June 5th, 2010
Bar Restaurante La Sombra, Restaurant, Review, Orocovis, Puerto Rico, Longaniza?
All I can tell you is that I really do hope that the people that vacation in Puerto Rico during winter, take the opportunity to learn about this Island. I had a great time doing so, revisiting so many places long ago forgotten and discovering new ones that took my breath away.
The heart and center of Puerto Rico is the town of Orocovis. And, yes, you guessed it; there was probably a place that we needed to stop for lunch. The specialty? Longaniza. Oh, no, what is it? Not again!! Well, wait a minute, let me tell you about it.
First of all as we entered the town of Orocovis the first thing you saw was the town Plaza. All towns in Latin countries have their churches in the center of the town. This church was very small when you consider all the other towns in Puerto Rico that have cathedral size churches as their town anchor. Puerto Rico is predominantly Catholic.
Orocovis is a crowded little town, typical of all towns in Puerto Rico. There was a coolness in the air, compared to the weather in San Juan that day.
We went by a cemetery that was so high up I could not imagine how all those people got there for the burial.
A bit of trivia? During the Bad Boys II movie, which was supposed to have taken place in Cuba, but partially filmed in Puerto Rico, there is a scene of the Hummer going through the curvy town; yes, that is Orocovis.
We knew we were stopping at Bar Restaurante La Sombra. If you are in the area of Orocovis this is were you will go for longaniza.
Longaniza is a sausage or embutido. Not a chorizo. Seasoned meat, and in the case of La Sombra, pork, chicken or red snapper, is stuffed into pork intestines and is formed very long by hand. I know some of my friends reading this might be gagging, but hey, that is the way sausages are made. They should be happy I am not explaining how blood sausages (morcillas) are made during the Christmas holidays.
Once the longaniza is formed then it is hung to air-dry. The longaniza can be fried in oil or cooked with rice and beans.
Our order consisted of chicken longaniza, rice with pork longaniza and you cannot miss the ever present red beans, and tostones (plantains). It needs to be noted that everything is grown and freshly made at La Sombra, and therefore, you do not have a sense of fullness; the longaniza was not greasy, it was just perfect.
La Sombra is located on Rd. 156, Km 2.8 on the road from Orocovis to Barranquitas. Tel. 787-375-6846. The restaurant is typically open, overlooking the back hills and banana trees.
They are proud to tell you that they are the developers of the original red snapper, chicken and pork longanizas. There is a full bar. We did not have dessert but they do have them all; flan, tres leches, etc. etc.
And the bill? Three of us with drinks and lunch, $35.00.
It really was an unforgettable day with my friends. Talk to you later…yes, from Delaware…
Tags: Bar Restaurante La Sombra, Full Bar, La Sombra, Longaniza, Orocovis, Puerto Rico, Restaurant, review, Reviews
Do you ship to Virgina?
Thanks for your comments. Give them a call because I am not sure. Good luck!!
ummmmm yummy! The best longaniza! What I would give to eat some longaniza from Orocovis! The restaurant looks nice….looks like they did renovations because it didn’t look like that when I went a few years ago. The food is amazing! and I sat over looking the back hills!
Thanks so much for your comments to the blog. Yes they had renovated and those hills are still the same.
I loved the food but we were not to thrill about the service (the girl keep forgetting what we order) and the way they clear the tables…maybe it’s just me but i don’t like people passing in front of me rolling a 30 gallon open trash and another rolling cart full of dirty dishes while I eat. The menu was extreamly limited and 2 out of the 3 things we tried to order they didn’t have (arroz con gandules and sopa de jamon!
I went over a year ago. It was one of those crazy trips trying to hit as many sights as we could on one day. It was in the middle of the week and it was not crowded so maybe that’s why the service was good. I grew up in PR but had never visited the restaurant. Thanks for your comments and by the way, no, I don’t like people rolling carts full of dirty dishes either; I don’t care how casual the place is. It is like anything, at times you tell someone to try something thinking their experience is going to be like yours and it does not work out. Sorry about that.
Orgullosa de ser de tan hermoso pueblo… Nacida y criada en el “barrio de los perros”, como muchos le llaman. Soy bisnieta de Doña Maria, querida por toda su familia.
Esas montañas fueron las que me vieron crecer, tuve el privilegio de despertar cada dia con el olor a longaniza, ya que mi casita esta ubicada en la parte baja de esa montaña.
A tenido muchas renovaciones, pero sigue siendo el lugar con los empleados mas acogedores y coordiales que puede tener un buen negocio. 100% Orgullo orocoveño!!!!
Como dicen, Puertoriquena, como yo.
Me encanto que me haya escrito e informado de todo esto. Ya le contare a mi Mama y primos sobre su e-mail. Muchas gracias. Y, a la verdad que pase una tarde muy acogedora. Gloria