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Cuban Pete's

jim07044

By jim07044
in New Jersey: Dining

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ejebud

ejebud

Posted
Posted (edited)

OK, Sorry for the delayed "chiming in" on the Cuban Pete's experience. I too had a wonderful time and the food was great!! Remebering that cuban food generally falls into the category of Peasant Food, it consists of "cheaper cuts" of meats that require a longer cooking process, often times all day or in some cases for 24 hours!! The Tapas selections are fabulous so when you go make sure you order at least 4-6 different plates. Here are some pictures from the evening:

gallery_16368_2124_91548.jpg

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GOAT CHEESE AND HAZELNUT BALLS:

gallery_16368_2124_574999.jpg

CHICKEN LOLLIPOPS:

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DATES STUFFED WITH ALMONDS WRAPPED IN BACON-A MUST HAVE !!!:

gallery_16368_2124_178047.jpg

CHICKEN EMPINADAS:

gallery_16368_2124_629821.jpg

CHICKEN EMPINADAS INSIDE:

gallery_16368_2124_723801.jpg

24 HOUR PORK NUGGETS OF YUMMNESS:

gallery_16368_2124_439538.jpg

STUFFED PEQUILLO PEPPERS:

gallery_16368_2124_1079630.jpg

CUBAN PULLED PORK:

gallery_16368_2124_177399.jpg

WHOLE RED SNAPPER:

gallery_16368_2124_106488.jpg

FISH HEADS FOR ROSIE:

gallery_16368_2124_141626.jpg

Bravo to Chef Ruiz and Domenic and his staff for a job well done. This is a restaurant that you want to go to folks. The decor is inviting, the food is authentic and the hospitality is second to none.

Edited by ejebud (log)

President

Les Marmitons-NJ

Johnson and Wales

Class of '85

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rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted

Greetings....My pictures dont do justice to the food so here is just one showing what kind of damage we can do...notice multiple glasses of Sangria in front of most of the guests.

gallery_23695_426_500236.jpg

I now must get some dates...and some pork belly and some pork butt and and and go back to Cuban Petes.

Just grab everyone you love and go eat here!

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

garden state motorcyle association

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cibo susci

cibo susci

Posted
Posted
Greetings....My pictures dont do justice to the food so here is just one showing what kind of damage we can do...notice multiple glasses of Sangria in front of most of the guests.

gallery_23695_426_500236.jpg

I now must get some dates...and some pork belly and some pork butt and and and go back to Cuban Petes.

Just grab everyone you love and go eat here!

tracey

Everthing looks great!!! One of the best meals I have had was from chef. He is right on with flavors and combos. he is also a good friend.

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rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted

Hey guys did we every get it straight on reservations for 6 or more?

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

garden state motorcyle association

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  • 2 weeks later...
jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted

I tried Cuban Pete's a few weeks ago, and reporting on it here kind of slipped my mind. But I'm not fuzzy at all on the meal, because it was actually fairly memorable.

First of all, the Ropa Vieja is great. I love most forms of the beloved beef brisket, but they do it right here. The portion is healty, and some nice black beans, and a couple of sweet plaintains are thrown in to boot.

The Cuban sandwich is very good, although not record breakingly good.

As far as the tapas goes, we sampled a variety, and most were very good to excellent. As with tapas in many places, the portions are skimpy almost beyond belief for the price, but well... if you've got the money, spend it. The dates in bacon and the goat cheese fritters are the best of the group I had. The chorizo and stuffed peppers were good as well. Dates wrapped in bacon is apparently a fairly easy dish to make at home though, so as one of my table-mates recommended... perhaps it should simply be consumed there instead.

The only sangria we tried was the mojito white wine one. Good, but as both people consuming noticed, not nearly cold enough.

One HUGE complaint--the bread situation. When we asked (and we HAD to ask) we were presented with these skimpy little crackers--and just two of them. Mind you we were eating TAPAS, and many Tapas dishes are traditionally scooped up and consumed with a nice hearty bread. Well it ain't happening that way at Cuban Pete's, and that just sucks. As good as most of the food was, I'm determined to never consume the tapas there again--at a minimum--because besides the portion/price ration being skimpy, the absense of the bread just makes me burn.

I'll go back--in fact I intended to yesterday for lunch when visiting Montclair, and only skipped it because my group decided we wanted a place that actually HAD a lunch menu. Apparently Cuban Pete's daytime menu is identical to their dinner menu. No big deal, of course, but people here should be aware of that.

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

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jim07044

jim07044

Posted
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Posted

There's a rumor going around that Cuban Pete's lost its wine license to make sangrias because they were supposed to use only NJ wineries and didn't. Any truth to it? Are they getting fined? Are they getting the license back somehow?

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

:sad: Where did he go, Rosie?

I'll be sure to follow once you tell us...the dinner we had there was proof that the man can COOK!

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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richl2214

richl2214

Posted
Posted

I've been to Son Cubano before. Nice place but hopefully he can spice up the really bland "Cuban" fare that has become a staple there over the last few years.

"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." ~Winston Churchill

Morels- God's gift to the unworthy human species

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted
Carl Ruiz is a fabulous chef and I am sure  many New Jerseyians will be traveling to NY to have his cuisine.

ABSOLUTELY!

New Jersey's loss is NYC's gain--that's for sure. Bummer for CP's, but at least there's Los Tapatios nearby if I need my Latin food fix! :smile:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted

The latest scoop on this place is that they've been stating that the sangria issue will soon be cleared up. Since they can't change the law (that only full bottles can be served if all you have is a wine license) I'm not sure how that will work. Frankly I don't believe it, but I know two different people who've gone into the restaurant and asked recently.

It's too bad that decent sangria has to sit after being mixed (usually chilled overnight, so the booze gets in the fruit and the fruit gets in the booze). It completely kills the solution that people could simply bring their own wine and hand it over to the restaurant.

Montclair has something like a dozen real liquor licenses, so obviously THAT'S not a solution.

I forget... do we have a thread somewhere on how corrupt and screwed up the whole NJ liquor license thing is? :biggrin:

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

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rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted

A restaurant with no liquor license can marinate with alcohol...can they macerate?

If they prepped the fruit mixes ahead, put it in the pitcher and present your bottle of wine, cant you pour it in the "decanter"...

Tableside Sangria prep just like Guacamole.

Me thinks it could work.

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

garden state motorcyle association

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  • 2 months later...
rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted

Perhaps I spoke wrong........

http://www.baristanet.com/barista/2006/02/...s_the_buzz.html

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

garden state motorcyle association

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richl2214

richl2214

Posted
Posted

Can this guy from Cuban Pete's be a BIGGER idiot? Skirting the laws to serve so-so sangria is laughable.

"My rule of life prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them." ~Winston Churchill

Morels- God's gift to the unworthy human species

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Curlz

Curlz

Posted
Posted

I don't know if they were using boiled wine when we were there, but either way, it wasn't sangria--that's for sure! :huh:

"I'm not eating it...my tongue is just looking at it!" --My then-3.5 year-old niece, who was NOT eating a piece of gum

"Wow--this is a fancy restaurant! They keep bringing us more water and we didn't even ask for it!" --My 5.75 year-old niece, about Bread Bar

"He's jumped the flounder, as you might say."

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