Cuba Libre

Part of the reason I've been writing so infrequently is that I was in Orlando last week for work. The weather was not as nice as I was hoping for and the week was jam packed with events and lots of small-talk. Plus, if you've been to Orlando you know that the restaurant options are somewhat limited compared to the windy city. Disney's east coast home is also home to every chain restaurant in America. T.G.I. Friday's and Perkins were just two of the many less than delicious places I stopped at during the trip. But, I was able to try one unfamiliar restaurant.

One night I had an event at Cuba Libre, and while it is still a chain, it doesn't have quite the national reach of Friday's (it has three locations in Orlando, Philadelphia and Atlantic City). I've never been to Cuba (or even another Cuban restaurant) so I really can't make any claims about authenticity, but my guess is that Fidel would not be pleased - it's a bit hokey. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the restaurant.

We started with terrific mojitos - very refreshing and almost too good, as I struggled to stop drinking them. Since the event was work related, I wasn't able to choose from the entire menu. Instead, we had a few shared appetizers which were my least favorite course. It was an assortment of fried chicken and shrimp pastry turnovers that were sub-par. The next course was a plain spinach salad that was a nice palate cleanser. For an entree, we had a choice of steak, chicken or salmon. I chose the grilled skirt steak that was served with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed greens. It was served in a delicious lemon, parsley and onion sauce. I really enjoyed it and the serving size was perfect.

The best part of the meal was dessert. Everyone received three mini portions of papaya and mango rice pudding, flan with mixed berries and a chocolate souffle tart. The flan in particular was wonderful.

I'm not dying to go back to Orlando or Cuba Libre anytime soon, but it was a nice break from the generic sandwiches and salads that made up almost all my other meals in the city.

Tab: About $30 a person (w/the much enjoyed mojito)