Week 7: Emilio’s Cuban Cafe

For our seventh week in, we trekked across town to Emilio’s Cuban Cafe. Having been once previously, we knew what to expect. We were seated quickly and some buttery garlic bread presented as an appetizer. I remember the bread as soaked in butter on our first visit, but this time it was a more of a typical buttery spread.

I was immediately drawn to the Saturday special: Free tres leches with Surf N Turf dinner. The Surf N Turf is a combination of the churrasco steak and grilled shrimp. With every dinner, a choice of sides are available. I am not a big rice eater, but the yellow rice had a great buttery flavor. The black beans are seasoned well, too. I know some are not big fans of the yucca sides, but the fried yucca reminds me of a french fry. I end up saving the sweet plantains for last, almost like a dessert.

I enjoyed the skirt steak – it was cooked medium and not tough. The plate comes with a “signature sauce” which was an oil-based sauce with herbs and seasonings. I liked the signature sauce, but I was even more fond of the green sauce set out on the table in a former ketchup bottle. It was delicious on the steak. The shrimp, however, was quite unspectacular. A couple were not even full pieces and were quite limp.

Matt ordered the sampler plate, which comes with (if we recall correctly) ropa vieja, picadillo, and lechon asado. Esentially this is chicken, pork, and beef presented in a variety of tastes and textures. The beef is actually sweet tasting and is probably the same you’d find in their empanadas.

I was settled on tres leches for dessert, but Matt’s eye caught the Midnight Havana (chocolate mousse) cake. I think we both were very happy with our choices. The tres leches is a spongy cake soaked in “three milks” and topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and caramel. It was heaven.

Matt’s cake was so rich and chocolatey, even the light around was absorbed into its dense cocoa aura.

We have been pleased with our two visits to Emilio’s and I really can’t wait to return for another round of tres leches. In our prior visit, Matt ordered a mojito and gave it two thumbs up. Overall, you’ll find a pretty good meal here when you want something out of the ordinary.