Our Last Cuban Bite out of Miami

David's Cafe (If you click this link be prepared to be blasted with some loud Latin music.  Don't say I didn't warn you)
South Beach, Florida
April 7, 2010
10ish pm

Well, I definitely couldn't leave Miami without having a Cubano sandwich!  We heard David's had a great one as well as some other classic home style Cuban foods.  Also on the positive, it was open 24 hours!  So on our last evening in Miami we took our final leisurely walk down Ocean Drive stopping to people watch and having the occasional drink before deciding it was time for a later dinner.  Here's a quick shot of me after a drink at the famous Clevelander. 

As we walked over to David's we immediately noted the traditional South Beach decor.  Since it was later in the evening, but not yet time for the clubbers to be piling in, the restaurant was fairly deserted.  But we were warmly welcomed and took a seat at the counter. 

I already knew what I wanted, but Erik took some time to decide which Cuban delicacy to try.  While he poured over the menu we were served some Cuban bread to nibble on.  It was lusciously buttered. 

Erik decided on the albondigas catalana (meatballs) with yuca frita (cassava) and frijoles negros (black beans).  This dish was simply amazing!  The meatballs were light and tender and the sauce had an interesting mildly spiced flavor. There was just a hint of cinnamon and possibly cayenne that made for an interesting spin on what we are used to as the typical meatball dish.  We had never had fried yuca before and were pleasantly surprised by the tender, warm center and crispy fried outside.  This could easily be a great alternative to the french fry.  The black beans and rice were also nicely spiced and flavorful. 

I, as was aforementioned, ordered the sandwich cubano.  I must say I was a little underwhelmed.  It was not a bad sandwich by any stretch, but it also wasn't much more than a ham sandwich I might make myself for lunch when trying to conserve some calories by not adding too many fillings.  To me, the sandwich was heavy on the bread and light on the fillings.  The Cuban bread was fresh and good.  The ham and pork were also good, and the traditional additions of pickles and yellow mustard make for a good ham sandwich.  I just wanted more of it all!  I also was not a huge fan of David's style of fries.  They were julienned and very crispy, almost to the point of being more of a potato chip's texture than a french fry.  I missed the tender inside of a thicker cut fry. 

But honestly the highlight of the place, was the cook of the evening.  I have never been able to watch a cook who seemed so simply happy to be doing his job.  He took such care in assembling each dish, was truly interested in what we thought of things, and almost seemed to be whistling and dancing as he worked!  He just seemed to have a contagious positive zest for life that made dinner at David's that much more enjoyable.  And this was how he was at 10 o'clock at night!  Here's a glimpse as he puts another sandwich together (too bad I didn't get a shot from the front). 

Overall, we enjoyed David's.  The meatballs were fantastic, but the Cubano was just so so for me.  We'd definitely go back, but probably stay with the home style dishes and fried yuca! 

Total Price:  Not sure again, but things were very reasonable.  The albondigas were about $10 and the Cubano was about $9. 

Overall Rating:  3 1/2 buckeyes

Our First Cuban Bite of Miami

Puerto Sagua
700 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida
April 5, 2010
7ish pm

Now I know many Miami-ites will argue that you can't get good Cuban in South Beach.  For that you need to venture to Little Havana, and believe me I would have loved to make the trip and judged for myself.  But the fact of the matter was that our trip time was short and we chose not to rent a car.  Therefore, we had to localize our eating adventures to places quickly accessible from our hotel, which centered us around South Beach food.  We had also heard that if you want traditional Cuban in South Beach, Puerto Sagua was the place to go.

Puerto Sagua ended up being one of these lovely mom and pop restaurants that have so much character because haven't changed there decor since they opened and they know there popularity isn't based on a restaurant "concept" as we call it now, but is simply based on comfort and good food.  I'm also fairly sure some patriarch in the family (likely the guy who nodded us to our seats) also has the mantra "if it aint' broke don't fix it".  This place is definitely not one of the uber-trendy, see and be seen restaurants that generally gets featured when writing about South Beach.  In fact, it's just the opposite.  As you walk up to the restaurant it looks a little dingy on the outside and the lower wall is covered in these "colorful" tiles reminiscent of the 1960's.  If I hadn't done my research, I'm pretty sure I would have missed this great experience. 

From my research, I found  out that this place has been open since 1968 and was one of the first Cuban restaurants to open in the Miami area.  Currently, this place is popular with locals and tourists alike and is generally pretty busy when entering.  It would best be described as a Cuban diner.  Locals tend to sit at the counter and talk over a great cup of Cuban coffee, while tourists tend to come in groups and gravitate more towards the tables.  Spanish is the first language spoken, but there is always enough English to get an order in or get your point across. 

Now that I reflect back, I think this language piece was one of my favorite things about Miami.  Throughout our stay I definitely heard more Spanish than English, which gave a feel of being in another country and often in another culture without the international vacation price tag! 

