272 Smith Street (Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn)
Cubana Cafe was the first stop on a six-TONY-restaurant food tour of the Cobble Hill area. Traveling with a group of six enabled us to sample a wider variety of menu options at each of the locations. We ordered the sopa de mariscos from the TONY list, camarones de coco and a shrimp quesadilla (after all, we didn't really want to fill up on the first place on the tour).
The sopa de mariscos ($6.50) combines shrimp, mussels and calamari in a "spicy" tomato broth. Though it sounded like something that I would love, I found the broth to be pretty bland. Where was the spice? I can respect that for $6.50 there was a pretty generous serving of shellfish and plenty of soup, but even after the group had its fill there was still plenty left over, a rare sight if I'm at the table. Luckily the other shrimp dishes we ordered were much more enjoyable. The camarones de coco ($6 - shrimp coated in coconut and fried) were crispy and the mango relish served as a sweet and tangy compliment, though only three shrimp came to an order. At Cubana Cafe, the consensus favorite was the shrimp quesadilla ($8) made with avocado, tomato, chipotle salsa and served with a side of chickpea salad. Creamy, refreshing with added texture from the fresh seafood. While everyone was pretty disappointed with the sopa, the other menu items and dishes that we saw passing by looked great. I could definitely see myself coming back to try some of their $10 entrees and a mojito.
Sopa de Mariscos:
Camarones de Coco:
Shrimp Quesadila:
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You forgot to mention the lousy service. The food took FOREVER to come and our waiter sat down at the table next to us and started eating while we were still waiting for our food.
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