I can't (and can) believe that this is my first Hoboken review! While I do have some friends who live in Hoboken, I rarely find myself on the other side of the river. But I thought it was worth checking out on a lazy Friday afternoon and shockingly it only took me 30 minutes to get there. I met up with Borami and Lisa for a late afternoon lunch. Lisa grew up in Hoboken before it was what it was now and she had mentioned that she and her family had been going to this place for a long time, so I was excited to check it out.
When I got to La Isla I could see why her family loved it. It's just got this great old school vibe to it and it was packed even at 1pm. I love Cuban food and their menu was chock full of tons of delicious authentic sounding dishes. Apparently it's also been on the Food Network a ton because they had an entire section on dishes "as seen on the Food Network." That would honestly usually turn me off to a place like this but I trust Lisa's judgement, especially when it comes to food. I love a good Cuban sandwich as well as any pork or chicken dish but I felt like I had to get something more authentic here. Borami had mentioned that she had heard that the Bacalao ($13) was tasty so I figured I would give it a go. We also split a papa rellena ($4) for the table - I was amused that it was listed as "As seen on the Food Network's Diners, Driveins and Dive" because to me that is totally not a selling point at all but to each their own. The papa rellena came out first and it's this HUGE ball of mashed potato stuffed with ground beef, breaded and fried and served with a side of salsa ranchera. Oh my, it was f*king delicious. I mean seriously how can you get fried mashed potato and ground beef wrong? I could have totally eaten the whole thing myself but I was glad to have saved room for my main meal. The bacalao is a codfish and potato stew served with yellow rice and I got a side of yuca. The stew was simmering in a tomato based and served with tons of onions. It was incredibly filling and flavorful. There was a good amount of codfish in it and I was really pushing my limits in finishing it but I couldn't stop myself. I had a few pieces of the yuca - they were dripping in garlic, so you can imagine how yummy they were but I was completely starched out at this point.
The staff was super nice - although they did try to rush us a bit at the end of the meal, but I kind of get it when it's as small and busy as it was. But what I really loved about this place was that it was BYOB - so we were able to indulge in some Prosecco with our meal. I was telling Lisa that it makes me happy that places like this still exist and haven't been torn down and made into luxury condos just yet. I hope it stays around for another 20 years. Total bill: $22 with tip and tax
Photo Credit: Yelp
No comments:
Post a Comment