Cuban Revolution
Durham, NC
4 stars ****
Scale: 1-11
1 star = barfy 11 stars = orgasmy
Today the time changed and it messed up our eating clocks, so we didn't have breakfast until around 11am. To try to get back on track, we decided to have a snack instead of a late lunch or early dinner.
Since we were already in Durham, Mark suggested Cuban Revolution. They have a large list of small plates so it seemed like it would provide super snacking satisfaction.
The restaurant has a really cool vibe, with lots of TVs and interesting art featuring Che Guevara, JFK, Marlin Monroe, Lennon, and other 60's era celebrities and politicians. We walk in, and there are only about 8 other people in the place (it's about 3pm, so that's not necessarily bad). We seat ourselves at the bar, and order drinks from the drink menu (Mark - Mojito, Becka - Cuban Revolution Bloody Mary). We had to practically beg to order food, even though there are 4 wait staff and only 10 patrons. Finally, we got our drinks (weak, and with no "signature" style...the mojito isn't muddled and you can't taste any mint or alcohol...the bloody mary is a bland mix with no special ingredients to make it unique or interesting in any way. In fact, it is all ice and limp celery).
Our food came quickly - we chose the fried green beans, crostini con frijoles, and roasted piquillo red peppers.
The green beans were breaded and deep fried and came with a smoky remoulade dip. The portion was generous and each bite contained a satisfying crunch. As with most deep fried things, they were pretty yummy.
Fried Green Beans Rating
portion size - perfecto
taste - pretty good
texture - excellent
value - not bad
The crostini was a a different story. The portion size was still satisfactory, however, the actual serving sizes should have been doubled (same amount of food made into smaller pieces). The bread was so big that it wasn't properly toasted (it was actually soggy), and the toppings didn't approach hot (major pet peeve for me). The flavors were lackluster.
Crostini Rating
portion size - fine
taste - boring
texture - too squishy
value - cruddy
The Roasted Red Peppers appetizer was also served on Cuban bread, and it was a good idea that wasn't executed properly. Again, the overall portion size was fine but the number of actual servings was not, four small slices of bread would have been much better than the two huge ones that were presented. The dish suffered from soggy bread and toppings that weren't even lukewarm. The peppers provided nice flavor but that was about it.
Roasted Red Peppers Rating
portion size - fine
taste - slightly better than boring
texture - too squishy
value - cruddy
