• Pastelillos - 2 deep-fried pastry shells stuffed with ground beef, chicken or vegetables $4.95 (shared)
• Pernil Asado (Pork Roast) - Oven cooked Puerto Rican-style pork roast, sliced; served with rice and house beans $13.95

Puerta Azul is one of those neighborhood places that everybody wants close to them. It used to be just close enough to where I worked to go there for lunch once in awhile, but now no such luck.

So I have been there for lunch a number of times and have always enjoyed it, but I had never been for dinner and I had never had the pernil asado, oh my, I am so glad I was in the mood for pork roast. It was perfectly; melt in your mouth tasty. I have never had anything quite like it. It was one of those dishes that I will think about for a long time and hopefully find a reason to go back to have it again.

Normally, I would say for a place like this, it is great if you are in the neighborhood, but not worth the drive across town, but in this case, if you are in the mood for pork it may just be worth the drive.

• Bistec Encebollado - (Beef Slices with Onions) Marinated thin-sliced beef, with vinegar and garlic, pan fried with glazed onion; served with rice and house beans $17.95

We had a great meal at Puerta Azul, one of St. Paul ’s great neighborhood restaurants. Renee has been to Puerta Azul before for lunch, and I’m slightly disappointed that we waited this long to visit for dinner. I highly recommend both the Pastelillos and Bistec Encebollado. We had good, competent, friendly service. I tried the Malta India, a carbonated malt beverage that had a strong molasses flavor. I did not care for it and will order something else in any future trips to Puerta Azul.