Ole ! La Comida Cubano

Cuban Pete's

The first thing I'm sure most anyone would comment about Cuban Pete's is the festive atmosphere and decor of the restaurant. Found on Bloomfield Ave. this place is a little Havana nestled in the middle of little Monclair NJ. Immediately entering the restaurant you walk through a small cove decorated in twinkle lights, palm trees (superficial), terra cotta pots, and outside dining tables. You can't help but take in the ambiance and feel as though la playa might be just a few steps away. Enter the restaurant and transcend the space-time continuum into 1980 Havana.

The only thing missing was a heavyset hairy Cuban guy in a wife-beater playing checkers (or at least that's how I imagine Cuba would be).

The menu offered a variety of cuban classics from ceviche, empanadas, tapas, mango salads, to cuban sandwiches and flan. Each entree came with a side of a sweet white rice soaked in coconut and black beans. There's an extensive drink menu with variations on mojitos (watermelon, lemon, peaches) and sangria or what they refer to as white or red punches (apples & cinnamon, banana, mangoes, coconuts). Although I didn't try any tonight I wouldn't hesitate to indulge on some of their fruity and tempting sangrias the next time I go.

According to other reviews of the restaurant issues with wait staff are very hit or miss. My personal experience was a definite hit but then again it was only a Tuesday evening in a half packed front of house. The waiters were all male (coincidence?) and dressed in light khakis, yellow linen shirts, and straw hats all to contribute towards the mood of the restaurant. The wait-staff uniform almost makes the restaurant tacky, like Castro threw up all over the place.


Tapas:
Chicken Empanada and Manchego Cheese & Spinach Empanada with Guacamole. Nothing too unoriginal about the chicken empanadas but the cheese & spinach really stole the show. Delicious! They were light just the way tapas should be with a perfect ratio of spinach to cheese. It's hard to find empanadas that don't give me that greasy feeling after scarfing down a few but these were lightly fried to perfection and came out quickly.


Pollo Tropicana :
Orange mojito chicken with a side of coconut yams and rice. It claims to be an orange mango chicken but frankly there just was not enough mango taste as I would have liked to sample in the dish. It was marinated in traditional spices and grilled to tenderness but there should have been a sweeter flavor to it considering it's a mango chicken.



Caribbean Flounder in Garlic sauce with white rice, sweet plaintains and black beans.
One of the most satisfying dishes I had in a long time. I have been so sick of eating fish lately but this dish made me forget about my no-meat diet. The garlic taste wasn't overwhelming as most dishes usually are when they're fried and sauteed in garlic sauce. But it was absolutely perfect combined with the black beans. A+ !!

Apparently my dish of choice the Havana Coconut Fish was so popular that they sold out...stay tuned til next time !



OVERALL:

Spoons : 4 out of 5

Service : 4

Food : 4

Ambiance : 5

Price for 2 : $43 plus tip.

Like the rest of those familiar with this restaurant, I look forward to the warmer weather to return and sip on sangrias outside =)

- evie

Going SoGreen is SoSexy.

I hadn't been to the mall in quite some time but apparently during my absence a SoGreen Yogurt opened up where the SoupNazi/Man used to be right in the center of the Menlo Park Mall Food court. Alas ! I no longer have to journey to K-Town/Asia/Miami to satiate my craving for fat free frozen yogurt. What a perfect and healthy alternative to the calorie fest that Coldstone Creamery has to offer.

I believe it is every bit as good as the traditional PinkBerry, Yogurbella, or Red Mango with frozen yogurt staples of strawberries, mangos, chocolate chips, and oreo cookies. They also feature strawberry, green tea, and mango flavored yogurts beyond the original.

I opted for the original tart with mochi, strawberry, and lychee. I had never seen lychee offered before in American settings but it is by far my favorite topping ! (Except in Thailand where Red Mango has a delicious coconut jelly but I have yet to come across it here).

Spoons: 5 out of 5

Price for small original with 3 toppings : $5.80

- Eve ;)

Note: Although our latest ventures have included us going only as far as Menlo Park Mall readers rest assured that we will provide you with the spoon (scoop!) on eateries both near and far. We hope you find our opinions clear and our advice helpful in your efforts to find nourishment and satisfied bellies !

"I paid $2 for a teabag"

ICHIUMI SUSHI & SEAFOOD BUFFET

So, we're still trying to figure out the kinks of having both of us blog at the same time. For now, Ling will write normally, and Eve's comments will be in italics.

We managed to trek over to Ichiumi Sushi & Seafood Buffet at Menlo Park Mall in Edison tonight. We were joined by Dilla, our Visual Art Director aka photographer. So the pictures are going to look like they were ripped off the Ichiumi website, but they were really taken by Dilla, who took her job way too seriously.

First impression: Very spacious, open .. not crowded but then again it only opened last week. Great buffet layout ... reminiscent of Kitchen Stadium with all the chefs running around minus the color commentary courtesy of American voice-overs.

