Overkill at Sofrito's!!

I heard about this Puerto Rican spot from several sources and fortunately, my bff decided that it was the place to go to last evening!

Hostess was nice and the place feels more like a lounge when you enter. It seemed like a date place but other duos were also women so it is just a nice place to eat. They pull out the table when you arrive at the table for the one sitting in the booth and the chair for you if you are on the other side. They also put the napkin on your lap. The napkins are true linen although they do line the table with paper.

They have a four course special for around $45 per person but it is limited to what is on the menu. We opted for a la carte.

Sofrito Mojito - so pretty with real sugar cane!

At the recommendation of the waitress, we got the Sofrito mojito, made with passion fruit and real sugar cane. Yes folks, some places still use real cane for their mojitos. It was absolutely divine and I drank 3 over the course of the meal. I could not help myself. Not too sweet with underlying flavors of the passion fruit and mint infusing with the rum and sugar cane.

Sofrito Mojito - passionfruit makes this heavenly!! It has also been instagrammed!

They even served bread seared on both sides with garlic and oil. I nibbled a bit to taste and it was good. I just didn't gobble it down like usual!

Complimentary carbs - Jane says no!

We decided on the shrimp and beef empanadas: overstuffed and sliced in half for us.

Two types of filling...one sweet sauce.

The shrimp was very, very good. It was a lot of shrimp filling which was chopped up shrimp with a blend of herbs. In a phrase, it was yummy! Of course, we love the chimichurri sauce and asked for it on the side!

Beef in the background, shrimp in the front...just plain TASTY!

The beef was just as overstuffed - the shredded beef filling was overflowing and even so, the crispy empanada shell was still full!! It was divinely tasty with the same blend of herbs.

Ropa viella fajita

We also had the ropa viella fajita, a skirt steak that has been shredded into a fajita with a guacamole on lettuce and tomato on the side. It was absolutely one of the best fajitas I have ever tasted with a guacamole that was insanely fresh. I can not even begin to dissect the flavors which was probably lemon or lime which I never associated with guacamole. I suppose none of the other places made it this fresh?

Just as we finished our appetizers, leaving virtually no room left for the entree, out comes this ginormous, Flintstone sized pernil...I knew something was up because bff's eyes were popping out of their sockets. However, let's take a moment to look at her order of churrasco with garlic mashed potatoes.

It's been instagrammed so it looks like this. A dinosaur's rib. Lol.

BFF could not eat it all - it was super big but it was delicious and she said it was enough for 2 days of dinners. I wholeheartedly agreed. Super HUGE portions.

Pernil with 3 maduros, and arroz gandules

The picture doesn't do this monster justice. This roast pork portion could feed a family of 6 comfortably! Trust me, it was very a la Flintstone!

Another side of the pernil

So, I did not finish it. I could only eat about a 1/14th of it. They also give you a knife and you do not need it. The pork was so moist, it fell off the bone. Yes, there is bone in that there mountainous hunk of meat. It was perfectly seasoned with a sprig of rosemary for decoration. It is an big portion of pork shoulder with the fatty, crispy skin carmelized. The rather delicate meat was moist, flavorful and a piece of pig heaven. The sweet plantains were absolutely delicious and the arroz gandules was moist, flavorful and absolutely delicious.

And yes, it was doggy bagged home because, like I said before, you can't tell but this was fit for a family of six!!!

And then the moment of truth - can we have dessert? Well well, no dessert menu! It's not because Sofrito's has no dessert menu but because BFF likes to embarrass me so tada!

Tres leches cake with whipped cream and a candle

Yes, the waitress sang, staff sang, it was quite embarrassing. But it was so delicious - this cake. Lovely sponge cake drenched in three types of milk. Soft, moist and sweet!

Thank you BFF for a yummy, 3 drink dinner. :3 I hope you got your paper done - because I was out like a light by 10:30 pm.

Sofrito's is a great lounge and restaurant. It's worth a trip up 1st ave for all types of events. And the staff are all really nice!!



Sofrito's NYC
400 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022
tel. 212.754.5999
Reservations - via Opentable only or by phone for special occasions.
Hours:
Sundays: 4 pm to Midnight
Mon - Thurs: 5 pm to Midnight
Friday & Saturdays: 5 pm to 2 am (Lounge open until 4 am)

Mio - Hit & Miss

Mio was right by the Westin, where we were staying. It was even on the list of restaurants that the concierge gave us even though I went online to check it out. Then I made OpenTable reservations after learning about the Hamilton...reservations for dinner in DC are a must if you do not want to wait more than an hour or so for food.