Anyway, back to Puerto Sagua.  As we entered we saw the place was packed and wondered if we'd get a spot anytime soon.  As we were looking around the man behind the corner (who looked like he was likely in charge of the place) gave us a curt nod towards two spots at the counter.  His mannerisms reminded us very much of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld.  Because of this we quickly and obediently sat down and took a no nonsense approach to looking over the menu. 

Because of our counter seats we got a good view of how the kitchen worked around us.  The sandwich press was right in front of us and it seemed to have a non-stop 1-2 Cuban sandwiches crisping up in it.  I would love to know how much Cuban bread they go through in a day.  They keep long loves of the bread in a trash can beside the press and just pull it out as they need it.  It was funny to see this because, at first glance, we thought they were taking bread out of the trash for the sandwich!  But just in the short time it took us to order and eat our dinner the bread can needed to be refilled.  I would have taken a picture of this process, but I was slightly afraid (likely an unfounded fear, but a fear nonetheless) that the man behind the counter might take my camera.  :)

Another lady came around to serve us and she seemed to speak more English and was a bit more hospitable.  She likely had spent many years at Puerto Sagua and was no stranger to the non-Spanish speaking tourist.  For once, Erik and I ordered the same thing.  We shared a tamale and both went with the roasted half chicken, rice and beans, and sweet fried plantains. 

Honestly, I could have done without the tamale.  It was okay, but nothing spectacular.  It was a little dry in the center and the flavors a little bland for my taste.  It did look pretty good though.  But in this case, unfortunately, looks were deceiving. 

However, the chicken dish was very good.  Now I must say that this chicken is not unique in any way; but it is your classic moist, fall of the bone, roast chicken that is surprisingly hard to find done well.  And oh was this one done well!  The rice and beans were also flavorful and perfectly spiced with garlic and other traditional Cuban ingredients.  The plantains were buttery sweet with a wonderful caramelized coating. 

Overall, I loved the familiar diner feel of the place, but at the same time feeling a bit like I was in another country.  The food was heartily good. 

Bill Total:  Again, so sorry.  We paid cash and I can't find the receipt.  I definitely need to get better organized for this blog!  For South Beach, the prices were very reasonable.  I'm thinking it was around $10 for the chicken, but that's only a guess. 

Overall Rating: 3 1/2 buckeyes

When You Need to Get Away From the Cold (Which ironically was a great title when I started this post in January. However, now that I'm completing it in June, not so much.)

Banana Bean Cafe

340 Greenlawn Avenue

Columbus, Ohio
January 19, 2010
7:30ish pm 

I had been reading wonderful things about this place for quite some time.  However, it wasn't until this last wave of bitter cold had me craving the Florida sun that we finally decided to give it a try.  The restaurant features "Floribean" cuisine.  What kind of food could possibly sound more vacationy?  That fact plus I learned Banana Bean serves plantains practically had me running there.  When my husband and I were in Key West awhile ago we had one of the best meals of our lives at a homey Cuban restaurant called El Siboney.  That was where I first had plantains and since then I order them whenever I get the chance!  I just love their sweet and sticky goodness.  Actually, we even picked our spring break destination of South Beach almost soley for the reason that we would be able to eat more authentic Cuban food and plantains! 

But I digress...back to Banana Bean.  The restaurant has semi-recently moved from their Geman Village location to outside the German Village on Greenlawn.  It looks like their new building is possibly a converted gas station due to the overhang outside.  The local is definitely not as charming as German Village, but inside the place still gives you a warm vacation feel.  We especially loved the palm tree decorated with Christmas lights and roping!  The restaurant is a pretty good size with a bar area that has a large amount of seating to your left and then a dining room up some stairs to the right.  Overall, the atmosphere is laid back and fun.

We sat down in a comfy booth and immediately began to puruse the drink menu.  Considering we were pretending to be in Florida on vacation I considered it a necessity to have a drink with rum in it.  The only problem was that I loved the idea of the non-alcoholic fancy sodas they described on their menu.  To solve this dilema I politely asked our server if a shot of rum could be added to the Key Lime Cream Soda (cream soda with key lime juice, if I remember correctly).  The bartender and server acted like this was the best idea they had ever heard of and they said they wanted to try one when they got off work!  I really hope they did because this was one of the better drinks I've had in a long time.   It had the frou frou of a vacation drink all wrapped up. 

Overall, our server was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu.  I got the feeling that he loved good food just as much as we do. 

