mmm-yoso!!!

Habana Restaurant & Bar

I'd recently heard about a new Cuban Restaurant that recently opened in La Mesa, from reader and frequent commenter Reynila and My good friend and frequent contributor to Chowhound, Gayla. During a quick call to Habana I found out that during Happy Hour(between 4-6 pm) all appetizers are half price, and specialty drinks are $2 off! A good deal. Needless to say, we had a bunch of appetizers. All appetizer prices in the post, are the "menu" prices. To calculate Happy Hour prices, divide by '2'.

We arrived at approximately 430pm, and found Habana empty. The large dining area goes for a tropical feel.

After looking over the "Tropical" drink menu......

The Missus tried a Habanatini($7 - $5 Happy Hour). Kind of on the weak side, but ok overall.

We looked over the menu and started ordering. We decided on 5 appetizers, and ordered one entree to share.

The first appetizer to arrive were the Chicken Croquetas($3.95):

The croquettes were moist and fairly light, though I really could not taste any chicken. As a whole fairly unremarkable.

Beef Empanada ($3.95).

The empananda was quite large, and the exterior was nicely fried and crisp. The filling was pretty dry and the flavor was on the mild side.

The Maduros (Fried Plantains - $4.25), fried well, with a nice sweetness that wasn't cloying. Overall, quite nicely done.

Yuca Frita (Fried yuca), served with a "mojo" ($4.50). The Yuca was crisp on the outside, and moist on the inside. There was a mild sweet flavor to go with the slightly dense stachy interior. The "mojo" was a flavorful concoction. The menu said the yuca was served with a garlic sauce, but we were sure that there was some meat in the sauce. Our suspicions were confirmed when we asked what was in the sauce, and the word "pork" was mentioned. No wonder it was so tasty!

The Yuca con Mojo - the best dish of the night ($3.95). The boiled Yuca was served with a lemon-olive oil-garlic sauce that bordered on addictive. The sauteed onions added an almost sweet flavor to the dish.

We also ordered one entree to share. The classic Cuban Dish, Ropa Vieja($11.50), we ordered Arroz Morro and Papa Dulce Roja(Yams) as our "sides".

The dish was a disappointment. The Arroz Morro, supposedly black beans and rice simmered in wine was flavorless. The black beans were also very hard. The yams were nothing special either. The Ropa Vieja was dry and tough, and very mild in flavor. Of the four version of Ropa Vieja I've had so far, this is ranked at a solid "number 4".

Would I recommend Habana? I'd say if you want to go for Happy Hour, I would say that the food is a fairly good value. How can you argue with $2 appetizers? We probably be back to Habana for the Yuca con Mojo, and maybe try another Entree. Out total bill for the evening, for 5 appetizers, two specialty drinks, and one entree was $37. Habana also offers a Sunday Brunch:

I forwarded the photos of the menu to Jim the Brunchmaster.

One last item, our Server, Amy, was excellent. So nice and efficient.

Habana Restaurant & Bar
7777 University Ave.
La Mesa, CA 91941
619-713-2011

Tropical Star

Tropical Star, another "strip mall treasure" is located right next to Noble Chef. This combination Market and Restaurant serves up a large variety of Latin American Cuisine. Over the years, I would usually just get a "Cuban" or "Bauru" (In this case Hot Ham and Cheese) sandwich($5.95). But recently we dropped by a few times and kind of "spread our wings" a bit.

This little market cafe serves up a large variety of food.

The Ropa Vieja(Cuban Braised Shredded Beef - $9.50):

The dish comes with Black Beans, sweet Fried Plantains, and Rice. The Ropa Vieja(shredded braised beef) was a bit on the "dryer" side then what I'm used to, though the flavors were very good. The plantains were nicely fried, both starchy and sweet, though not a cloyingly sweet as other versions I've had.

The Pastel Y Arroz Con Gandules($7.50):

These Puerto Rican style grated banana "tamale", is stuffed with pork, wrapped in a banana leaf and boiled. It is served with rice with "Gandules"(Pigeon Peas) and a green salad. The rice was nothing to write home about. The Missus loved the flavor of the pastel and was very happy to find out that you can order them at $3 a piece, or a dozen for $30.

The Bandeja Paisa($12.95), a carb and protein loaded plate in the style of the region of Paisa.

