 Cafe Manolin, Old San Juan View Map Address 251 C. de San Justo, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-723-9743 Web Visit website Cafe Manolin has been serving comida criolla in Old San Juan for more than 70 years. The cafeteria-style restaurant isn't super fancy but the chicken mofongo and shrimp mofongo are top-rate. Or, order a side of green plantain mofongo with your classic Puerto Rican onion steak, liver steak, skirt steak, grouper or pork chops. Continue to 9 of 9 below. 09 of 09 Patio del Nispero, Hotel El Convento, Old San Juan El Convento Hotel View Map Address 100 Calle del Cristo, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico Get directions Phone +1 787-723-9020 Web Visit website Located in the elegant Hotel El Convento -- which really was once a convent -- Patio del Nispero serves up chicken, skirt steak, or shrimp mofongo al fresco in one of the loveliest settings in the city. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Share Pin Email Tell us why! Submit Share Pin Email