Mangu, a Caribbean delight

Today on the way to pick up THWSRN, the song The Hurricane came on. Normally when i am going to pick her up, i am thinking about where we are going to eat, today though I was too busy listening to that song to pick out a restaurant. When she gets in my car, I told her to decide, which I knew would not happen. So I just threw out the name of a generic place to eat, Cheddars. She says that is fine. We navigate our way over there and it is packed, the place is decent but not worth a crowd. We are in Phlugerville, which I barely know, sitting at an intersection, when I look to my left and see a Now Open sign. It is for a Caribbean place called Mangu. I asked her if she would be up for Caribbean food, she said she has never had it. I tell her it is kind of like mexican food, depending on where it is from, this place was Cuban in origin.

We walk in where we are greeted by the owner Alex. I ask how long they have been open and he says 3 weeks. We are seated and the menu looks fabulous, some really good choices. Both of us ended up ordering the same thing though, slow roasted pork shoulder, yellow rice and a veggie medley, of course this would be a translation since everything on the menu was is Spanish. Alex comes by and asks us, "Do you like garlic?" we both answer yes and he gives us a complimentary appetizer of fried plantains with a garlic, lime juice, cilantro dipping sauce. This combination was out of this world. And since we were having plantains, I started smiling she asked what, so I had to explain The Family Guy episode where Peter finds out he is smaller than his son Chris.

When are lunch arrives, everything was perfect. We both thoroughly enjoyed everything. Which was kind of exciting, because it was the first time we had discovered a new place together and even better yet we found it by accident. I am hoping that she will want to go back next week, or even tomorrow. I want to ask Alex about the sauce with the plantains again, I really think it would be super good with artichokes.