Hot Tropic

A new Puerto Rican spot does island fare right.

by Elisa Ludwig

North Philly's new Puerto Rican eatery Café Coláo is one of those places where you need to be flexible. You might get only half of what you order. You might be told, as I was on a recent visit, "I could bring you the shrimp patties, but I'd have to make them."

You might be attended to by two different people arguing over who will do the order-taking. You might need to ask for extra plates for sharing and end up with saucers. (They serve a platelike purpose, too, right?) But if you keep your expectations in check, you'll be satisfied with what you get.

The dining room, with its café con leche walls and islandy artwork, proffers a family-friendly atmosphere, with a gigantic flat-screen TV (Santana videos on our visit) dominating one wall and attention spans in the back.

You'll notice on entry the morcilla, thick coils of sausage, displayed prominently in the restaurant window next to glistening rotisserie chicken and a "Latinos for Obama" sign. If you can tolerate the idea of boiled pig's blood, these links, loosely stuffed with rice and finely chopped spicy meat, are superb. Our server told us it comes from a local purveyor and he's selling a lot of it. No wonder.

On the whole, the cooking, like the décor, is pleasingly straightforward. Pastelillos (aka empanadas) are vibrant orange-hued half-moon turnovers. We ordered ours with beef; we got a filling of peppery pulled pork and a squeeze bottle of hot sauce. Maduros (sweet plantains) are matte yellow discs pressed and fried to crispiness, served with a creamy-sour garlic mojo that will quicken your circulation and tarnish your breath for days.

Most entrées come with more maduros and regular or red rice, the latter not actually red but stained yellow with achiote, embedded with gandules (dark lentil-like beans) and a bit too greasy for my liking. But the meats themselves are memorable. Bistec encebollado, steak with translucent onions and green peppers, is pliantly textured, though it needed a few squirts of hot sauce. Better is the lechon asado al horno, pork splintered off the bone, mildly scented with garlic and tender, tender, tender. Available by the half or quarter, the meat in the arroz con pollo has well-seasoned skin and the kind of juicy, plump meat that makes chicken seem like a luxury item.

We never did get the mofongo we ordered. "You won't need it," our server told us of this plantain-based classic, admitting he forgot it. And he was probably right.

(e_ludwig@citypaper.net)

Café Coláo

1305 N. Fifth St., 215-232-0240

Mon.-Thu., 8 a.m.- 8 p.m.; Fri., 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m.- 10 p.m.; Sun., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

Appetizers, $1.50-$6.50; Entrées, $6.50-$14

BYOB

Cash only

Delivery available