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.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| Complimentary carbs - Jane says no! |
We decided on the shrimp and beef empanadas: overstuffed and sliced in half for us.
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Pernil with 3 maduros, and arroz gandules |
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| Another side of the pernil |
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!
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| Tres leches cake with whipped cream and a candle |
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)
