For foodies such as ourselves a break in food blogging does not equal a break in restaurant eating. The food must always go on. What better excuse to chow down than to get together with friends you haven't seen in over a decade and go out to celebrate your birthday? That's exactly what I did on a chilly Sunday afternoon in November.
The occasion was my 28th birthday. The lovely Cindy traveled from the far east and the stunning Yosanne came from the west to dine with me at the Cuban inspired, nuevo latino restaurant Cabana. Located on 107-10 70th Road in the trendy Forest Hills area of Queens, Cabana is a not so hidden gem. Although a relatively small establishment the vibrant colors and even more lively diners make this place a festive treat.
We started with some classic Mojitos that were served with cane sticks (for stirring) and were so yummy it was hard not to swallow the contents of the glass in one big gulp. Although we hadn't seen each other since the early years of high school we didn't need anything to break the ice. We fell into comical banter and observations of how little we all changed. Soon after, our appetizers arrived and were even more delicious than the beverages. A trio of empanadas filled with shrimp, ground beef and chicken made its way to our table and were soon followed by Baccalaitos (a crispy fried codfish cake) and Tostones Rellenos (fried green plantains filled with seasoned shrimp and ground beef). Oh how happy we were after that.
Selecting entrees proved a bit difficult, partly because we were so engrossed on our conversation and also because we wanted to order everything on the menu. We finally settled on Coco Cabana Pollo (chicken breast, Caribbean root vegetables, red potatoes, broccoli and green beans served in a coconut milk, habanero pepper and curry sauce), pan seared salmon with black rice and lobster empanadas with grilled chicken and shrimp served over safron rice. There wasn't anything I would've added or taken away from any of those dishes. They were perfect!
We laughed about old high school memories and caught up on our now adult lives, filling in the stories of the missing years all the while making room for dessert. Boy, what a treat that was. Pastry with guava jelly filling, served with coconut ice cream, banana fritters with coconut and passion fruit ice cream, and more ice cream for me (banana, passion fruit and coconut). This needs no further explanation. I will let the photos speak for themselves.
This place represented for the Cuban/Latin community very well. My only complaint was that the space between seats were quite small and we constantly had to get up to let someone through to their seat. Also our waitress seemed a bit impatient with us because we were there for quite a while. I'm not sure if she was afraid of not getting her tip if we happened to be there past her shift or she was just having a bad day. Whatever her problem was we were too happy to be reunited to let that stop our fun. We ate, laughed and had a good time. So look on and drool and all I'll say is "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUNA".
We started with some classic Mojitos that were served with cane sticks (for stirring) and were so yummy it was hard not to swallow the contents of the glass in one big gulp. Although we hadn't seen each other since the early years of high school we didn't need anything to break the ice. We fell into comical banter and observations of how little we all changed. Soon after, our appetizers arrived and were even more delicious than the beverages. A trio of empanadas filled with shrimp, ground beef and chicken made its way to our table and were soon followed by Baccalaitos (a crispy fried codfish cake) and Tostones Rellenos (fried green plantains filled with seasoned shrimp and ground beef). Oh how happy we were after that.
Selecting entrees proved a bit difficult, partly because we were so engrossed on our conversation and also because we wanted to order everything on the menu. We finally settled on Coco Cabana Pollo (chicken breast, Caribbean root vegetables, red potatoes, broccoli and green beans served in a coconut milk, habanero pepper and curry sauce), pan seared salmon with black rice and lobster empanadas with grilled chicken and shrimp served over safron rice. There wasn't anything I would've added or taken away from any of those dishes. They were perfect!
We laughed about old high school memories and caught up on our now adult lives, filling in the stories of the missing years all the while making room for dessert. Boy, what a treat that was. Pastry with guava jelly filling, served with coconut ice cream, banana fritters with coconut and passion fruit ice cream, and more ice cream for me (banana, passion fruit and coconut). This needs no further explanation. I will let the photos speak for themselves.
This place represented for the Cuban/Latin community very well. My only complaint was that the space between seats were quite small and we constantly had to get up to let someone through to their seat. Also our waitress seemed a bit impatient with us because we were there for quite a while. I'm not sure if she was afraid of not getting her tip if we happened to be there past her shift or she was just having a bad day. Whatever her problem was we were too happy to be reunited to let that stop our fun. We ate, laughed and had a good time. So look on and drool and all I'll say is "HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHAUNA".
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