The interior was plenty nice... Cuban flag, brightly painted walls, and a healthy amount of customers...
The reviews for this place fall into the love-it-or-hate-it pattern... I'm still on the fence.
Last week I ordered the lechón asado, or roast pork. The pork was tender for the most part but at moments, it was tough as nails. It also lacked a lot of flavor... the plátanos were really mushy and bland, barely resembling any banana cousin in taste or appearance. The yucca was a weird mass of stringy fibers rather than a chunk or two of the root. The best part of the lechón plate was the congrí, the black beans and rice smothered with onions as it was the only flavorful component in the entire lunch. It's a damn shame when the filler upstages the namesake of the dish.
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| lechón asado leaves much to be wanted |
Now I've read that food in Cuba tends to err on the bland side due to a lack of variety in the provisions available. In that regard, maybe Paladar is truly authentic to Cuban cooking and the food is meant to underwhelm you. Still, I don't relish the idea of paying $13.75 plus tax for dull pork and good beans.
Today I decided to give the place another try and get sancocho colombiano, a Colombian-style stew of rib meat and chicken. I got the stew to go and had to assemble it myself. Once you get over the ick factor of oil-drenched tomatoes flowing over a plastic cup, the stew is pretty good. The beef and chicken are tender and taste good, a revelation compared to the lechón! The broth is nothing special and the dish really depends on the tomato mixture to add a little kick but this stew definitely blew the lechón out of the water.
Still at $13.75 plus tax, lunch comes to a total of just under $15, which is a bit too much to pay for lunch.
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| sancocho colombiano is huge |
Cuban food... quite the disappointment, really. At least this experience reinforces my decision to visit Colombia this August.
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