Cuban Cafe

Price: Affordable
Atmosphere: 2 out of 5
Quality of Service: 4 out of 5
Food Overall: 4 out of 5
Being part Cuban, I expect the best when I decide to dine within the confines and comforts of my culture. If not the best, then at least something I can tell folks about so they can decide for themselves.

The Cuban Café in Boca Raton, FL is a nice addition to my ‘I’d go back to that Spanish inspired eatery’ around town. We started with your typical appetizers at this style of establishment: Boiled yucca with sautéed onions and thinly sliced, lightly fried plantain chips (known as ‘mariquitas’) with mojo.

The yucca, I’ll be honest, has never been my forte. Some people enjoy it, but to me it’s a root, and it tastes as such. The plantains were nice and crispy without being heavy, but the mojo was…well, it was awful. Watery with no body at all, and no garlic that I could tell. It really tasted like water drained from a cumin factory. Not a good start.

As I consumed the complimentary garlic bread (another Cuban staple) to absorb that viscous liquid from my tongue pores, our dinner arrived. My usual for a Cuban restaurant is the Bistec Empanizado, which translated into American is simply a breaded steak. It’s normally topped with diced raw onion and a few dozen limes to squeeze over the top.

The breading is traditionally loose on the steak, and it comes with black beans, rice and fried sweet plantains. First, the sides: The plantains were perfectly sweetened and just like I’ve had several times before at other restaurants. The black beans were very flavorful, and rank with some of the best I’d ever had (especially with my fiancée’s chimichurri poured on top).  

But the steak. This was different from what I’m accustomed to, but it was oh so delicious. The first thing you notice is that the onions are sautéed, not raw. They’re long juicy strands of tastiness, and compliment the steak very nicely. I asked for limes and they brought me lemons. It added a fresh undernote of flavor, but not the same. I’ve never heard of a Cuban joint NOT carrying limes, but moving on.

The next thing I noticed, and this was a total surprise, was that the breading was almost glued to the steak. It was loose and floppy like I was used to (and I’m not complaining about the traditional method, trust me.) But this….this was a lovely change of pace. Lightly fried, lightly breaded, and a nice crunchy texture to the breading as you got into the tender beef.

I also tried some of my mother’s pork chunks, and they were what I’d remembered from times before: Succulent, juicy hunks of piggy, slightly fried and covered with onions and marinated in a nice sour orange and garlic liquid. Flavorful, but it still preserved the tastes of the pork without masking it under 15 other ingredients.

A wonderful café Cubano to close the deal, and honestly, I walked away quite satisfied. I could definitely go back again. It’s a small, quaint little place in a dead shopping type plaza, but don’t be fooled by the lack of cars out front. It’s well worth your trip out to give it a try.

After all, it’s just Da(m)n Good Food.

Cuban Cafe
3350 NW Boca Raton Blvd.
Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561)-750-8860
http://www.cubancafe.com/