Alma de Cuba

April 15, 2019

Wow, as I pause LSAT studying to write this, I realize that this dinner was the last real meal out I’ve had.

Alma de Cuba is a Stephen Starr restaurant. Unlike most other restaurants in Philly of its caliber, it is open on Mondays. I went with a party of seven — it was a lot, but the staff did its best. I ordered. We got:

• PAN DE BONO manchego cheese, yucca flour, chimichurri
• OXTAIL CROQUETAS rabo encendido croquetas, roasted bone marrow, pickled onion, grated idiazabal cheese & natural jus
• CEVICHE TASTING with THAI COCONUT MIXTO lobster, shrimp, calamari, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, Thai basil, sweet lime, and coconut leche de Tigre, WHITE TIGER SALMON sliced salmon, yuzu, daikon, fennel fronds, white soy leche de tigre & ikura salmon roe, and YELLOWTAIL TIRADITO sliced yellowtail, sweet potato chayote salpicon, aji Amarillo & passionfruit vinaigrette
• ROYAL PALM DATES almond-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, endive, coconut gelée & cabrales bleu cheese
• OCTOPUS spanish octopus terrine & grilled baby octopus, white bean purée, lemon-fennel vinaigrette
• SUGAR CANE TUNA black bean purée, sweet plantains, frisée, sundried tomato & piquillo pepper mojo, oregano oil, queso fresco
• LECHON ASADO crispy skin roasted pork, kidney bean & bacon congri rice, sour orange, oregano & garlic mojo
• VACA FRITA slowly braised then pan seared skirt steak, black beans, white rice, sliced avocado & tomato escabeche
• RED WINE BRAISED GOAT coffee-roasted carrot, piquillo peppers, olives, casabe
• SHORT RIB ROPA VIEJA white wine & tomato sofrito braised shortribs, manzanilla olive & piquillo pepper escabeche, plantain strips, arroz blanco
• TRES LECHES vanilla sponge cake, three milks, coconut gelée, caramelized bananas & Mexican chocolate ice cream
• CHOCOLATE CIGAR almond cake, chocolate mousse & dulce de leche ice cream

The pan de bono was the best bread I’ve eaten this year. I would pass on the octopus, tuna, lechon asado, and chocolate cigar next time though. The octopus was forgettable, the tuna was boring, the lechon asado was not memorable, and the cigar (while fun to look at) was nothing special.

The ceviches, oxtail croquetas, and royal palm dates (shown behind the ceviches and octopus) were all good, but they didn’t wow me. I’m not sure I would try them again, but I would the tres leches. That night, I found the sponge cake itself to be oversaturated with sweet milk and too sticky/dense, but the components that accompanied it, in particular: the coconut gelée, were phenomenal.

Very high highlights included two of the following: vaca frita, red wine braised goat, and short rib ropa vieja. I say two because, while all three were delicious, two of them (I think the latter) made me “oh” audibly. I thought about these dishes for a good couple of days after and looking at pictures of them now makes me salivate.