Much like afore-mentioned East Village, Smith Street in Brooklyn is an area jam-packed with restaurants. I’ve been spending a lot of time there lately so I’ve sampled quite a few and Cubana Cafe remains one of my favorites.
It’s a small space that seats about 25 comfortably. It’s intimate, but not to the point where you overhear others’ tedious conversations about work, in-laws and the like, since there seems to be a constant muted buzz of clanking silverware and salsa music. The pastel tiled walls, rickety chairs and patterned plastic tablecloths give the place a festive, homey feeling, and as soon as you sit down, you start craving a tropical drink. Aside from the chilled out atmosphere, what I love about Cubana Cafe is its affordability - nothing costs more that $15.
Their flavored mojitos and sangria are on-point, but on this particular night I was in the mood for a pina colata. I’m a sucker for coconut everything. (Pardon the lousy pictures. They were taken in candlelight and I Photoshopped them as best as I could).
The Cuban sandwich is sinfully delicious. It’s filled with juicy slow-roasted pork, slices of ham, cheese, pickles and chipotle mayo, which isn’t a classic ingredient in this sandwich, but it adds a layer of creaminess and oomph. It comes with a simple mayo-dressed chickpea salad, but between the two of us, I’m not crazy about it.
Cubana Cafe serves their pulled pork in two ways: either with boiled yucca and garlic mojo, or with whipped sweet plantains and a red wine gravy. I usually go for the former but I decided to try the latter for a change. The pork was still great but the whipped plantains were too sweet to be a side dish and proved that yucca is the better choice.
Besides these items, I also recommend the elote appetizer (roasted corn with chipotle mayo, cheese and chili pepper [for a whopping $2.50!]), the ropa vieja (braised beef) and the monterey jack cheese, caramelized onion and hanger steak quesadilla.
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