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to Buffalo Gazette IndexWishBone Bar-B-Que
Puerto Rican Cuisine
549 Niagara Street 885-6180
by Michael I. Niman & Laura McClusky
With hot summer nights now on hand, nothing beats a lakeside dinner picnic with tropical Puerto Rican food and a Canadian sunset as a backdrop. Think of it as a mini vacation; a three hour mid-week escape to a cool breezy resort. It’s easy, economical and purely Buffalo. Simply stop by Wishbone Bar-B-Que on Niagara Street, two blocks south of Porter Avenue, buy dinner, then head on over to nearby LaSalle Park at the foot of Porter Avenue. Grab a picnic table and imagine you’re in the tropics! With a plate full of pernil, tostones, pastilles, guineos and yellow rice with gandulas, you’re almost there.
Despite the “bar-b-que” in their name, Wishbone’s strong point is their Puerto Rican cooking. Two menu items in particular, their tostones and pastelles, stand out as superior. The tostones ($1.75), fried plantains, are the best we’ve had. They’re moist, yet not oily, and full of flavor. Pastelles are always a confusing menu item. In Central America, the word is used to describe desert cakes. In many Puerto Rican restaurants, it describes a small deep fried meat filled pastry, mush like a Jamaican meat patty. At Wishbone, it describes a fantastic treat of a tamale, wrapped in a traditional banana leaf, with a foil outer wrapping, cooked in a flavorful broth. This pastelle/tamale ($1.75) comes filled with chunks of pork, olives, potatoes and corn. Delicious! The dough is made from cornmeal. Exceptional! Moist, juicy, and flavorful, it’s a wonderful treat that is especially rare in Buffalo where tamales are impossible to find. (Especially since we have no authentic Mexican restaurants here).
The Guineos (60 cents) are small balls of mashed potato, gently flavored with garlic, and filled with ground meat and peppers. Very Good eating! Even though they are deep fried, they are not that greasy. The secret here, is maintaining the proper oil temperature and quality. Good fresh hot oil makes for well cooked non-greasy treats. The Yellow Rice and Gandulas (gandulas are pigeon peas - $1.75 small, $3.50 large) are flavored with a generous amount of roast pork and a touch of garlic. It’s quite tasty, but a bit greasy.
Wishbone’s forte seems to be their rotisserie roasted chicken. They always seem to have around 20 birds on the rack and they move out the door quite briskly. At $6.50 for a whole roasted chicken, $3.70 for a half or $1.75 for a quarter, it’s a great deal, especially for a family’s seaside picnic. The spicing is subtle allowing the full chicken flavor to shine through and it’s cooked just right, juicy and tender. It’s a quality bird – much better than the more expensive supermarket take-out variety, which usually dries out under heat lamps well before you buy it.
Ironically, Wishbone Bar-B-Que’s weak point, is their bar-b-qued ribs. We have to admit that we’re partial to woodsmoked smothered soul food style bar-b-que and this ain’t it. On the other hand, Wishbone uses high quality meaty ribs, cooked just right over an indoor gas “bar-b-que” grill. The end product, usually served without additional sauce, is quite lean, yet juicy. They will add extra bar-b-que sauce if you request. The ribs are an excellent compliment to the tropical picnic table.
And remember, no Puerto Rican meal is complete without a bottle of Coco Rico coconut soda. Wishbone has a good assortment of Puerto Rican style drinks. They also serve pernil (roast pork) sandwiches for $3.75 and take-out pernil by the pound, but it was unavailable both times we visited. Since all of Wishbone’s food is cooked and served fresh, they often run out intermittently. If you have your heart set on a particular menu item, call (885-6180) in advance. Otherwise, just show up. A quality meal is guaranteed. They’re open 10 to 10 daily. Jorge and Julia are your hosts. So what are you waiting for? Take a Caribbean shorefront holiday tonight! Enjoy the cool breeze and the delicious flavors of Wishbone Bar-B-Que.