PrintOff the Beaten Path: Albert's Mofongo House
Soon after a friend moved to Inwood in upper Manhattan he told me of a 24-hour restaurant near his place that specializes in the Puerto Rican dish known as mofongo. Not to be confused with the beef tripe soup known as mondongo, mofongo is a hearty ribsticking dish made from mashed plantains. Within a week of his move I found myself taking possibly the longest train ride I’ve ever taken for food, DiFara’s running a close second. As soon I exited the A train at Dyckman Street I spotted the temple of all things mofongo: Albert’s Mofongo House.
The place is literally a shrine to mofongo. A painting of a grandfatherly old man mashing plantains along with garlic and onion adorns one wall. Next to my table sat a huge pilón, or mortar, big enough for Paul Bunyan to mash mofongo. A page on the menu labeled Mofongo Mania lists more than a dozen varieties. Rather than go for chicken, goat, oxtail, or for that matter lobster, I chose the most traditional variety, chiccharon. After all, if I’m going to eat close to pound of mashed starch, I want as much pork as possible to accompany it.
The folks behind Albert’s are Dominican, but they’re not playing when it comes to mofongo. The caplike mass of mashed plantains perched atop the pilón is shot through with plenty of porky goodness and packs a garlicky wallop that stayed with me for hours. Just in case there isn’t enough chiccharon in the mofongo itself, there’s some more on the side. Place a chunk or two on top of the mofongo, pour some of the broth on and think of it as a meaty ice cream sundae. In case you’re wondering, the platter in the background does contain a Cuban sandwich. What can I say? I’m trying to get back up to my fighting weight.
Albert’s is open 24 hours, though I can’t imagine why anyone would want to eat something so heavy in the middle of the night. Then again, if I lived around the corner…
Albert's Mofongo House
4762 Broadway, New York NY 10034 (map)
212-567-3052
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5 Comments:
Oh man Joe. You've outdone yourself with this one. That pile of mashed plantains looks amazing, and pork... well, nothing really needs to be said about that.
There's this place in Midtown called the "International Food House and Buffet" that is somehow affiliated with Albert's Mofongo House. If they serve something that looks like what you ate, I'm so hitting that up on Monday!
Zach Brooks at 12:20PM on 07/25/08
Chicharron, not "chiccharon." (Spell check - corrector ortografico!)
LadyMarmalade at 4:58PM on 07/28/08
That looks amazing; I will be making a pilgrimage. I wasn't even aware mofungo existed until a week ago, when I went to Puerto Rico and fell in love. Thanks for sharing. I'm thrilled to learn I can fulfill my craving without leaving NYC now.
alheadrick at 1:01PM on 07/29/08
For some reason I have found that Dominicans make better Mofongo than Puerto Ricans...not sure why that is. (I am neither Dominican nor Puerto Rican)...
asg749d at 11:42AM on 08/01/08
This is the worst restuarant I have ever ate at what a way to spend my Mother's Day The waitress was rude, the food was nasty, my son's rice was hard, my husband order was wrong, the restrooms were gross as if they were never cleaned, then the group sitting beside us were served 10minutes before us when we were sitting there before them. The topping on the cake when I get home I looked into my account and was charged twice, I called the place and all the could tell me was call the bank.
718Rebecca at 8:57PM on 05/10/09