In case of zombie outbreak…”That aside, the mofongo itself was excellent–arriving at my table in the pilon (a wooden vessel looking kind of like a Tiki idol) in which it was made, with a giant ball of soft, mashed and fried plantain floating in a savory, heavily salted chicken broth. Eating it–digging into the soft ball with my spoon and mixing it with the broth–made me feel like some kind of Polynesian zombie eating the brain of a small and wooden god. I ate my way into the fried plantain ball, scooping out crunchy bits of chicharones like prizes–like meat candy buried in the soft ball of spiced starch–and mixing it with the chicken broth and bits of hacked-up chicken breast until I was left with a congee-like slurry of mashed plantain and fried pork and broth that served to make the dry chicken so much more palatable by lubricating and rehydrating it while it sat.”From this week’s review of El Pilon, the new Puerto Rican restaurant on Rainier Ave.Yes, it’s Puerto Rican food this week, right from the heart of Rainier Avenue–one of my top five favorite restaurant neighborhoods in this city full of restaurant neighborhoods.I spend most of my time talking about (and eating) mofongo–Puerto Rican comfort food without equal–so if you’ve got no idea what mofongo is, you should definitely check out the review of El Pilon. Why? Because it’s always nice to learn new things. And if you’re already familiar with mofongo and the entirety of the Puerto Rican comfort food canon, then you should still check out the review because there’s also some zombie jokes, discussions of overcooked proteins and the story of one woman, Marta Vega, cooking soul food for an entire community.It’s a good week is what I’m saying. And you know the drill: on the stands tomorrow afternoon and online a little bit earlier for those of you who just can’t wait.See you all there…