La Caridad 78

NYC is quite a mix of people from all cultures and walks of life, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that one of my favorite places (thanks to friend & NY Native CPZ) to eat is Cuban/Chinese hybrid La Caridad. They serve bountiful portions of delicious dishes, from vaca frita to sesame chicken. You can easily eat for under 10 dollars a person, too.

Jen A & I stopped here yesterday after some retail therapy. It was scorching hot outside, so we drank iced tea and soda at our corner window seat while perusing the chock-full-of-choices menu.

Jen A ordered the avocado & onion salad, not realizing it was only....avocado and onion. Raw, pungent, eye-searing onion. We removed most of the onions and ate the incredibly generous portion of fresh, soft avocado (there was still plenty to take home later).

I ordered the 1/4 roast chicken, and when the server told me they only had dark meat, I barely hesitated. I'm learning to love the darker, more tender meat that I once avoided. This may not look fancy, but it was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and I absolutely, happily demolished it.

My chicken also came with a mini-mountain of rice and beans. That is a plate piled high of zesty yellow rice and creamy red beans. YUM.

Jen A ordered the sesame chicken with broccoli. I had a bite of broccoli (one of my all-time favorite veggies) and it had a bit of the chicken's sauce on it--zippy and sweet--not bad!

We ate to our hearts' content and still had plenty of leftovers. La Caridad 78 is cash only, but you only need a little to get a lot of food! Our lunch specials were each around 8 dollars--an insanely affordable and savory treat!

La Caridad 78
2199 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
(212) 874-2780

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Stoppin' at the Pitstop

My friend Jen's boyfriend Tom is also a food fan like myself, and he saw a Long Island joint on a Guy Fieri (Food Network host) show a few weeks ago. It just happened to be 3 miles from ABF, AND on the way to our Long Island vineyards, so we made a double date to hit it up on President's Day Weekend!

There were signs (literal and figurative) all over touting the recent Guy appearance--including a spray paint self-portrait Guy did before he left. I know that's why we were there!

Tom told us the hot Cuban sandwich was one of their signature dishes, so both he and ABF ordered that.

This is not your standard, 1-inch thick panino. No, my friends, this is a serious sandwich with roasted pork, sliced ham, pickles, mustard, and more. I took a bite of ABF's and thought it was quite tasty. Tom & ABF both liked it, but I don't think they were blown away by it. Good sandwich for a good price, though.

Thanks, Tom, for the innards shot!

ABF also ordered the New England clam chowder, which did have some good chunks of clam, but wasn't quite as creamy as I like it (which probably means it's healthier for you!

Jen got the crispy chicken sandwich and cheese fries. I had a fry or two while we waited for our order, and they were good and surprisingly NOT salted. I'd always rather add my own salt that have too-salty fries. I'm still a little skeered of liquid cheese, so I didn't indulge.

I ordered the cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. The burger was fine, pretty decent, but not showstopping. Just good, solid, single patty fare. The bun was soft, the meat was well-cooked, and I enjoyed it. If you're really hungry, though, you might want the double cheeseburger. I'm not sure this would fill you up if you were a guy (or a really hungry gal!)

The sweet potato fries were really, really good. I do not "live" for fries, but man, I couldn't stop eating these!

We won't speak of this creamy deliciousness, but ABF had the brilliant idea of adding some of his root beer to it and yea, verily, it was good.

The woman at the register helpfully suggested that we make our items part of a combo, so my fries, shake AND burger came to a mere 8 dollars! Kevin's was around 10 or 11. That was nice of her, and made for a very affordable meal!

What surprised us all was how tiny the Pitstop is! You can't fit more than maybe a dozen tables in there. While it might look like a fast food joint, every dish is made fresh and made to order. Don't expect to zoom in and out, but you will also get dishes that are a step above your usual drive-in.

The Pit Stop
1706 Sunrise Hwy.
Merrick, NY
Phone: 516-223-7799

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Victor's Cafe, parte dos

While we enjoyed our savory dishes at Victor's, the group was unanimous that there was DEFINITELY room for dessert.

Ah, si, los postres!! Bring on the sweet stuff!!!

The dessert menu has an extensive, varied list of offerings. So many, in fact, that I was a bit overwhelmed. I waited to see what everyone else ordered so I could narrow down my choices. Jenna finally helped me out by offering to split the gorgeous guava cobbler if I shared my dessert. Look at this beauty!