We, of course, ordered the appetizer of flash fried sweet plantains.  The plantains were served with a ya-ya dipping sauce which was very spicy with red pepper flakes and possibly made of Sriracha sauce.  The plantains were cooked to sweet, yummy perfection.  They were carmelized on the outside and tender on the inside.  The sauce was very spicy and on its own I liked it.  I would probably love it as a chicken marinade or with a host of various other foods.  However, I didn't care for it paired with the plantains.  The extreme sweetness of the plantains and the extreme hotness of the sauce seemed to be competing flavors rather than complimentary.  However, the plantains were so good on their own I didn't feel like they needed a dipping sauce and I was just as happy to eat them plain.   

For dinner I ordered the Calle Ocho which was a wonderfully rich sandwich composed of Cuban roast pork tenderloin, an olive and caper spread, and melted Manchago cheese all pressed on herbed Cuban bread that had been heavily buttered.  The sandwich was sensational.  The pork had a wonderful roasted and salty flavor.  I loved the accent flavors the olives and capers gave the sandwich, and due to the butter, I definitely didn't need chapstick later that evening!  I got the sandwich with sweet potato fries, not because I needed any more food, but simply because I couldn't pass them up.  And boy were they were good! 

Erik attempted to order the Keys Poacher, which was smoked salmon over poached eggs over biscuits with goat cheese grits; but was informed that the kitchen was out of biscuits.  They offered that they could serve the meal over toast as a substitute.  However, toast just didn't sound as appetizing so he went with Kacoo's Yahoo Junction (reuben).  We thought it was odd that the kitchen would be out of biscuits, since the ingredients are common and the recipe is quick to make; but whatever.  We tend to roll with the punches and were saddened by not trying the goat cheese grits, but the reuben definitely did not disappoint. 

The reuben was very good and many have said this is among one of the best ruebens in Columbus (Columbus Monthly, July 2007).  I would have to agree.  The bread was a good marbled loaf, and also nicely buttered.  Then there was plenty of layers of in house cured corned beef, saurkraut, and swiss cheese! 

Because our server felt badly that we missed out on the Keys Poacher, he brought us a complementary tres leches cake to share.  It was rich and delicious  Tres leches (three milks in Spanish) is a light sponge cake made with regular milk and then soaked in a mixture of cream, sweetened condensed milk, and evaporated milk.  This results in a very moist, almost custardy cake.  This one had a wonderful vanilla flavor and even though we were in the middle of winter in the midwest, the strawberries that topped it tasted in season!  We were beyond stuffed from the bounty we had already eaten, yet we managed to get half of this cake down and then save the rest for later (but not much later because I ended up finishing it before I even put it in the fridge) :)

Overall, we were really pleased with the restaurant's hospitality and food.  In fact I was so pleased, that I suggested this restaurant as part of a Christmas gift for a friend who had recently gotten back from Key West and was in the mood to extend her vacation feeling for a bit longer.  

During this second visit I had to order the Key Lime Soda with rum in it again.  However, this time the server looked at me like I was crazy (her loss, for sure), but obliged.  She didn't see how the whipped cream on top could possibly go with rum.  Hello, have you ever had a strawberry daquirri??  But whatever, again.  My friend got the margarita that was on special for the night.  It was a typical good margarita. 

 

For dinner we repeated the plantains for an appetizer and my friend got the Calle Ocho for dinner, upon my recommendation.  Both were as good as the first time around  However, this time I was feeeling the pinch of too much holiday fare and opted to go vegetarian with the sandwich (even though from the ingredient list I was well aware that this sandwich wasn't light) :) 

I went with the Duval Street Vegatarian Monte Cristo which was composed of roasted vegetables, goat cheese, and potato pancake on egg battered sourdough bread.  This was served with tomato-chile jam for dipping.  The tomato-chili jam paired with goat chesse on the sandwich was what really interested me in this sandwich, but I must say I was supremely disappointed.  I had envisioned the potato pancake having a nice fried and battered crisp to it on the sandwich, which would contrast to the velvety goat chesse spread and then the tomato jam and roasted vegetables would add extra flavor and zip to the dish.  But there was none of that.  The potato pancake was limp and bairly had a crust.  There was too much bread in relationship to the fillings.  The roasted vegetables were good, but there was barely a goat cheese layer on the sandwich.  Also, the tomato-chile jam was also lacking in flavor in my opinion.  This is where I could have used the ya-ya sauce to kick it up a notch! 

Overall, I felt the sandwich was pretty bland and I was wishing I had gone for a repeat of the reuben or the calle ocho.  The sandwich I had in my head was a good one, perhaps I'll use this one for inspiration and try to make the sandwich in my head at home.  

Bill Total:  (for the first time) 1 Key Lime soda with rum, 2 beers, plantain appetizer, calle ocho with sweet potato fries, reuben sandwich, complimentary tres leches cake, and a good tip for the great service:  $43 (with a buy one get one free coupon from Prestige Dining Club) 

Overall Rating:  Hmmm....based on the first visit I'd give them 4 buckeyes, but only 3 buckeyes on the second visit.  I guess I'll split the difference and end with 3 1/2.