Thursday, March 20, 2008

Restaurant Review: La Cubanita

By The Law Reviewers of The Law Reviewers

DALLAS — Authentic. We use this word daily to describe the various types of cuisines in our fair burg. Just kidding! But you know what? If a Japanese-fusion restaurant (Fuse) wants to use jalapeños in its miso soup, we say, go for it. If an Indian chef (Chaat Café) wants to make “wraps” with its traditional fare, we all win. Sun-dried tomatoes with our harissa (Medina Oven and Bar)? Yes, you can! Pineapple on a microwaved cheese pizza to make it more "Polynesian" (Tahitian Noni Café)? Yuck, how is that place still in business? Taking every shot from the field instead of driving the lane (Mavs)? Yeah, not so much. "Cuban" guacamole (La Cubanita)? Uh, sure?

Tell you what, though, La Cubanita's guacamole may be more Mark than Fidel, but one thing we do know is that it was creamy, chunky, spicy and sweet, all at the same time, and could hold its own at any Tex-Mex place in town. Maybe not authentically Cuban, but satisfying nonetheless. Such was our experience with La Cubanita, which could be summed up as not-so-much a trip to Cuba, but a trip to a Cuban-style restaurant in Uptown Dallas. For you see, no one’s abuela from the old country was minding the grill, but rather cooks trained under the carefully scripted eye of the Globex Corporation’s Lombardi Restaurant Megaglomerate Division (Lombardi’s, Penne Pomodoro, Toulouse Cafe, Taverna, Sangria), a/k/a Lombardi Family Concepts so as not to scare the children. Still, if you're like us and your entire exposure to Cuba consists of watching those few Cuban scenes from The Godfather, Part II and the trailer for Havana starring Robert Redford (not Cuban) and Lena Olin (Swedish!), the authenticity of the place really isn't going to matter a whole heck of a lot. What will matter is whether the place is any good.

On our lunch visit, service was particularly friendly and seemingly authentic. Our waiter even pronounced "guava" without saying the "g", which we're pretty sure from watching I Love Lucy reruns is the mark of authenticity. He was also attentive without being too nosy, which is a difficult trick considering the cozy size of the place. That brings us to atmosphere. For anyone who remembers that this location used to be the old French standby, Chez Gerard (and sadly, if more people did, it would still be around), you'd never recognize it. A long mahogany bar now fills up the right side of the place, and the color scheme rates highly on the bright and cheery Caribbean scale with a white, exposed wood ceiling and light yellow and sea blue wallpaper. Lots of small tables dominate the inside of one fairly small room that probably fills up very quickly on weekends, but which wasn't overly crowded on a week day.

We started our meal out with the Cuban Cigars ($7.95), which were promptly confiscated by U.S. Customs (Thanks, we'll be here all week!). Actually, the dish consisted of three taquitos with the afore-mentioned guacamole. They were crisp, and the pork filling had a slightly sweet taste, but otherwise they weren't too different from your standard Tex-Mex taquitos and eight dollars seemed a bit much even with the tasty guac. The Bistec sandwich, or steak sandwich ($9.95), was a generous mix of sliced flank steak, cheese, red peppers, onions and mushrooms on the same type of pressed roll as the restaurant’s signature Cubano sandwich. Too often, sandwich grade flank steak turns out chewy or tough, but this version was satisfyingly tender.

In contrast, the pork in the Cubano sandwich ($8.95) was pretty much dried out, although the ham it surrounded tasted fine. The sandwich came nicely toasted and oozed with melted Swiss cheese, but it really needed some spicy or tanginess to make it work. Unfortunately, the mustard that was supposed to be in there was a no-show, and the pickles barely registered. Yucca fries with mojo de ajo sauce accompanied the sandwiches. They were piping hot and crispy on the outside but still soft on the inside. Much better than at other places we've tried around town, these fries tasted great when dipped in the no-cholesterol, buttery goodness of the mojo de ajo. Luckily, we also ordered a side of heart-healthy, calorie-free fried plantains ($3.50), which came with a side of sour cream, just to block that one last open artery. The plantains were fried whole and sliced into thirds, a method that brings out the sweetness of the dish; too often they are over-sliced and over-fried. For dessert, we tried the pasteles ($6.50), which are pastries filled with guava and a side of ice cream. The pastries were flaky and the sweet guava filling was yummy, but we think the dessert would taste a whole lot better if it were served warm.

The Lombardi's folks have gotten a little further away from their comfort zone with this newest place, and it sometimes shows. Still, they know how to create a solid restaurant concept that provides interesting and tasty (if not always authentic) food in a cozy, neighborhood atmosphere at not outrageous prices. So, on our fun-facts-about-I-Love-Lucy-star-and-Cuban-emigree-Desi-Arnaz-(courtesy of Google)-inspired five gavel scale, where one gavel is the fact that he once worked as a canary cage cleaner and five gavels is the knowledge that his grandfather was one of the founders of the Bacardi Rum empire, La Cubanita rates three gavels or the appropriate tidbit that Desi Arnaz was responsible for introducing American audiences to the Conga Line. Arriba!

Law Reviewers

Two local attorneys applying their trained legal minds to the world of culinary arts (or at least it's sorta like that).

Michael Anderson (left) with Bracewell & Giuliani; and Anthony Lowenberg (right) with Hermes Sargent Bates.

Pegasus News content partner - The Law Reviewers

Related stories

• Restaurant Review: Baby Back Shak (April 29, 2008)
• Week in View: Good Friday Edition (March 20, 2008)

See more stories in:

• Food and Drink > Dining / Restaurants

Comments

Donna Chen Verified

"La Cubanita's guacamole may be more Mark than Fidel"... classic :)

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Billusa99 Anonymous

The Cuban guacamole is completely authentic and has as much to do with Mexico and this piece does with humor. It is supposed to be made with pineapple in it.

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

The Law Reviewers Verified

Hey there, Bill, a Cuban colleague informed us that guacamole is not strictly a Cuban dish so whaddaya gonna do?

Anyway, we just figured out what the Bill is short for -- you're noted character actor William Atherton (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040472/bio), aren't you? We're huge fans of your work!

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

kirk Anonymous

As evidenced by this continuing series of "reviews," food writing doesn't require an IQ above 80.

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

The Law Reviewers Verified

Wow, now we've ticked off Bill Atherton AND Dean Fearing -- mission accomplished!

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )