Like the Spanish Inquisition, the chief weapon of Mima’s Cuban Café is surprise. The cozy lunchtime-only café serves up the standards in large portions with big, feisty flavor, but keeps the prices in the lightweight class.
The traditional Cuban sandwich ($5.95) doesn’t possess quite the pizzazz of other menu items, though the sweet, firm bread goes a long way to balance the saltiness of the serrano ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles. If you’re looking for a quick treat, the empanada ($2.25) is a clear winner: sweet pastry filled with rousing ropa vieja spices worked into tender shredded beef. Stellar. For a more robust meal, try the lechon asado, tangy mojo pork with slightly salted black beans and rice on the side for a mere $6.95. The sweet tamale ($2), a tough cornhusk lovingly folded over tender, steamy cornmeal, is almost too pretty to eat, but not quite.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2010.