The plate consists of red beans(good - I sensed a slight "porky" flavor) come with a cornmeal cake(reminded me of a pupusa for some reason), sliced beef(terrible; tough, dry, bland), chicharron(thick cut, almost like pork belly - yum!), and sweet fried plantains.

And we mustn't forget the fried egg on rice.

I ordered the "Picada" Colombiana (Columbian Combination - $13.99):

Okay, are you ready? Chorizo, Morcilla(blood sausage), Chicharron, Patacones(Twice fried green plantain patties - fairly bland), Fried Yucca(crisp on the outside, starchy on the inside - carb-o-licious), Cornmeal Griddle Cake, and Papas Criollas(roasted yellow potatoes - more heavenly carbs). Whew!

The morcilla was the more flavorful and moist of the two sausages. The Chorizo was rather dry, and not much better, or worse then any I've had.

And of course, the missus's favorite. Tamal Colombiano($7.50):

A pork and chicken Colombian style tamale. Very moist, and full of flavor. You can watch the Missus dissect it for eating:

Interestingly enough, on the bottom of the tamale is a layer of those yellow potatoes, giving the tamale a nice starchy flavor and texture.

The Missus also discovered what looked and tasted like capers.

As you can tell, she really enjoyed this!

Notes on Tropical Star: This is a Mom and Pop operation, so there can be a wait for your food. The prices do seem to be a bit on the high side for a little market and take-out operation, but the food is pretty good. As with most restaurants that attempt a far ranging and diverse menu, not everything will be great. Overall, Tropical Star is worth a try.

Tropical Star
6163 Balboa Ave
San Diego, CA 92111

Open Monday - Saturday 11am - 9pm, Closed on Sundays.

Andre's Cuban Restaurant

After passing Andre's Patio Restaurant on Morena Boulevard hundreds of times we finally decided to drop by during the past weekend to grab some Cuban Food for lunch:

The restaurant was fairly empty except for a family of 8 having a large lunch and another couple at a nearby table. After looking at the reasonably priced menu we ordered a few "standard" Cuban dishes to get our bearings.

We started with 1 Cheese ($1.50) and 1 Beef ($1.75) Empanada:

This was a rather inauspicious start, as the Empanadas were pretty soggy. The Cheese Empanada was especially bland. We soaked the empanadas in Habanero Hot Sauce in order to make them palatable, and didn't even finish the cheese empanada. I was starting to write this place off when the Yuca con Mojo arrived, and not a moment too soon:

This wonderfully flavored dish is delicious simplicity at it's best. Simmered Yuca is served with a slightly citrusy Garlic-Herb Olive Oil, very similar to Mojo Criollo(Spanish Garlic Sauce). If you've never had yuca, it will fool you the first time you eat it. As you initially bite into the yuca, the texture is like potato; but as you bite further you realize how really dense and starchy this tuber is. Dipped into the garlic oil, it is simply delici-yoso dense and starchy goodness.

The Missus ordered the standard Cuban beef dish Ropa Vieja ($8.95):

Literally translated as "old clothes" Ropa Vieja is beef that is stewed with onions and other herbs in a tomato based, wine "sauce", then shredded. The result here is a very tender, flavorful, and rich dish. Served with nice fragrant rice and velvety black beans, that were a bit too loose, almost like a bean soup, though the flavor was nice and mild. Altogether this is what I would consider to be a very pleasant home style meal. The portion size was excellent, and I enjoyed the "peas" as well.

I ordered the usual Cuban Sandwich ($6.95):

A classic " sandwich mixto" is a pressed roast pork, ham, swiss cheese, and dill pickle sandwich, served on "Cuban Bread", and "pressed". This process creates a very crisp crust, with a somewhat gooey interior. Though this sandwich did not really meet all the criteria, it was still good. The outer portion was crusty, and the combination of flavors were excellent. The funny thing with this sandwich is that if you remove the components and tasted each individually, you really wouldn't think much of it. It's the sum of all the ingredients that makes this sandwich, and creates a nice texture and taste. I don't think the "classic" Cuban Sandwich includes mustard, but it sure worked here.

Andre's food and atmosphere does create the relaxing impression that you are just enjoying a nice homemade meal. The service, though not very friendly, and a bit on the slow side, was adequate, and I think we will be back soon. It seems that Andre's is doing pretty good business, they are expanding into the space next door, creating a larger space that looks much more refined, though I think I enjoy the casual "patio" space.

Andre's Cuban Restaurant
1235 Morena Blvd
San Diego, CA 92110