Cafe Express-- a B for Cuban

I posted about Cafe Express at some other food board a couple of years ago; I had tried its Cuban buffet and found it disappointingly bland. Zim and others had commented that the sandwiches were better than the dinners, and so I decided tonight, with the boys in tow, to give it another shot.

Well, it's definitely spiffier than it was a couple of years ago, a nicer paint job and so on. And the menu has expanded to take in Mexican items-- I'm not sure in fact that the ownership isn't Mexican now, but carrying on some Cuban items. But nothing I had was quite focused, or really stood out; it was a dinner of Bs, nothing better.



My plate was a lot of roast pork with onions. It was pretty good but I wouldn't say it had the really savory, rich roasted flavor I dreamed of. On the plus side, it wasn't at all dried out or overgreasy (not exactly ungreasy, but not drowned in it). It was an honorable dish, but not an outstanding one. Plantains (maduros) were pretty good but very greasy. On the plus side the black beans had more flavor than they had 2 years ago-- though still not as much as the comparable dish at La Unica half a mile away. I make better black beans than this, but they weren't bad.



The Sandwich Cubano I wanted to like, but again, just didn't compare to what I've had at La Unica nearby. It just didn't come together the same way, despite nice thick slices of pork inside. But light on mustard and pickle, it somehow didn't seem like it quite melted into a whole more than the sum of its parts. (My son-- it was actually his, I just had a bite-- took it apart and ate it in pieces, pickles set aside, so maybe the sum of it in parts was more than the sum of its parts as a whole.) Again, a B, not bad by any means like the wretched one recently described by VI, but not enough to make me hurry back in less than two years next time.

Here's what I wrote about Cafe Express and another Cuban place, now gone, in October 2002:

So devoted followers of my recent posts (I hear crickets chirping) will note that most of them make some reference to the two Cuban places on north Clark near La Unica which I keep trying to eat at. I successfully had lunch at one a few weeks ago but the second eluded me repeatedly by a clever strategy of not being open on days it claimed to be open. Finally I pinned it down tonight and had dinner there with 4-year-old and 1-year-old, and can offer a proper compare and contrast.

Great pics!

Mike G wrote:My plate was a lot of roast pork with onions. It was pretty good but I wouldn't say it had the really savory, rich roasted flavor I dreamed of.

agreed, I have not been for awhile, but I've always felt the food is rushed so it does not have the time to get that rich flavor.

By the way, Express Cafe has now closed as well, I noticed the other day.