Showing posts with label cuban. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cuban. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

food (food) | 90 miles cuban cafe

Over the weekend my girlfriends and I rendezvous'd at 90 Miles Cuban Cafe to dine al fresco. Since our weather was hitting the low 90s and humidity was tolerable, it was mandatory that we enjoyed the great weather.

I was first introduced to 90 Miles by fellow blogger Lisa from Archives Vintage and absolutely loved the experience, but it's taken me almost a year to go back.  In the heart of Logan Square, right on Armitage, is this great restaurant that whisks you away from the city for a few hours and makes you feel like you've been transported to Cuba. 

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The menu is quite large and has some of my personal Cuban dishes like Lechon, Ropa Vieja, Cubano sandwiches, Bistec and more.  With so many great options it was tough to choose, but we opted to start with the Tostones which is fried plantains topped with garlic olive oil, as well as Empanadas that were stuffed with chorizo, beef and Ropa Vieja.  For my main meal I opted for the Puerco Rostizado which is roasted pork with sauteed onions.  Whenever I go to Cuban restaurants, it's tough for me to veer away from pork because they cook it so well and this dish definitely didn't disappoint.  But in all honesty the piece de resistance of all Cuban dishes that I can never resist, are the black beans and rice combo eaten with the sweet fried plantains.  I could devour all that on it's on without touching the meat, but of course each bite was irresistible and I ate every single bit.

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90 Miles Cuban Cafe is a great place if you're not only craving Cuban cuisine, but if you're also looking for a place outside of the city that has great outdoor dining.  There's a large outdoor patio in the front, but the atmosphere in the back area is just as fun.  In addition to those key points, the place is also BYOB and if you bring your own wine - they'll give you a pitcher of sangria fixings and if you bring your own rum, they will bring you a pitcher full of all the mojito goodies.  The only downfall to this place, and really there's only one, is that the restaurant only has one bathroom.  So time your trips to the restroom accurately, but otherwise this place can't be missed!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

food (food) | ropa vieja

Here's the problem with watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives....I watch, I crave and then I get disappointed.  Why?  Because many of the restaurants are not within my reach.  That's when I have to find a recipe somewhere online that might taste as close to what my eyes crave from the TV screen.

That's how I stumbled upon this ropa vieja recipe.  After a half hour of drooling over Guy shoveling heaping spoons full of this tasty Cuban meat dish it sat in my mind for days and I decided that I needed to make it stat.  It's pretty fool proof considering you just toss everything into crock pot and definitely satisfied my craving.


|Do you often crave something after watching cooking shows? Have you discovered new dishes or recipes by watching cooking shows?|