Milwaukee has had a smattering of Puerto Rican Restaurants over the years, with Freddy's, Freddy's Too, and El Farol, but the newest addition -- Quimera Cocina Boricua, 631 W. National Ave. -- is perhaps the most accessible we've seen yet.
Husband and wife Jorge and Olga Ramirez, opened Quimera, which means "dream," which has transformed the once part Chinese, part pizza restaurant Red Pagoda into a warm and inviting space with food that will warm your heart.
Service here is friendly and inviting, and the staff is happy to assist as you work your way through Quimera's simple, authentic menu. Expect to find mofongo, a compilation of seasoned and mashed plantains which can be stuffed within chicken breasts or sculptured into a deliciously edible bowl to hold seasoned shrimp, chicken or codfish, and a host of authentic side dishes, including the aforementioned rice, habichuelas rosadas (Puerto Rican pink beans, $2.50) and tostones ($2.50): crisp, lightly fried and salted mashed plantains that are utterly addictive.
A house sampler of bandeja de Quimera ($7.99) is a good introduction, leading with two treatments of ground beef, one stuffed within light, puffy empanadas, the second stuffed within potatoes, and accompanied by tiny light fritters. All are served with a combination of tomato ketchup and mayonnaise, which our server said has grown so popular it is now sold as a bottled product in Puerto Rico.
Authenticity reigns, too, with entrées, which all came with healthy servings of meat, rice, and a shredded green salad. Over two visits, we sampled six different entrée selections, all of which were superb.
I have had the great fortune of eating Puerto Rican food in the kitchens of several friends and extended family members over the years, and have come to love it. This cuisine relies heavily on fresh plantains, sofrito (a base mixture of onion, aji dulce peppers, garlic, culantro and often cilantro), meat, shrimp and a wonderful trademark rice (arroz con gandules) which includes sofrito, tomato sauce and pigeon peas in its most basic form, and is often enhanced with green olives and capers.
The flavors in Puerto Rican cuisine focus on freshness and comfort, not heat, and though much of the meats and appetizers are fried, there is little grease or oil to be actually found on the palate.
Favorites on the menu included camarones al ajillo ($12.95) shrimp in garlic sauce permeated with fresh onions and seasoning within a deftly molded mofongo bowl, bistec encebollado ($9.99) which married thinly sliced, marinated steak with garlic, seasonings, and onion, and pollo frito (fried chicken, $7.99), which came with the diner's choice of chicken piece, tenderly delicious and well seasoned and fried.
Unfortunately, the appetizers and entrées were so good we never left enough room to sample the flan, olguitas (oatmeal caramel delight), or rum cake (all priced at $4 each) at Quimera. But I will undoubtedly return, if not simply to sample dessert, then to try the jibaritos, sandwiches made with plantains rather than bread. A nearby diner said that these jibaritos, in particular the jamon y queso (ham and cheese, $4.99), were better than his mother's. That, to me, is a ringing endorsement.
Quimera Cocina Boricua is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on the weekends. Live entertainment offered on weekends.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
