I want to like this place; scratch that, I want to love this
place. It is the only Puerto Rican and / or Cuban restaurant in 50 square
miles.
The restaurant is right off the Towson circle and has a very
eclectic and quaint feeling for the interior. I appreciate all of the Cuban
memorabilia on the walls and the proud Cuban flag hanging on the outside. Like
I said, I really want to love this place. Let’s just say that this restaurant
is on the Charm City Couple probation list. Not a great place to be but we will
give this restaurant one more shot before writing it off completely.
We have dined here before and I ordered the ropa vieja
entrée, which I had enjoyed. Not as great as the ropa vieja that my husband is
cooking as I am writing now but perhaps I am biased. This place had great
flavors, very authentic, so I was excited about this place in a huge way.
Fast forward a few months. I loved the ropa vieja before so
I ordered the ropa vieja sandwich with plantain chips. Or so I thought. Our
server informed us that the sandwiches were no longer served with plantain
chips but with French fries instead due to a vendor issue. Wait a minute.
Havana Road, a restaurant that is supposed to cook “Fresca Siempre Fresca
(Fresh Always Fresh)” according to their website, is serving French fries? I
was confused. I felt like it was Thanksgiving Day and my mother told me she was
serving French fries instead of mashed potatoes. Not cool!
We ordered the flan for dessert because my husband is on a
personal mission to find flan at a restaurant that is as good as his mother’s.
The flan on our wedding day was a close second but this flan does not even come
close. It was over cooked and covered in a horrible chocolate sauce. So over
cooked that it tasted like cheesecake except I was not dining at the Cheesecake
Factory. Besides it should have been covered in an authentic caramel sauce;
where was that?
Dear Sir or Madam. Hola! Thank you for taking the time to write. Being Cuban and having been brought up in Puerto Rico I am very much a foodie myself. My MAMA who is 85 is in the kitchen making most of our daily fare. Our flans- traditional Cuban are never overcooked- however Puerto Rican recipes are slightly different- good but slightly different. Our Ropa Vieja- simmers for 7 hours and it is then pulled hot and recooked. If anything on our menu is fall apart good it is Ropa vieja and our Lechon Asado.Fries- Papitas Fritas~ hand cut daily- NEVERR FROZEN. Why? Plantain chips- labor intensive that they are were not popular except for a few diners. I make a very small batch DAILY for those diners that like plantain chips- When I go to Kasalta in Puerto Rico- I get fries with my Cuban sANDWICH- they don't serve it with plantain chips- nor do they to this in Versailles in Miami. Chica I know the food of my country and yours. Plantain chips are an option. Papitas Fritas is the norm. Please come see me again. I would love to meet you, introduce you to Mom . Again, thank you! Have a wonderful day- FYI our flans are made daily- my daughter the baker.
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