Position: N 25 47.344 W 080 09.419
Location: Miami, FL
A couple of days ago we purchased four day passes to the Miami transit system. Two for us and two for our friends Bob & Cheryl on “New Passage”. At $5 each, these passes are a bargain as they cover both transportation and entertainment in the form of bus and train rides around the area.
This morning we head over to Miami Beach and leave our dinghys locked to the wall of the canal. We get on a bus that takes us to the Omni Center. From there we hop the MetroMover (an elevated electric monorail train) to the Government Center. We then get another bus that takes us to Little Havana. We get off at 27th Avenue and walk the 27 blocks down Calle Ocho (8th Street) to 1st Avenue.
Walking down Calle Ocho we are treated to the varied and wonderful smells of Cuban cooking and the rhythmic and melodic strains of Cuban music pouring out of the shops. Most of the signs are in Spanish, with the occasional English translation alongside. Electronics, grocery, and clothing stores, pawn shops, instant check cashing establishments, and myriad restaurants all conspire to remind us of our time in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. Everyone speaks Spanish and some also speak English.
As we pass one shop, Julie notices some women's underpants with extra “bum padding” on display. We assume these are used the same way a padded bra is, except they make for a rounder, “perkier” bottom. Or perhaps they make long bus or train rides a bit more comfortable. Or perhaps they're for transvestites who desire a more “womanly” figure. Whatever their purpose, we are intrigued. Not intrigued enough to go inside and inquire or snap a photo, however, but intrigued, nonetheless. They become a topic of discussion for several blocks.
A short while later we find ourselves at the Maximo Gomez Park and Domino Club. The park consists of a covered pavilion containing many tables and chairs. Most tables are set up for dominos, but some are being used for chess, too. Lively games are taking place and there seem to be spectators at nearly every table. In retrospect, we wish we had asked if we could sit in on a game. Ah well there's always another day and another $5 bus ticket.
All the time we've been walking, we've been keeping an eye out for a reportedly fantastic restaurant we've heard about. We understand that it's inside a grocery store, is somewhere around 13th Avenue, and one of the two or three words in the name starts with an “S”. Then we spot it right on the corner of Calle Ocho and 13th Ave – “El Nuevo Siglo” (The New Century).
On entering, we find a comprehensive grocery store complete with butcher shop and bakery along the back wall, and a lunch counter with a few tables down one side. The smells coming from that side of the store are divine and we are inexorably drawn to the only empty table available. We look at the menu on the chalkboards and realize that, as the only gringos in here, we may be in over our heads. Then a very nice bilingual man appears with some menus in English and we get down to business. He describes each of the available dishes in delicious detail and we make agonizing decisions about which of these gems to try. He even brings over a sample of the “tasajo” for us all to test. Sublime. The orders are placed and we sit and chat amongst ourselves as our food is being prepared.
Julie and Mark split an order of “ternilla” ($7 - literally translated as “gristle”, but nothing like gristle in reality), a sort of beef pot roast w/ delicious gravy, and an order of “costilla puerco” ($6 - grilled pork ribs), also excellent. We also share yucca, fried plantains, bread, and black beans, and rice. These have got to be some of the best black beans we've ever had. Bob & Cheryl split an order of the “tasajo” ($10 – shredded marinated dried beef in a marvelous sauce) and an order of the “ternilla”. We all stuff ourselves full but not so full that we can't select a few awesome pastries to take home us from the bakery. As we roll out the door and continue our walk we all agree that this is some of the best Cuban food we've ever had.