The place was very nice and spacious, with a lounge at the front and a bar to the left of the entryway.
Decor was sleek and modern with interesting lighting and a very open atmosphere. I would venture to say that it was quite relaxing and service was superb.

Spicy Machu Pisco

After perusing the menu, we decided on the drinks first, of course - Spicy Machu Pisco, made of Machu Pisco, Aji Amarillo (yes the same peppers in the green sauce), Passion Fruit & Lime Sour for Barb and the Pasion Urbana made of Banana & Pineapple Cruzan rum, Passion Fruit and Guava!

Pasion Urbana

Barb said hers was really really good. That was saying something since she is not much of an alchy. :)  I think she is in love with Pisco. I loved mine and if I didn't have 2 more bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade in the hotel, I would have gone for a 2nd. It had not a huge wallop in the alchy department but I love guava and this drink had alot of it. In fact, if you did not like guava, you might not want this drink. It was sweet and deliciously refreshing.

Complimentary Bread

The bread was awesome. Barb did not take a piece but I did and let me tell you, it was some good bread.  It was quite soft but had good texture and some crunch from the crust on top. They did not have fresh butter but the bread made up for it.

Pollo a la Braza Mio con Yuquitas

After debating between the large and  whole fish and chicken, Barb chose the chicken, roasted with yucca, otherwise known as Pollo a la Braza Mio con Yuquitas. In hindsight, she probably should have gotten the fish... When it came, she was all excited until she took a bite. Apparently, it was not seasoned well or marinated long enough because it was very bland. She had to ask for salt and pepper and the waitress asked her how it was and she said it was bad. So the waitress spoke to the Chef and offered to take away the plate and dish something else up. And so, Barb decided to take her up on it and got the Ceasar Salad with real anchovy and the Filete de Salmón a la Plancha con Salsa de Piña or aka the Plancha Seared Salmon, Pineapple Salsa.

Caesar Salad

This she liked because it had real anchovies in it. Weird. And the croutons were made from Yucca! Yum.  I was just glad she found something else to eat!

Filete de Salmón a la Plancha con Salsa de Piña

Then she got the seared salmon and they forgot to not serve the squid ink rice with it. But she wasn't too happy because she didn't really dig into everything. You could totally tell by her face!!! I digress though because I never tried it since I do not like salmon because it's just too fishy for me. So round 2 was not so much of a success which is why I think she should have just gotten the Chillo Frito con Purée de Batata Dulce y Mojito Isleño which is Fried Whole Red Snapper, Sweet Potato, Island Mojito, and Avocado-Papaya Crudo. The lady next to us seemed to really enjoy it, despite having the head still on it.

Filete de Cerdo con Manchego Frito y Salsa de Guayaba

I however,  had long debated the quail stuffed with foie gras because I never had quail stuffed with foie gras! Uhhhh, liver paste...lol. However, it is a small appetizer. I went opposite. Yep, grilled pork tenderloin with fried manchego cheese in guava/red wine reduction. Do you see a theme here? Guava. Yum.

Up close and personal with pork..delicious pork

Despite having just devoured a whole crepe only 2 hours prior...I tucked into this big juicy slab of meat. Manchego cheese, one of my most favorite cheeses was gloriously melted over the entire slab which was grilled to perfection and had a melt in your mouth quality like a fine steak.

And let me just reiterate that this was one *very* good pork tenderloin. It was finely seasoned, perfectly grilled and had Manchego cheese melted all over it... What is not to like or enjoy?! I just had to mention it again because I did leave a lot left...

Remains of the battle with the huge slab.

This is not because it was not good but because it was too big. You could totally feed 2-3 people on this alone and still be full. Note that the salad and potatoes went virtually untouched. o(*^o^*)o  To quote Adam Richman - Food won this time...food won...

If you enjoy pork, the next time you are in DC - go to Mio and try this. You will not be disappointed by it or the service!

Mio Restaurant
1110 Vermont Ave NW,
Washington DC 20005
Tel. (202) 955-0075
Hours:
Lunch:  Monday – Friday 11:30am – 2:30pm
Dinner: Monday – Thursday 5:00pm – 10:00pm, Friday and Saturday 5:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Bar/Lounge: Monday – Thursday 5:00pm – 12:00am, Friday and Saturday 5:00 pm – 1:00 am
Happy Hour: Bar: Monday – Friday 4:00pm – 7:00pm, Selected House Drinks, Wine and Draft Beers
Happy Hour: Lounge: Friday and Saturday 11:00pm – 2:00am, Selected House Drinks and Draft Beers