Sabor De Cuba

Kay has been harping on me to get to the review of Sabor De Cuba, a new Cuban restaurant in downtown Frederick. (That dumb bitch better check her tone.) (Insert Kay: If you had stopped playing video games or watching West Coast Customs or Gold Rush, and got your shit done…I probably wouldn't need to harp on you, dear)  At any rate, here it goes. When walking around downtown a few weeks ago, we noticed a new restaurant opening soon on Patrick Street. I was excited to see that it was Cuban themed. The last Cuban restaurant in Frederick that I visited was That Cuban Place (TCP), and unfortunately, it was forced to close it's doors. I was only able to visit it one time—and I liked it! So, I had high hopes for Sabor De Cuba.

When we visited, Sabor De Cuba had only been open a few days, so we weren't sure what to expect. Upon entering, we were greeted by the hostess and were told it would be about a 20 minute wait. The bar had plenty of open seats, so we opted to eat there. (This is a little trick I use since my appetite usually doesn't want to wait for food. Don't any of you try it, please continue waiting for a table so that I can get to my food before you.) (Insert Kay: OK, total side note: I just wanted to point out that the restaurant was very warm and cozy…which was greatly appreciated as it was a cold and snowy evening when we visited. I hate going to restaurants and freezing my ass off, which happens a lot!)

The bartender took our orders quickly and the food didn't take long to arrive. I went with the Ropa Vieja, a pulled flank steak and Kay went with Pollo a la Plancha. The meals were $15 and $14 respectively,  both came with beans w/ rice and plantains. I was expecting huge portions of food for the price, but I was sadly disappointed—both plates only included a very small portion of meat, the majority of the plate was full of rice and beans. Don't be misled by the picture of Kay's dinner, that's visual ambiguity (google that shit if you don't know what I'm talking about). You've got to be kidding me right, $15 for rice! I will say this, the Ropa Vieja was very tasty, but $15 tasty—no. I could handle paying $15 for the entree if the majority of the meal were the meat. This should have been an $8-9 meal max. Kay's meal was the same as mine, majority rice, small portion of chicken. (Insert Kay: But, the small amount of chicken I did get was really good!)

Kay says she would go back, but not me. (Insert Kay: I usually give restaurants a "pass" if I visit them within the first month of their opening. The food was good, just over priced. I'd definitely try Sabor de Cuba again in a few months. I'm not a hater!) I was still hungry after the meal and was bummed on the small meat portions. I would like to see this restaurant succeed, so I'm taking it easy on them. They need to come down in their prices or go up in the portion size, and hopefully they'll figure this out before it's too late.

On a side note, I kept noticing random people coming up to the bar for free drinks. A few even went behind the bar to get their own drinks. I guess they worked there or were owners/friends. No big deal, it didn't take away from my service. I wanted to be part of the club though (Insert Kay: Sadly, I don't know enough Spanish to have any idea what they were talking about!). I felt like I was eating Thanksgiving dinner at the kids table. You know, you're there but none of the adults want to talk to you. So as far as a rating goes, I give it an "eh" while Kay is probably more on the "I'd like to give it another chance" side. In my eyes, you get one shot, and then, no soup for you! (Insert Kay: or in this case, no meat for us! That sounds gross.)