Washington Post Magazine - November 20, 1994
Dinning			By Phyllis C. Richman
Cuban Charm
LA CANTINITA'S HAVANA CAFE-3100 CLARENDON BLVD., ARLINGTON. 703-5243611. Open: Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 1l p.m., Saturday 4 to 1l p.m., Sunday 4 to lo p.m. MC, V. No reservations. Separate nonsmoking senior. Prices: lunch appetizers $1.25 to $4.95, entrees $3.25 to $3.50; dinner appetizers $1.50 to $4.95, entrees $6.95 to $14.95. Full dinner with wine or beer, tax and tip about $20 to $30 per person.			Except for the paella, don't bother to order seafood dishes here. Their sauces might be heady with garlic or aromatic with vinegar and wine, but the seafood itself is often tasteless and bland.  Start by looking at the beverages listed on the back page. They're as mundane as a "Glass of Cold Milk" and as exotic as "Jugos Naturales: Guanabana, Tamarindo, Papaya, Mango, Guava." The imported beer roster, you are told, is "subject to new and different varieties." But don't ignore the least descriptive offering: The sangria is terrific, barely sweet and faintly spicy, powerfully winy yet with plenty of fruit.  A pitcher of sangria and a tableful of appetizers would make a satisfying evening here. The empanada is a small fried turnover with a thin, light crust and cumin-scented meat filling; you might want one apiece, given the low $1.50 price. But a couple could share the tamale, which is Havana Cafe's ropa vieja - shredded beef - makes for a classic down-home Cuban meal.
		There's never been a Cuban restaurant as comely as this in the area. It's been upgraded and expanded from the old La Cantinita in Ballston to a serene pink and aqua dining room with an outdoor cafe in another part of Arlington. Soft lights and warm colors make this simply decorated restaurant as soothing as a beach at dusk. And the terrace looks across the street to a fountain and a stretch of storefronts reminiscent of a Latin American town square. Despite its charming new surroundings, Havana Cafe is priced not much above a hole in the wall. The best appetizers cost just $1.50 (though others run to $4.95). And while you could splurge and pay $15 a person for a paella that looks like enough for an entire village, most of the entrees cost less than $10. Two could dine well and share a generous "small" pitcher of sangria for $30 plus tax and tip.  Havana Cafe is just the place to drop in after a ballgame or a trip to the hardware store. Pretty as it is, the mood is casual, though it could also suit a dress-up evening. The service likewise can be both casual and formal. Breezy young guys in shirtsleeves take orders and deliver your food, while a couple of men in suits come around occasionally to ask how you are doing. In ordering, though, I'd skip the dress-up dishes. The basics are best here: The lower the price, the more reliable the dish. The two exceptions are the paella—which is a bargain if you amortize the abundant leftovers over a week—and the similarly monumental arroz con pollo, which is so imbued with the flavors of chicken, spices, pimentos and onions that you're driven to make a serious dent in it after all.

Havana Cafe web site Designed and Hosted by dclatino.com

Washington Post Magazine - November 20, 1994 (cont.)
Dinning	By Phyllis C. Richman
Havana Cafe is just the place to drop in after a ballgame or a trip to the hardware store. Pretty as it is, the mood is casual, though it could also suit a dress-up evening. actually a little combo plate with slices of ham and roast pork surrounding a soft, moist, meat-filled cornmeal pillow that's drenched in vinegared onions. And fried yucca—crisper, more flavorful and lighter than french fries—is listed as a side dish but would be a fine appetizer to share, although it's a tough choice between the fried version and the yucca in garlic sauce. Sweetly caramelized fried ripe plantains and starchy fried green plantains could also be elevated from side dishes to appetizers. There are even more first courses, but they don't all work. Chorizo con queso, ham croquettes and shrimp in garlic and olive oil are merely ordinary here, and soups taste more hearty than inspiring.  If you're not ordering seafood, you've still got chicken and pork to consider, and the menu is heavy with the usual Cuban beef dishes. Ground-beef picadillo	is seasoned with cayenne, cumin, wine and sliced, pimento-stuffed olives; it tastes like the beginnings of chili con came. There are also beef salteada, sauteed with peppers and onions; stewed and shredded rope vieja; and several steaks tangy from marinade, thin and chewy. They come with glistening white rice and black beans oozing flavor. And each would make a classic downhome Cuban meal.  None compares to the pork dishes, though. Masitas de puerco, cubes of meat marinated in sour orange juice and cooked to near disintegration, has been far too salty, but otherwise tangy and fragrant. Pork chops are also marinated in sour orange juice, and sewed with deeply browned onions. But the best dish on Havana Cafe's menu is puerco asado. It doesn't look like much, just thin, gray slices of pork covering the plate, with a wash of gravy and onions. Yet it tastes wonderful, the pork moist and juicy, giving off wafts of orange and garlic along with the fragrance of onions. At first it seems like too much for one person to eat, but it's hard to stop, and you might even find yourself using the rice to dab up the last of the juices.  Don't ask me about dessert. The menu claims that the flan is famous, and cascos de guayaba—the classic guava paste—is available. But after sharing a plate of masitas de puerco with a bowl of white rice and another of black beans, not to mention a portion of arroz con polio large enough to fill the average railroad car, preceded by that irresistible tamale, and yucca or plantains—and maybe a tiny empanada—I couldn't manage the fian. Now that I've been captivated by these homey, savory dishes, I might never get around to dessert.
Home Page Menu Reviews Map Tour

Havana Cafe web site Designed and Hosted by dclatino.com