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My husband and I are transplants from NY and have had a hard time finding good spanish food. We grew up around it (both of our families cook it) and I cook it at home. We went to Carmens Cuban Cafe and did not like it AT ALL! It did not taste like home cooked cuban food. It came out cold....and it was just gross. So I have just been cooking our rice and beans, platanos, pollo guisado, etc.... I want a night off!!!! I just want to find a really good place so we can get good food w/out me having to cook! LOL Any suggestions? (Besides Carmens)
My family went to Havana Grill last night, and we didn't think it was very good. Granted, I don't have a ton of experience with Cuban found, but we found the meat generally dry and tasteless. The rice and beans were fine, and I suppose the maduros were okay although I'm not a big plantain fan to begin with. The tres leches was very good. But it was the main meat dishes that we were not fans of. Perhaps the sandwiches would have been better, as they seem to be famous for those, but we thought we'd try entrees instead.
Keep in mind that it isn't fancy in the least...styrofoam plates and plastic silverware are all you get.
I'm surprised the OP didn't like Carmens. I also grew up eating PR/Cuban food (20 years in Puerto Rico) and I've eaten at Carmens a few times. It's not the best food, but it is authentic. It's what I'd expect to find in a comparable restaurant in Miami (i.e. an inexpensive Cuban restaurant).
I have not found any other good PR/Cuban food here, tho. I've been to Cuban Revolution once and had their cuban sandwich, but it was terrible (it had one thin slice of roast pork and one regular slice of ham, definitely missing the meat).
My wife hasn't liked any Cuban food (she's an actual Cuban) since we moved here. She says you can tell there are Mexicans doing the cooking because of the slight flavor changes from what she's used to (and what she cooks for us at home). There is Tropical Picken Chicken in Wake Forest which is more of a "fast food" type of restaurant but they do have some pretty authentic tasting Cuban dishes and the guy who owns it is Cuban.
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