While a good chunk of the dining and cocktails we did in Fort Lauderdale happened at the Mai-Kai, I did want to make sure that on one of my relatively rare trips to Florida we used this as an opportunity to get another cuisine that we don’t often get to experience in Northern New England, and that’s Cuban food. While the epicenter of Cuban cuisine is Calle Ocho down in Miami, the Cuban presence is still pretty strong, and conveniently located fairly close to our hotel was a location of the Florida Cuban chain Las Vegas Cuban Cuisine.
The location we visited was located in a small strip mall just off of Oakland Park Boulevard, just west of the Intracoastal Waterway. Las Vegas has the exact sort of ambiance I expect from a good Cuban restaurant: wood paneling, tiled floors, and painted scenes of classic 19th and early 20th Century Cuba on the walls. Arriving a little on the early side (we were fitting our visit in between cocktails at the Mai-Kai and an evening event back at our hotel on the beach), the host greeted us quite heartily, and, since our arrival was just after the start of the daily happy hour, settled us in at a table with a fresh round of house sangrias and a description of the daily specials.
The house sangria was rather pleasant, and it was part of their happy hour menu at $4 a glass. While not the fanciest of sangrias, it was freshly made, nicely composed, and both a refreshing beverage and a good side for our meals.
Speaking of happy hour, we also decided to order up the happy hour chicharrón de cerdo special for $6, which was a very generous plate of seasoned, marinated, and nicely-crisped pork belly cubes served up with some fresh lemon. These were perfectly done, and a nice little snack, although realistically the happy hour portion would be more suited to a table of four than just the two of us. Still, an enjoyable appetizer.
Since it has been a while since I’ve been to a good Cuban spot, I decided to go for one of my Cuban favorites, vaca frita (“fried cow”). Flank steak that has been marinated in mojo criollo (a citrus, onion, and garlic marinate), cooked until tender, shredded, and then pan-fried until crispy and topped with sautéed onions and lime juice. I’ve found there are two styles of this dish, some places serving up a well-crisped mound of vaca frita and then topping it with the onions, and places that form the vaca frita into a bit of a patty and well-sear both sides of it. Las Vegas is the latter, but the overall flavor and crispiness of the dish were spot on. Add in a few freshly-fried sweet plantains, and this was a great dinner.
Carol, meanwhile decided to indulge in the seafood side of the menu, getting the Zarzuela de Mariscos, a Spanish-style seafood platter with lobster, clams, mussels, scallops, shrimp and filleted fish a creole sauce. This was quite the selection and portion of seafood, nicely cooked, and really married well to the creole sauce.
Finally, there are a few firm culinary rules I have, and one of them is that if I’m having a Cuban more more substantial than a Cuban sandwich, I’ll almost certainly have to order a flan (the biggest exception is if they have flan’s related cousin, the tocino de cielo (“bacon of heaven”), which is essential flan on steroids). A good flan should have dense silkiness, deep smokey caramel, and a touch of indulgent sweetness. While not the most picturesque flan I’ve had, flavorwise, this was spot on.
While it is a local chain, I rather liked Las Vegas Cuban, and it’s one of the better Cuban options I’ve found north of Miami itself. I’d be more than happy to come back and explore more of their menu.