Another popular dessert? The bruléed pineapple. I was thisclose to ordering it, because I love some broiled pineapple and brown sugar, but Sabrina was sitting next to me and offered to get that. What a stunning dessert! And as beautiful as it was, it was even tastier than it looked!

Flan, normally, is the absolute LAST thing I'd order for dessert. In fact, I'd rarely eat it for free. But this one lured me in with the promise of coconut. Also? I used to HATE coconut. Clearly my tastes are changing. I shared a few bites with Sabrina, who shared her pineapple awesomeness with me. It was good but not amazing. Better than regular flan, but I didn't even finish it all.

Beth ordered the churros, which came with 3 dipping sauces. They looked lovely, and she said the churros were good, but the sauces were disappointing. I was bummed to hear it, because the presentation had everyone's hopes up!

Of course, no dessert menu is complete without a molten chocolate cake. Emily was sitting to the left of me and shared a bite of hers. It was intense, serious, hard-core chocolate. Me gusta MUCHO!

And what's a meal in a Cuban restaurant without a cafe con leche? This was earthy, strong, and a wonderful cap to a great meal. Final recap? Seafood seems to be their strong suit, and you definitely need to save room for dessert. I'll go back for the snapper ceviche and guava cobbler!! Meet you there!

Victor's Cafe, parte uno

As I've mentioned before, my coworkers and I get treated to lunches out every few months or so by one of our supervisors. We all vote on a place to go and every time we've been fortunate to get to try delicious food and just relax and have a nice time. This visit was to Victor's Cafe in midtown. I hadn't been here in years, but I was more than happy to go back there!

We ordered a sample platter of appetizers. It included yucca fries, tostones (smashed, twice-fried plantains), ham croquettes, chorizo and sauteed veggies, and maybe even a tamale or two. I'm not a tamale fan, and yucca is too starchy for me, tho I tried a bite of the fry. I even skipped the tostones, because I much prefer the fried plantains (we'll see those soon enough!), so I stuck to the chorizo (yummmmmmmmmmm) and the croquette (also yummmmmm). The menu says this platter is for two people, but we shared it with at least 8 people (my sampling is to the right, above)!

THE star of the appetizers, however, and the one bite that will keep me coming back, was the Ceviche de Pargo, red snapper ceviche with lovely bits of mango and avocado and red onion and deliciousness propping up tender, tangy bits of soft, smooth fish. See how gorgeous it looks? It tastes a billion times better. Holy mouthfeel, batman. This is something I would never have ordered on my own, but I enjoyed it more than anything else on that table!

Victor's has a wide range of dishes, from seafood to vegetarian to steak, but all I wanted that day was a Cuban sandwich: a salty, tangy, satisfying Cuban sandwich. It runs about 11 dollars, and comes with vegetable chips. Mmm...ham, roasted pork, mustard, pickles, and melty Swiss cheese, all smooshed together into layer after scrumptious layer. I took half of this home for lunch the next day, and it was even more delicioso! I even enjoyed the chips, which were light and crunchy and airy.

I also got an order of the plantanos maduros (fried ripe/sweet plantains) to split with a coworker, though we ended up sharing them with everyone. These were yummy! Sweet but not too sweet.

The two men at the table (our group is mostly women) at the table ordered the special, whole fried branzino. You could also get it roasted, but the server recommended it fried. This was not only beautiful, it was astoundingly moist and delicious (yes, my boss offered me a bite, perhaps not knowing I'd so take him up on it!)

This beauty here is a mixed greens salad with Asian Pear, Manchego cheese, baby candycane beets, and grilled salmon, drizzled with a sherry vinaigrette. This got two thumbs up from both the women who ordered it.

My friend Mel ordered the chicken salad with chunks of mango. I thought it tasted good, but not amazing, and Mel says she probably wouldn't order it again. Unfortunately, she's allergic to seafood, or I would have slid that ceviche her way to make up for it!

Another gal from our group, Jenna, got the Enchiladas Camarones, Jumbo shrimp sauteed in a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, thyme, and white wine, served with white sweet potato mash. I think she really enjoyed this! And she took the photo for me so I didn't have to lean all the way across the table--thanks, Jenna!

