You Gotta Eat: Cuba Cafe

Feast for the senses: Loud, lively Cuba Cafe has broad appeal

By Dave Surratt

Of the many good things to be said about the Cuba Cafe, one is that it's a prime place to acquaint (or re-acquaint) yourself with the plantain: banana's weightier, unsweetened and certainly more dignified cousin. Ours came as a weekday lunch side dish, the Mariquitas con Mojo appetizer ($3.95), where a sizeable pile of plantain chips sits alongside a fresh garlic dipping sauce. Don't try this with bananas. Bananas are God's creatures too, but ultimately weak-willed ones that could never support a heady garlic sauce with the kind of resolve found in plantains. Give this one a shot when you go. If you're disappointed, it will be due to your own banana issues--don't blame plantains. Plantains are not bananas.

The cafe isn't spacious, but was cheerily packed with a Vegas cross-section clientele: yuppies, families, Gen Xers and girls'-lunch-outers sat enjoying plantains and all sorts of dishes, from the Sandwich Cubano ($6.50)--roasted pork, ham and Swiss hot-pressed on Cuban bread--to the Salmon al Mango ($14.25), a mango-sauced cut of everyone's favorite salmon-colored fish.

Indoors, everything is happening in a small space; the grill sizzles loudly right behind the counter, bistro-style. That sizzle and the overhead samba strains aren't enough to distract, but the noise does lead everyone into proper accompaniment as they yack in their loudest indoor voices. It's fun. It's the way a Cuban cafe ought to sound, and yet there's an outdoor patio area to be found if you need relief. We relocated, but more for the sunny, post-monsoon weather to be found out front. They have Hatuey ($4.25), a fruity, flavorful Cuban beer that goes well not only with plantains (which it goes really well with), but with the Caprese Salad (a $5.75 tomato/mozzarella/balsamic ensemble) and the Ensalada de Aguacate ($4). The latter is a ring of avocado slices (cut from a very well-timed fruit) together with tomato and shredded cabbage--perfect for the palate that blooms on days as springy as this one. The Pollo Tequila ($11.50) is a solid choice--herbed chicken with tequila sauce and chipotle, served with the orangest yellow rice I've ever seen.

There's much more, especially if you're on the pork or sirloin track--no less than eight items, including the Pan con Lechon (a $5.95 roasted pork sandwich with raw onion) and the Filletillo Salteado ($11.95), top sirloin sautéed with garlic, onion, and bell pepper. And if you have no other dessert this week, try the $4.50 Cascos de Guayaba con Queso: simply guava shells with cream cheese. Sweet fried bananas are available too, as a side dish ($2.50), but they're not plantains and they never will be.