Victor's 1959 Cafe
Sep. 10th, 2006 12:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
abracanabraThe Mad Scientist, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
malcubed and I went to Victor's 1959 Cafe: All-American Breakfast and Revolutionary Cuban Food for dinner after Cahoots today. We've lived not-too-far away from it for a while now, and only recently did The Mad Scientist venture through its doors--and then only for the (tasty) breakfast. Tonight we learned the depth of our error. All this time, we have been missing such tasty food? Tragedy!
Victor's 1959 cafe is a small shack whose exterior is wood shingled and trimmed in aqua blue paint. Flowers spill from windowboxes set on the outside. Inside, it's dark and crowded, but the smell of the cooking will make you think you died and went to heaven, the heaven to which all good revolutionaries go. The hard wooden booth-seats and tables are covered with colorful floral vinyl sheets that change from booth to booth, and the walls are littered with Communist paraphernalia (including, most entertainingly, a hot pink neon sign of Che), but most of the decorating was done by customers past armed with paint, Sharpies, and pens.
We knew we were in trouble the instant we looked at the menu's listings of alluringly exotic dishes with descriptions that made our mouths water and side dishes that we'd never tasted before (I now know that yucca fries are quite tasty, like baked potato fries but a bit sweeter, with a faint melony aftertaste and more texture). The waitress came by and asked if we were ready to order. No. Three minutes later. No. Another two minutes. No--but we'll order anyway.
The food was as delicious as it smelled. Hot, tender as if it had been simmering for hours (and maybe it had), crisp and freshly fried, and cooked with good (if mild) spice combinations and lime-and-lemon flavors.
This is a restaurant where you want to agree amongst yourselves to order different things and taste everybody else's food and drink. It's the sort of place where you take your more open-minded out-of-town relatives, because you know it's hard to find places like this except in "the big city."
The basics:
Type: Dine-in and carry-out
Dress code: bring your Sharpie--customers are allowed to graffiti on the walls and the booths
Location: the intersection of Grand and 38th St. S. in Minneapolis
Menu Type: one of those places where there are only ten entrees on the menu, but you know every single one will be delicious
Price Range: $9-$14 for dinner entrees
Vegetarian options: has a delicious-looking vegetarian plate and several veggie sides, which makes it a reasonable sample-size of the menu
Closest comparison: a Commie punk version of Puerto Azul in St. Paul
Tips: choose the moros and christianos rice, request the bill when you get your food served to you, and expect the seating to fill up pretty fast
Bonus: Where else are you going to get that Che stocking cap?
What we ate (description cribbed directly from the menu):
malcubed and I went to Victor's 1959 Cafe: All-American Breakfast and Revolutionary Cuban Food for dinner after Cahoots today. We've lived not-too-far away from it for a while now, and only recently did The Mad Scientist venture through its doors--and then only for the (tasty) breakfast. Tonight we learned the depth of our error. All this time, we have been missing such tasty food? Tragedy!Victor's 1959 cafe is a small shack whose exterior is wood shingled and trimmed in aqua blue paint. Flowers spill from windowboxes set on the outside. Inside, it's dark and crowded, but the smell of the cooking will make you think you died and went to heaven, the heaven to which all good revolutionaries go. The hard wooden booth-seats and tables are covered with colorful floral vinyl sheets that change from booth to booth, and the walls are littered with Communist paraphernalia (including, most entertainingly, a hot pink neon sign of Che), but most of the decorating was done by customers past armed with paint, Sharpies, and pens.
We knew we were in trouble the instant we looked at the menu's listings of alluringly exotic dishes with descriptions that made our mouths water and side dishes that we'd never tasted before (I now know that yucca fries are quite tasty, like baked potato fries but a bit sweeter, with a faint melony aftertaste and more texture). The waitress came by and asked if we were ready to order. No. Three minutes later. No. Another two minutes. No--but we'll order anyway.
The food was as delicious as it smelled. Hot, tender as if it had been simmering for hours (and maybe it had), crisp and freshly fried, and cooked with good (if mild) spice combinations and lime-and-lemon flavors.
This is a restaurant where you want to agree amongst yourselves to order different things and taste everybody else's food and drink. It's the sort of place where you take your more open-minded out-of-town relatives, because you know it's hard to find places like this except in "the big city."
The basics:
Type: Dine-in and carry-out
Dress code: bring your Sharpie--customers are allowed to graffiti on the walls and the booths
Location: the intersection of Grand and 38th St. S. in Minneapolis
Menu Type: one of those places where there are only ten entrees on the menu, but you know every single one will be delicious
Price Range: $9-$14 for dinner entrees
Vegetarian options: has a delicious-looking vegetarian plate and several veggie sides, which makes it a reasonable sample-size of the menu
Closest comparison: a Commie punk version of Puerto Azul in St. Paul
Tips: choose the moros and christianos rice, request the bill when you get your food served to you, and expect the seating to fill up pretty fast
Bonus: Where else are you going to get that Che stocking cap?
What we ate (description cribbed directly from the menu):
These entrees are served with your choice of white rice, yellow rice, or moros and christianos rice. To not have rice with your meal is a felony in Cuba!
Masas de Puerco
Tasty chunks of lean pork, marinated in our house mojo, perfectly pan-fried in canola oil and served with boiled yuca con mojo. Just like in Tony Oliva's house in Pinar del Rio.
Ropa Vieja
Literally means "old clothes". This shredded flank steak is simmered in our own sherry-spiked Spanish red sauce with green & red peppers, garlic, onions and sweet green peas. Served with fried sweet plantains. A walk in the mountains of the Sierra Maestra.
Bisteck Filette Ensebollado
Rib eye steak (8 oz) marinated in an orange and lime mojo, topped with grilled onions and served with tostones. The best one I ever had was in Cienfuegos.
Moros y Cristianos
Moors and Christians. Black beans and white rice cooked together.
Arroz Amarillo
Seasoned saffron rice.
Beverages
Hatuey Beer and mango juice.
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Date: 2006-09-10 06:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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