We also shared a lovely bottle of this Argentinian Malbec. I have had some not-so-great Malbecs, so I don't usually lean toward them. This, however, was lovely. The wine is fruity but strong, and its tannins grip your entire tongue with its tingly force. It was just a perfect complement to all dishes. And a nice segue into dessert...but that, dear readers, will have to wait for another post. My fingers are tired, and now I'm hungry after looking at all of these pictures.

Cabana Nights

ABF (Awesome Boyfriend) & I stopped by a favorite spot of ours recently--Cabana. Cabana is one of the first restaurants I tried when I moved to NYC, and it remains a favorite. ABF and I hadn't been since New Year's Eve (which was our first trip there together), so I guess you could say we were overdue! It was a Thursday night, and I met ABF after work not far from the Seaport. It wasn't quite warm, but it wasn't cold, and yet the outdoor seating offered there was perhaps a little too risky. We got a table right by the window, which offered gorgeous views of the East River, downtown NYC, the ships docked at the Seaport, etc..provided you were tall. My actual view if I turned my head to the right was foggy and clouded, but if I sat up a little in my seat (at least for snapping photos), it was quite lovely.

We ordered a sampler appetizer, and I was excited because it came with one of my favorite items at Cabana: shrimp fritters. These babies are TASTY (they're the orange balls under the jet-black chicken wings). It also came with vegetable fritters (meh, these didn't do much for me), beef empanadas (always a good bet), and jerk chicken, which to me looked like it was dredged from the wreckage of a terrible oil spill. Have you seen those commercials where they're rinsing off the ducks, otters, etc. from oil spills? (love that duckling's plucky little quack at the end, btw) That's what these wings looked like! My friend Patty summed it up nicely by saying "Oh, Chicken Valdese!" Patty for the win, folks!

Despite the unnerving appearance of the wings, they were actually quite delicious (and not at all greasy). They were messy as heck tho--it's tough to hide a big blotch of black sauce on one's pasty face, I quickly discovered. These wings are totally worth the mess though, hot, spicy but not incapacitating, and scrumptious. I could NOT get enough of this sauce. I may even have licked a finger or two (sorry, Mom). These wings are a close second to the awesome shrimp fritters.

We each got a mojito, which is almost a requirement there. I normally get the regular, plain mojito (mint, rum, mint and more mint, what's not to love?), but this time I opted for the mojito with the Cruzan rum. It was good, but not great, which means I'm going back to the standard. I rarely like to mess with the original mojito.

ABF's mojito (credit: lighting direction by ABF in both mojito shots) was one we'd tried on our last visit on NYE: it was made with 12-year old Montecristo rum. We both scoffed last time that it would make much difference, but one sip changed our minds. This time, however, it wasn't as noticeably better than the regular one--maybe the Thursday night bartender was second string? It wasn't bad, it just wasn't as remarkable as the one we had on our last visit. I DO feel we need to procure some Montecristo rum for our own mojito-making!

I ordered what I always order at Cabana: La Playa (the beach) salad: scallops and shrimp in a citrusy, slightly-garlicky dressing. YUM. This salad is a) outstanding and b) possibly an entire week's worth of lettuce. The shrimp and scallops are grilled (drool) and oh-so-good. I think there may have been one fewer shrimp and scallop this time, which made me a little sad, but hey, there's a recession going on. This salad is so good that I even ate those slices of red cabbage or whatever the heck that stuff is that I usually pick out of my salads. :)

ABF got the skirt steak with chimichurri sauce (I think my eyes lit up at 'chimichurri.' I LOVE THAT STUFF!), and I think he agrees that we have to make our own very very soon. It's delicious and good on everything from eggs to steak to chicken to ... you get my point. Do you know how good parsley is for you?? ABF's dish was so tender and delicious--a definite win. The pickled onions on top were a nice, acidic balance to the salty goodness of the steak. This was a good dish, man.

But wait..there's more: dessert! We got the tres leches cake, which came with strawberry ice cream. The cake was super moist and dense without being heavy. We both really enjoyed this. It also inspired me to try out an Alton Brown recipe in the near future! Chimichurri and tres leches: both on my 'to-make' list!

Once again, an amazing meal at Cabana, with a lovely view to bid us good-night on our way home.