Close...but No Cigar

For five years, I lived in Jacksonville, Florida. Although I was born in Texas and lived the majority of my life in the South, most of my coming of age, if you will, took place in the Sunshine State (and for those of you who want to be technical, I know that Florida is “in the South,” but I promise, it’s not “THE South” You’ll have to just take my word on that). While I lived in Florida, I discovered just how much I like to eat. My love of ethnic foods, fresh seafood, and the roots of what would later become my obsession with everything Michelin-Starred all began on this warm, humid peninsula. While Florida left its mark on my palate in numerous ways, one type of cuisine stands out above all others as quintessentially Floridian, and to this day I feel a great deal of passion and nostalgia towards it. I am, in case you haven’t already figured it out, referring to Cuban food.

Sadly, after my family and I moved away from Florida, there was no good Cuban food to be found (with the exception of Atlanta, Georgia of all places. If you’re ever there, go to Las Palmeras, they make the best Boliche I’ve ever had). After several years of searching for a decent place to get a Cuban sandwich and coffee, I moved to Orange County. During my internet research, I kept coming across a restaurant in Orange that claimed to serve “authentic Cuban cuisine,” Felix Continental Café. But when I looked over the menu, I immediately saw something that I considered to be a red flag with big block letters reading, “DON’T EAT HERE WILLIAM!” They offer not just Cuban food, but Spanish, and Caribbean specialties as well. In my experience, any restaurant that has more than one type of cuisine does so with the mentality that quantity trumps quality, and the end result is a diverse menu of mediocrity with sides of yuck, no thanks and vomit-in-my-mouth. On the other hand, I saw some things on the menu that screamed authentic. For instance, unlike many “Cuban” restaurants, Felix’s doesn’t have black beans with yellow rice on the menu (traditionally, black beans and yellow rice are served as two separate dishes). Instead, they have a choice of black beans, yellow rice or congri, a dish that mixes black beans and WHITE rice. Because of this and a few other details on the menu, I decided to give Felix’s a try.

     

My usual M.O. when trying a new Cuban restaurant is to get the Cuban sandwich with a side of mojo (a sauce made from garlic, olive oil and citrus juices), yuca frita, and maduros plantains. If a Cuban restaurant can’t do these things right, I won’t go back. When I got to Felix’s, I sat down and ordered my test meal. Despite its being very crowded, my food got to my table quickly and hot. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mojo was home-made as opposed to the nasty grocery store version that tastes like cheap salad dressing, and the sandwich was made with real Cuban bread, which is similar to a baguette, but is softer and a little bigger. Flavor wise, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it definitely wasn’t the worst. The yuca was good, although I prefer it with some sliced onions and olive oil on top, but you could always request that so no big deal. The plantains were great, then again, it’s hard to mess those up…you cut and deep fry, that’s it. I ended my meal with one of my other tests that every Cuban restaurant should pass, Cuban coffee or “Café Cubano” This is where Felix’s lost me. A real Cuban coffee is a very special thing. One must first brew espresso, then mix a little bit of it with some sugar and whisk it until it foams, the sugar is then put into a demitasse cup, and the rest of the espresso is poured on top. If it is done correctly, the sugar/espresso combination should cause a froth called “espumita” to form on the top of the coffee. At Felix’s, I was given a shot of espresso with two sugar cubes on the side. This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a Café Cubano. Any and all restaurants that call themselves Cuban should know better.

     

Felix Continental Café is not great Cuban food. It isn’t even really good Cuban food. In fact, it’s just ok. However, it’s by far the best Cuban food I’ve found in Orange County, and because of that, I’ve been back several times, and until I find something better, I will continue to go back for my Masitas de Puerco and Tres Leches fix. Some things about it are great, like the mojo, and others, not so much, like the Cuban coffee, but at the end of the day, it’s still Cuban food, and “just ok” beats nothing at all any day of the week.  For me, Felix’s is much like the Cuban food equivalent of a lifelong smokers nicotine patch. I want the real thing, I miss the real thing, but I can’t have the real thing, so I suck it up and eat there anyway. At the very least, it keeps the cravings at bay and the monkey, temporarily, off my back.  But if you decide to dine here, please, don’t think that it’s a good representation of what Cuban cuisine is all about. Somewhere over that proverbial rainbow, there’s the Cuban food I remember from my childhood. The smell of onions and garlic frying in olive oil wafts from the kitchen; you can hear the gentle whistle of a stovetop espresso press brewing that perfect cup of strong, sweet coffee; and with each bite you take comes a sense of utter contentment that can only accompany such archetypal comfort foods. It’s out there my friends; one has simply to find it.