Again I started with a dozen hot wings, as I was just able to get in by the 10 pm cutoff time for the 20 cent wings. Fried and seasoned similarly to last time, my only complaint was that I had 2 drummies and 10 wings. Then again that could be a positive for others.
For my entree, I ordered the Havana Pork which was described as marinated pork served over rice and black beans topped with lettuce and tomatoes. It also comes with Cuban bread and fried plantains. I somehow did not imagine what I was presented, as I was thinking the pork would be slices as opposed to chopped. Overall the pork tasted fine, although the "garlic citrus mojo" seasoning was not that strong. The rice and beans were standard and the crunchy vegetables were an interesting touch on the dish. It was basically a Chipotle burrito minus the wrap. That sounds negative because I don't like Chipotle, but it was better in the sense that I could control how much of each item I had per bite, thus no whole bites of black beans. There was also a good amount of pork so that helped with the item control. The Cuban bread was noticeably less salty than last time and the plantains were again fried perfectly with the slight crispiness on the outside and the softness inside.
I struggled with this rating as this was the first restaurant where I have blogged about twice. I decided to rate the meal as opposed to the overall spot, which is why this review is a 3 of 5 versus the previous 4 of 5. I felt that this meal was not as good as the last one, however I would clearly go there again. Slightly confusing and if anyone has better ideas I am open to them.
Cuban Revolution
50 Aborn St
Providence, RI 02903
First of all, you know it's rare that I order pork, I'm like the opposite of you (again). That pork actually doesn't look like something that I'd go out of my way for. But the review made some good points about the Latin-american styled layering. Good variety of crunchy (if you didn't mention that, I'd assume those are soft tomatoes). To me, iceberg lettuce's main contribution to a meal is a crispy, fresh crunch because it has dang-near negative nutritional value, and it's so cheap compared to other greens. So I like the mix so far.
ReplyDeleteAnother Jon-nugget: "I don't like Chipotle." I already knew this, but it's so well-supported by your lack-of-ingredient-variety-per-bite-risk-ratio logic that I can't argue with you. This meal was definitely the best alternative to Chipotle (or Pancheros or BTB if in Ann Arbor) for you.
Random things I noticed. Black beans? I would think light red kidneys would go better with pork...maybe that's a Cajun style U.S. thing. They look awfully runny too...all that bean juice under the rice. And the rice...is that jasmin rice that's way overcooked and therefore cannot soak up the juice or SUPER-runny bean sauce drippings? I mean, refried beans texture would be going the mexican route (another thing I know you don't like), but whatever.
Commenting on your food reviews makes me the snobby food critic I aspire to be.
I don't think I'd get that. But I'd eat the wings (and not the drumsticks). Funny, there goes another thing we're opposites on.
REQUEST FOR MICHELLE, PROFESSIONAL FOOD PERSON - CRITIQUE THIS FOOD.
Critique the food without having eaten it? Impossible! Well, depending on your definition of "critique," anyway. From appearance and description, Jon's analogy to Chipotle seems pretty fitting. Unlike Jon, however, I *like* Chipotle. What don't you like about it, Jon?
ReplyDeleteI don't know a whole lot about Cuban food in general, but from my limited experience, I would've associated black beans with the genre rather than kidneys.
Why the heck aren't YOU blogging, Christopher? You've posted more content in your comments on Jon's blog than many bloggers post in a year...
Also, I think "professional food person" implies that I get paid for eating, which alas, is not the case. I do get a fair amount of free food, though. :)
Oh, I meant to comment on your rating system for repeat visits. The Yelp system is to rate each visit separately, although their system also sort of stacks the reviews for the same place on top of one another, which you obviously can't do here. One option would be to average your reviews, but then you run into a pesky 1/2-@ problem. What's tricky is that somebody could easily see only one of your two reviews (most likely your more recent one) and think that was your overall rating. Maybe you could give it an overall rating but comment that you'd have rated this particular visit three @'s, but that you give it a four-@ rating overall?
ReplyDeleteI think you could really go a number of ways on this and be fine, including what you've done here. Just brainstorming out loud.
chris - the rice did absorb the liquid while eating. and i feel that black beans go best with it as opposed to red or refried.
ReplyDeletei do like mexican food as well, not sure what made you think i didnt. just not large burritos with 3 not very mixed ingredients
optimista - so these places with the burritos (chipotle, quedoba, etc) that are the size of a loaf of bread are large but are not consistent in the aspect of food ingredients per bite. it seems that every bite only contains one ingredient plus the flour (not my favorite, would rather have smaller corn wraps) tortilla. so you end up getting a bite of just rice, then just beans, then just meat as opposed to a bite with all 3 items combined. with the Cuban Revolution dish, i could control the ratio of ingredients.
ReplyDeletealso re: mexican food, i did make some basic enchiladas this weekend with just corn tortillas, seasoned beef and muenster cheese. basic, quick, and good
regarding the review system, i can try and see if it can link to the original review because you are right in that the most recent review will get read. i dont like 1/2 ratings as it then becomes a 1-10 scale. by making it more concentrated, i feel it forces you to bucket ratings more. thanks for the ideas...
Ahh. Well, I usually go the "bowl" option at Chipotle et al, so that explains the discrepancy in our experiences - because it's obviously easier to control that problem with a bowl of food rather than a pre-wrapped burrito. I can see how that would be annoying.
ReplyDeleteThose enchiladas sound great! One of these days, you and Christopher are gonna have to cook for me... :D
And yeah, I really think you should just do whatever you want with respect to the rating system...I mean, it is YOUR blog... :)