Plantains

I'd like to find a mexican place that does good things with plantains (preferably on the north side).
Any suggestions?

Not sure if you mean Mexican as in only Mexican? If Costa Rican is ok, you might wanna try Irazu if you haven't already.

Irazu menu.

How about a Puerto Rican (or more properly Chicagoan, since it was invented here) version? Visit Borinquen for a jibarito, which is a sandwich made with (usually) pork or beef where a plantain substitutes for the bread. Also, Papa's Cache Sabroso makes a killer version of both savory and sweet (maduros) plantains to go along with their excellent chicken.

Jibarito at Café Salamera R.I.P.


Borinquen Restaurant
1720 N. California Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
773-227-6038

Papa's Cache Sabroso
2517 W Division St
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 862-8313

If we're ranging away from Mexico; I've mentioned them before, but we really like the tostones at Sabor a Cafe on Peterson, enough to just stop by and get a take-out order when we're driving through. On a good day, they are really thin, crispy and flavorful. They now offer a version of a jibarito IIRC called a patacon pisao sandwich which, although not up to Norka's standard, we vastly preferred to Borinquen's (a bit bland IMHO.)

Tostones are fried green plantains; IIRC Mexican cooking typically uses ripe plantains, yes?

They were used in a dish I had at Cuatro, which is more pan-Latin fusion rather than strictly Mexican.

Thanks for the tips.
We ended up going to El Tapatio
3400 N. Ashland Ave.
Chicago, IL 60657
773-327-5475

I can't remember the name of the dish I had, nor did I take a picture, so I guess I failed LTHForum on many levels. But the dish I had was an open-faced plantain and steak sandwich. The blend of the sweet plantains and the salty steak was great. It came with white rice and steamed carrots and potatoes. In the future I'd ask to replace the rice with and vegetables with something else. They were kinda bland.
I also had the Rolls Royce margarita that knocked me on my ass, then gave me a serious headache after the nap.

I think Irazu does the best sweet plaintains and green (Tostones) they call them patacones. Also, I haven't found anyone that beats their mojo, it's heaven and i don't know anyone that does a mojo that comes even close!

The plantains at Irazu are indeed some of the best I have ever had! I often stop in for take-out orders of just those.

~M@

I would love to find a place that does a good Mofongo!

does anyone know of any place in Chicago that does tostones y queso (tostones y queso frito? tostones con queso?) -- Nicaraguan style? I've been unable to turn up much of anything Nicaraguan here in Chicago...

As in:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danebrian/3372507956/

they had it at pretty much every restaurant in nicaragua, served pretty much like the above as an appetizer. delicious stuff.. the cheese is something i don't think we really have here (but probably something relatively close), salty and kind of squeaky like fresh cheese curds. both usually fried, though some places served the cheese not fried w/ the fried tostones.

b t w, i noticed recently when i was at the Borinquen on Central ave that they have their plantains pre-smashed/fried in a stack piled quite high ... I assume they fry them once then fry them fresh to order (but given the size of the pile, it could've been several days worth waiting).. is this how most places do their jibarito, or is there anywhere that does them fresher to order?

I don't know if I've seen tostones y queso on the menu, but you might want to check out Cuscatleco on Lawrence. It's a Salvadoran pupuseria and I pretty much always get pupusas when I'm in there. But the owner is from Nicaragua and may be able to make these for you or may already have them on the menu.

Cuscatleco
3125 W Lawrence Ave
(773) 539-0977

"Fresh to order" is quite a bit of work if done correctly. Peel, cut, fry, smash, soak in salt water, drain, fry. Doing all but the last ahead of time isn't too uncommon and doesn't affect the final product that badly, IMO. It does depend on how long they sit around.

curry71 wrote:I'd like to find a mexican place that does good things with plantains (preferably on the north side).
Any suggestions?

They are not mexican or on the north side (sorry), but my favorite plantains are Jamaican style from Tropical Times Caribbean, 1117 S 1st Ave in Maywood. It's also my favorite place for Jerk Chicken and Curry Goat.

The owner said they only make them when they have good plantains and often run out by early evening (just like they run out of their white meat or mixed meat jerk chicken dinners).

Tropical Times is located on 1st ave, a couple blocks S of Madison (so about 5 blocks N of I-290) in a building with a payday loan / money exchange. They quite literally added a wall down the middle of the building to split it in two.

Ralph