I found myself in the Upper Haight on a Sunday afternoon and had lunch at Parada 22, a Puerto Rican restaurant near Golden Gate Park. On a side note, Boogaloos - the brunch place in the Mission that is currently in the process of rebuilding - has a popup here on Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM to 3PM. I didn’t try anything off their menu though. I had the pastelon ($12.50) off the the regular Parada 22 lunch menu.
I don’t have any experience with Puerto Rican cuisine other than a mofongo I had once at El Nuevo Frutilandia in the Mission, but I thought this was pretty good. Pastelon is similar to a lasagna, except instead of sheets of pasta there are fried pieces of plantain. Nicely spiced filling consisting of ground beef, olives, and raisins. The plantain “pasta” was nice and soft, not too starchy and a little sweet. It came with a couple more pieces of plantain on the side, a simple green salad dressed in a vinaigrette, rice, and beans. The salad and plantain were fine. The rice was quite good, colored a bright orange yellow with pieces of olive, peppers, and ham, and flavored with what tasted like saffron. The beans were surprisingly flavorless however, despite having bits of meat and even a piece of pork skin I think.
A good stick to your ribs lunch, and a good deal at $12.50.
