Big Plates, Small Prices at Little Cuba

First-time guests to Little Cuba, which opened in early October in the former location of Niecy's, may be more than a little confused. The restaurant’s street address is South Orange Avenue, but you can only access the front door via the back parking lot. Plus, the establishment describes itself as a “cantina” during lunch hours, which after an extensive Internet search, I discovered can also be defined as “a home-delivery food catering service,” as opposed to the more commonly known bar reference. But one thing patrons won’t have any trouble figuring out is the bill. Lunch at Little Cuba is a steal.

Many describe Cuban cuisine as a blend of flavors, products and techniques from Spain, Africa and the Caribbean. Little Cuba’s menu showcases a number of items that may go by the same name and at first glance may look similar to Mexican, Colombian and Portuguese dishes; however, the spicing and preparations prove that there are indeed several points of difference. The devil is in the details, and there is much to like—and much that’s an “acquired taste”—about each.

The lunch board at Little Cuba’s cantina changes daily and is part of the establishment’s cafeteria-style set-up. Diners may take-away or enjoy their meal at the many tables in the restaurant’s two large dining rooms. The combo special ($8.95) includes a choice of entrée plus two sides (black rice, white rice, yellow rice, black beans, sweet plantains, or yucca). A variety of sandwiches ($7.95), including the classic Cuban, are also available, as are soups ($4.95) and salads ($6.95).

I arrived at Little Cuba hungry and ready for an adventure. The ladies behind the counter were welcoming and eager to show their homemade “authentic Cuban” specials: pernil, which is a Cuban roast pork, tamales, roast turkey, garlic mashed potatoes and pumpkin butternut soup. Already, I am not sure what to make of the place, having never seen turkey, mashed potatoes, or pumpkins anywhere near Cuba. But that didn’t stop me from ordering two combo plates, which was virtually everything they had.

By far, the cantina’s best offerings are the rice and the black beans. I’ve had my share of black beans, and they can be mushy, gloppy, pasty, heavy, bland, and all kinds of bad. Little Cuba’s, however, were delicious. The beans were firm and tossed in a light, refreshing sauce. It had the concentrated flavor of having been cooked for days, but with the texture of practically an al dente bean salad. The yellow rice was a bit heavy on the salt, but jam-packed with olives and flecks of onions and red and green bell peppers.

Little Cuba’s roasts, while impressive to look at, were a bit one-dimensional. The pernil was particularly tender—almost shredded even. Although both the pernil and the turkey had been cooked well, they lacked punch and definitely needed the accompanying gravies (and mushrooms in the case of the turkey) that were offered in order to add moistness and another flavor profile.

The garlic mashed potatoes were wonderful, albeit not very Cuban: home-style chunky, with just the right hit of garlic that doesn’t make you feel like you’re warding off vampires (and everyone else in the near vicinity). The sweet plantains, tamale and pumpkin butternut soup were enjoyable, although not particular stand-outs. What did stand out, however, was Little Cuba’s portions. For $8.95, I certainly got a fair amount of food that was definitely filling.

Dinner at Little Cuba is strictly a sit-down affair, and the dining rooms are comfortable, appropriately lit, and festively decorated. Appetizers run the gamut from beef- or chicken-filled Empanadas Cubano ($3.95) to a fried potato-like Malanga Frita ($3.95) to Camarones de Coco ($5.95, coconut shrimp) to beef tamales ($3.95). Salads are tamer with a heavy American slant (Caesar, $8.95; Pears Salad, $9.95; steak salad, $14.95), with the exception of the Sugar Cane Lime Chicken Salad ($12.95). However, entrees return to the mother country and include traditional favorites such as Bistec Empenizado ($14.95, breaded steak), Pollo Asado ($13.95, roasted chicken), pan-seared coconut salmon ($15.95), and Havana Style Pork Ribs ($13.95).

Little Cuba does not have a liquor license, but it does offer bottled soft drinks, including a popular carbonated malt drink called Pony Malta ($1.65), which looks like Coke but tastes like molasses. The soda is simultaneously sweet and bitter with a licorice after-taste, and according to the wait staff it's “an acquired taste.” Fans of Pony Malta often add condensed milk—and sometimes even an egg. This being Patch and not an actual trip to Cuba in the company of “I Eat Anything”Anthony Bourdain, I opted not to venture further with the drink.

Desserts are also available and include flans in four flavors (traditional, chocolate, coconut and cream cheese) for $4.95. The traditional flan was excellent: creamy, airy and fully infused with the cooked sugar/caramel sauce from the bottom of the large pan it was cooked in. I especially appreciated the fact that the slice was obviously cut from a large flan, instead of the mini, less flavorful individual flans that restaurants sometimes serve. I also tried Pudin de Pan ($4.95), a very dense, brick-like Cuban bread pudding which had a lovely cinnamon raisin flavor if you could just get past the dish’s extremely chewy texture, which was also explained to be “an acquired taste.”

All in all, I was pleased to see another ethnic culinary option arrive in South Orange, and many of its dishes are indeed Cuban favorites. However, I personally found the American options off-putting for a restaurant that bills itself as serving “authentic Cuban cuisine.” I have to wonder if Little Cuba would be stronger if it either entirely focused its efforts on its origins, or perhaps adapted some of its classics ever so slightly to an American palate. If they do, save me a slice of the new Pudin de Pan.

--------------------------------------------------------

Little Cuba

65-B South Orange Ave., South Orange

973-763-4400

Hours of Operation:

Lunch, Monday through Saturday, 11 am-3 pm

Dinner, Monday through Saturday, 5-10 pm

Dinner, Sunday, 2-6 pm

BYO. Children’s menu, banquet facility, and catering available.

Visa and Mastercard accepted.