Holy moly. Just two words needed to describe our experience at Victor’s Cuban Café. The restaurant, which has called New York its home for over 50 years, is a family-owned spot that is definitely going to withstand another 50 years as a successful New York City dining spot. The spacious restaurant is classy, with a super fun interior, complete with palm trees, colorful murals, fans and skylights, creating a welcoming and jubilant atmosphere. Attached to the restaurant is the Cuba Lounge, which contains the bar, along with live music in the evenings, serving cocktails and tapas.
The restaurant’s high quality food speaks for itself…the proof is in how long its withstood the test of time. Now under the management of the third generation of the Zaldivar family, it’s a pleasure to see the restaurant thriving. Victor’s serves traditional Cuban cuisine, but adds its own modern interpretation of dishes to create their unique menu. We were thrilled to be able to try a huge sampling of their dishes, but with so many outstanding options, it’s hard to recommend the best. We started by trying some of their appetizers, including the Ceviche de Pargo ($16, including Florida snapper, citrus marinade, red onion, mango, avocado), Aguacate Relleno ($12, bacon, tomato & cheese stuffed avocado with tropical tuber chips), Rollitos de Yuca y Camarones ($14, warm soft yuca rolls, creole shrimp, idiazabal cheese) and the 1492 Aperitivo Cubano ($29), which includes an additional array of appetizers. The ceviche was very flavorful and tasty, especially considering I am not a huge ceviche fan. The aguacate relleno was a fun spin on guacamole, and the rollitos were like mini quesadillas that packed a punch. The sampler included many of their other appetizers, including Harina con Jaiba (corn grits, snow crab claw, enchilado sauce), Bartolitos (sweet plaintains with pork stuffing), Croquetas Corral (smoked ham croquettes), along with yuca chips. All of them were so delicious, but I especially loved the crab claws. Additionally, the yuca chips were perfection, and served with two different dipping sauces — totally addictive.
Although all of those appetizers were like a meal in themselves, we knew more was coming so we saved room for some entrees. And boy, are we glad we did! We were able to try some of their top notch dishes including their house specialty Ropa Vieja ($27, slow braised and pulled skirt steak in garlic, tomato, onion, pepper sauce), which was truly one of the best things I’ve eaten. The meat was so tender and juicy and full of Cuban flavor. We also tried Lechón Asado ($27, Cuban style roast suckling pig, yuca, garlic mojo) and Churrasco con Chimichurri ($31, black angus skirt steak, chimichurri sauce). Out of these two dishes I would go with the suckling pig, which was a really unique dish. Another of my favorites was the Camarones Enchilados ($27, pink shrimp, creole sauce, boniato mash, boniato crisps). This shrimp dish was spectacular and I could just not get enough of it. With all of this came their traditional rice and beans which complemented the dishes. Now, none of this would be quite as delicious without something enticing to wash it all down with. I tried two of the restaurant’s signature cocktails — the Mojito Clasico and La Cubana. Both were refreshing and tasty.
If you can even believe it, we topped off our meal with a sampling of their desserts — Flan de Huevo, Arroz con Leche, and Guayabitas De Maria. They were all yummy, but my favorite was the guava cobbler, which was an unusual, yet satisfying dessert.
Victor’s Café hit all the right spots and is definitely filling, so we suggest going on an empty stomach! If you haven’t yet been to this Cuban hot spot, we suggest planning a visit asap. We can’t wait to go back.
Victor’s Cuban Café is located at 236 W. 52nd Street.
Twisted Talk: Have you been to Victor’s Café yet? What was your experience? What’s your favorite Cuban dish? Discuss below!
