If you don’t have the time to fly over to Puerto Rico, stay here and taste authentic Puerto Rican food at El Coqui restaurant, 5443 E. 22nd Street (just west of Craycroft). The restaurant is named after the coqui frog, beloved in Puerto Rico. Photos and metal/wood mementos of the small frog are displayed in the restaurant.

Some friends who have visited Puerto Rico invited me to dinner and we were all surprised at how delicious the food was. We tried the Ensalada de la Casa (house salad) with marinated grilled shrimp, the Pechuga del Pollo (grilled chicken breast), and Templeque coconut pudding. The latter was very similar to our haupia coconut dessert back home in Hawaii. But the other two dishes were uniquely Caribbean and not like Polynesian cuisine at all.

El Coqui opened a few months ago and is a family style restaurant, with live music on the weekends. Next time I’m aiming to try the tilapia or salmon on the menu and their Fried Stuffed Plantains (like bananas I think). They even serve exotic guanabana (sour sop) and tamarindo drinks.

The restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 11 to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Phone # is 520-790-5357.

Viva el coqui?

Note: The coqui frog has invaded the east side of the Big Island of Hawaii where I am from, and is causing a community wide effort to slow their spread to the westside of the island. Having no natural enemy, these tiny frogs have been multiplying rapidly and are considered an invasive species. Though beloved in their native Puerto Rico, Hawaiians are attempting chemical eradication (and other methods) with little success. In the long run, the loud chirping at night (dusk to about 3 a.m.) may have to be tolerated and accepted.

coqui frog, beloved or a threat?

I hear them increasing in numbers every time I go home for a visit and believe me, they are LOUD. Sometimes you can’t hear the speaker at a meeting if there are coqui frogs outside the building (decibel readings have been measured at 80 to 90). According to the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture website, the problem is that “In some areas, populations may exceed 10,000 frogs per acre, which consume more than 50,000 insects per night. As such, coqui may endanger native Hawaiian insect populations, including plant pollinators, and compete with Hawaii’s native birds.”

As far as I know, the coqui frog has not spread to any of the other Hawaiian islands as yet.

Viva el coqui, but not in Hawaii.

A restaurant listing of “international” in another newspaper last week mentioned Polish, Latino, and Ethiopian restaurants in Tucson. Along with those was listed my favorite Hawaiian place, Lani’s Luau on the northwest corner of Harrison and Golf Links. But as I thought about it, I questioned whether Lani’s should be listed as “international”, being as Hawaii has been the 50th state since August, 1959.

I was born and raised there in Hawaii, and grew up in a rural village with a colonial atmosphere (white people in charge of ethnic sugar plantation working families, descendants from all over the world). Then most of the sugar and pineapple plantations closed due to cheaper overseas production, and Hawaii switched economic bases to tourism and alternate agriculture (coffee, macadamia nuts, flowers).

Because Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific, people from all over the world visit and emigrate there. Remember that President Obama’s father (from Kenya) and mother (from Kansas) met and married in Honolulu. My sister in law in Kona is from Australia, and my Honolulu niece has married a guy from Morocco, adding to the international flair of Hawaii.

Hawaiian cuisine is the result of these islands being the Crossroads of the Pacific and because of the mix of ethnicities living in Hawaii. Leilani (Lani) Dowling, the cook at her restaurant does serve authentic Hawaiian plate lunches, desserts, and juices. Taking a look at her menu you will notice that Hawaiian food incorporates recipes that are Japanese (teriyaki chicken), Korean (kim chee), Filipino (lumpia), Portuguese (sausage and malasadas), Chinese (char siu bao, called manapua in Hawaii).

Lani and her husband Zane also truly exhibit the friendly “aloha spirit” I’ve previously written about as a My Tucson columnist last year for the Tucson Citizen.

So, in answer to my title’s question, go and find out for yourself at Lani’s Luau (2532 S. Harrison Rd.) whether their cuisine is international or just typical Hawaiian.

Phone # there is 886-LUAU (5828), closed Sunday and Monday.