Right off the bat, the sushi selection was pretty stellar. Sushi rolls, regular sushi, sashimi ... all with great presentation. The sashimi wasn't just your run-of-the-mill salmon and tuna (sea urchin!). Decent variety but nothing too far from ordinary.

Yes, there are snow crab legs, raw clams and raw oysters. So if you're that (asian) guy who goes to the buffet just to get a shitload of crab legs ........ you'll get your fix.

Major props for service. The wait staff was attentive, and management checked on us more than once.

They were like house elves as they were constantly clearing our plates and refilling my mug of tea.

Worth mentioning:

1) The BBQ station - Two cooks kept churning out BBQ meats, yaki-tori, langoustines, and more. I sampled some of the seafood pancake and pork; a good effort, but the BBQ itself wasn't really worthwhile. Eve didn't get to sample anything meat-like because she made the very stupid move of giving up meat for Lent.

What the hell was I hallucinating when I decided to give up meat for Lent. Probably one of the most difficult things I've ever attempted as I usually have no self control when it comes to satisfying my whims. But as for the seafood pancake, the ratio of seafood to pancake was pretty one-sided with seafood overwhelming the pancakey-ness. Our favorite seafood pancake still comes from Kimchi Hana.

2) (The) Make your own crepe station! - A made-to-order crepe station with very passable crepes and various fresh fruit for fillings. Not bad. Note: skip the Red Bean ice cream and just stick with the Green Tea. The Red Bean tasted like bubblegum.

I'm still trying to figure out what that cream was. As far as desserts went there was a slew of microscopic dessert portions ranging from cheesecake squares, cream puffs, to jello (nonalcoholic) shots and fruits. I really wouldn't save too much room for dessert unless it was for the crepes.

My strawberry, mango, pineapple and cream filled crepe à la Green Tea ice cream. Yum! We don't have a picture of Ling's because she couldn't wait to take a picture before eating it.

3) The Tempura/udon/ramen station - AWESOME. I love when buffets do this. Made-to-order noodle soups and, as a added plus, shrimp and soft shell crab tempura fried up right in front of you. Two types of noodles, udon and ramen, both were pretty good. Soft shell crab tempura didn't rock our world.

Try the Tokyo Ramen with fishballs, the broth was beef based and slightly bland but with their added seasonings it's almost perfect. Brings back memories of street side food carts in Asia.

One major beef (har har har) or lack there of, was the hot food section. There seemed to be a lot of choices at first, but upon closer inspection, all the hot food was basically the same. Beef teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, BBQ chicken, and like, 8 different kinds of fish. Literally. Just filets of various types of fish took up most of the hot buffet. Salmon, Chilean Sea Bass, Yellow Eye, Pollock, etc. So basically, chicken or fish. We'd like to see more variety and creativity in this department.

We were irked by the fact that they charged us $2 for Eve's white tea because it's usually thrown in for free (although it did get us a great quote of the night and this blog title: "I paid $2 for a teabag.").

Basically, if you're a sushi lover and you've never been to the likes of Minado or Makkoli, you will likely spontaneously orgasm as soon as you see the buffet. And you'll fall in love with this place but never realize that there are bigger and better sushi buffets out there more worthy of your love.. but, you can be blissfully ignorant for a while. It's worth the $28 weekday/$31 weekend dinner charge in sushi alone.



OVERALL: There's potential. I would fork this place again ... but while I was forking Ichiumi, I'd be thinking about other restaurants. It's good enough for a good time, but it's not the one I want to settle down and grow old with.

It truly is a sushi and seafood buffet and that's what you should go there for. Ichiumi made giving up meat for the Lenten season just a little bit easier with their array of seafoods and vegetarian delights. But I'd have to say my favorite part of the meal was the Milkita sweets they offered in their candy bowl. I'd pay $30 again just to eat it.

FORKS: 3 out of 5

SPOONS: 3.5 out of 5

- Ling and Eve

The Beginning

Welcome to the Fork Then Spoon food blog!

Neither of us want to talk about ourselves, so we're going to introduce each other.

Eve is a 21 year old nursing student, standing tall at 5'1" and weighing in at a whopping 90 pounds. Perks of being Eve's friend include: fresh baked goods, she's a huge pushover, and you get a lot of presents when she goes back to Thailand, of which she may or may not be a princess. Negatives include: the fact that she's too small to borrow any clothes from, and she's really affectionate, to the point where it can get uncomfortable.

- Ling

Thank you for that generous introduction Ling (I'm actually 4'11 but my mom says I look 5'2) ! Ling is the ultimate renaissance woman of the modern day. She's hardworking, talented, gorgeous, and gifted with a sensitive palate. Perks of being Ling's friend are: her witty and unfailing humor, she always has food at her house, and she has cute siblings. Negatives: there are none except her freakishly double/triple/quadruple jointed hands that double as claws ! =)

- Evie

Thanks for visiting our new blog.. we've already made plans to visit Ichiumi Sushi and Seafood Buffet at Menlo Park Mall in Edison this Thursday, so look for our first post. Let us know if there's anywhere you think we should go.

- Ling and Eve