One of my favorite things to do in October (well, all year round, who am I kidding?) is get together with my friends; eat and drink and be merry! I absolutely LOVE restaurants. There is something cozy about dining in the chilly temps and leaving a restaurant warmed and buzzed by the good food, good friends and wine. For this reason, I deeply miss my Restaurant of the Month buddies.
I haven't done a Restaurant Pick in a while. Certainly not because I haven't been going out and stuffing my face, I think it's just because I've been lazy, or maybe because nothing has given me that inner stirring that this restaurant did. I eat small portions, but I love food! And when food is so good that it I am moved in my soul, I just have to share!
My fifteenth featured Restaurant Pick is Cubana Social:
70 North 6th Street
Brooklyn, NY
Cuisine: Cuban
I RARELY travel to Brooklyn because it's in the opposite direction from where I live and these days, I am all about refusing to go out of my way and shortening my commute time. But it was one of my bestie's birthdays so I had to travel to the BK. My friend’s party didn't begin until later so I looked online for a restaurant in the area where I could kill time and Cuban Social was the winner; mainly because I love Latin food and also because I am a snob and they had a website (the others places didn't) and I like to scope out the menu and the place before go.
I’d stupidly had a smoothie for lunch that day, so by the time I got to the restaurant I was starving to the point of nausea. I wasn’t even sure if I was hungry anymore, but I had to eat, because there would be alcohol later.
I ordered the Ropa Vieja Classica (grass fed brisket stew with tomato, poblano & olive, maduros, arroz, frijos) and Edward ordered the Lechon Cubano (8 hour slow roasted & garlic citrus marinated pork, arroz, frijos). Now, my mouth is watering...
The food was GOOD!! Like moan, close your eyes and take a moment of silence to let the food sit on our tongue without chewing, good!
I completely wasn't expecting the food to be that good because I'd judged the restaurant by the swanky hipsters creeping out of every crevice of the neighborhood and the restaurant alike with their fedora / newspaper boy hats and prescription-less geek-chic glasses. But let's be honest, the swanky hipsters aren't the ones who were cooking the food, so I shouldn't have judged the place from the diners / employees.
No matter how hungry I am, I never finish my food, so I took the rest home and ate it the next day. I wasn't sure if I thought the food was that good because I was so hungry the day before, but it was just as damn good the next day!
The only complaints I have, which aren't really complaints, just things Louise doesn't like, is that it’s too dark in the restaurant. It's nice to be romantical and all, but I also like to see what I'm eating. And there is wonderful, live jazz being performed as you eat, but you can’t hear what the person sitting next to you is saying.
Maybe I'm getting old, but I don't want to shout my dinner conversations. I guess to avoid such things, I would have to go next time before the music gets live.
...And there definitely will be a next time!
Visit their website for more of their menu options.
Enjoy and until next time, happy eating!
~Louise C.
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Photos from cubanasocial.com