I love it when an amazing food truck opens up a brick and mortar store and expands their menu. This is the case with the newly opened El Cubano restaurant in West St. Paul. I may also be a little biased since it’s fairly walkable for me to get there from my house. D.Rough and I went on opening day to check it out, but we’ve been anxiously awaiting their opening for a few months now. It’s in the former Taste of Love bakery location on the north side of West St. Paul (or the south side of St. Paul)(the area that people around here refer to as The West Side).
The dining room was full and energetic when we got there, and people smiling while they were eating. There’s a menu on the wall above the cash register with good descriptions of each dish. So, don’t worry if you’ve never had Cuban or Dominican food – the descriptions will explain what you’re eating and the staff will explain it if you have any questions. Omar told us opening day was going well and everyone was happy with the food, so there were really no bad items to get. After multiple decision changes, we decided to get some appetizers and a couple of bigger dishes.
We’re suckers for yuca, so we got Yuca con Mojo, which is boiled yuca with some cooked and seasoned onions on top. Really quite good, despite being simple. The onions gave the yuca some additional flavor, and I was really impressed with the portion size of the appetizer, as well. I’ve also never had yuca prepared this way – I’d get it again.
We also got some fried plantains – Platanos Maduros Fritos. Think of them as fried banana bites. Beautiful caramelization on each one and not soggy, like some I’ve had. I could have eaten about 20 more of these. Next time.
Our entrees were better than we even expected them to be. We got something called El Guajiro (pronounced Gwa-Hero). It’s roasted pork served with rice, salad, black beans, and plantains (and limes to squeeze all over everything). It’s really delicious and it was difficult to share with D.Rough. The pork was cooked perfectly and went really well with the fried plantains. It isn’t spicy, so all you Minnesotans who are scared of heat levels, you’ll do perfectly fine here. The lime on the pork gives it some pop, so make sure you actually use them.
I think the winner of the night was the Ajiaco (ah-hee-ako)/Sancocho. I didn’t ask why it had two names, but after I tasted it, I forgot to ask. It’s a meat stew – lots of pork chunks and chicken, along with corn, hominy, plantains, and some various root vegetables. Again, a generous portion of ingredients and plenty of broth for D.Rough and I to share. It was really an impressive dish that I’d recommend to everyone.
I know it was opening day, so there was some discussion from the workers about getting a coffee/espresso machine installed, as well as starting to bake their own breads in-house. They’ve got 4 or 5 people cooking in back making some killer dishes, and they all need gold medals. Don’t panic when you walk in and see a full dining room, they have a second dining room off the side of the main room for overflow.
Welcome to the neighborhood, El Cubano. Can’t wait to tell all our friends and family about your amazing restaurant and make more visits!
