SISTER HAVANA
The menu at Cuba Caf� keeps diners feeling tropically sated
BY JARRET KEENE

Cuba Caf� set up shop five years ago in the place once occupied by Jazzed Caf� & Vinoteca. Since then, this little-known eatery has been offering a taste of Cuba in the University District for anyone feeling curious or homesick. As a native of Ybor City, Fla., where a great number of Cuban immigrants arrived (pre- and post-Castro), I find myself longing every so often for something as simple as an empanada, and usually settling for one of two Cuban joints closer to Downtown Vegas: the Florida Caf� inside the Howard Johnson's and Rincon Criollo, both on Las Vegas Boulevard near Charleston. But whenever I'm teaching a class at UNLV, I make sure to lunch at what I consider to be the top Cuban restaurant in the valley.

The d�cor at Cuba Caf� hasn't changed significantly since the location's Jazzed days, so it's still a strip-mall ambience we're dealing with here. Indeed, what's worth writing home about is the cuisine, which is straight-up Cuban fare. For lunchtime apps and salads, you simply can't go wrong with items like the croquetas (deep-fried ham and beef croquettes, $4.50) and an ensalada de aguacate (avocado salad, $4.50) with a Hatuey beer (once made in Cuba, now corporate-owned, $4.25). This is almost a meal unto itself, so be sure to share with whomever's handy.

For sandwiches, try the sandwich cubano ($6.95), on hot-pressed Cuban bread, loaded with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles. And you'll feel like you're back in sunlit Havana, waiting for Castro to shuffle off this mortal coil, once you bite into the pan con bistec ($6.95), a steak sandwich with thin-cut pan-fried sirloin replete with lettuce, onions, tomatoes and potato sticks on toasted Cuban bread. (Don't knock the potato sticks; they're what real Cubans actually dress their steak sandwiches with.) If you're gunning for a heart attack, indulge yourself with the pan con croquetas ($7.50), which involves the abovementioned croquettes on bread slathered with mayo and placed between Cuban bread.

The "Cool Place Hispanic Specialties" are all fine - except for the Italian additions like Pasta Napolitana, which have no business being on the menu. But please take the opportunity to feast on the ropa vieja ($12.95), which translates into - get this - "old clothes." This is a popular Cuban dish that centers on richly spiced and shredded beef simmered in onions and green peppers. It also comes with what are called moros and cristianos (translation: Moors and Christians, referring to the battles waged between the two groups from the eighth through the 15th centuries), or black beans and rice mixed together. Ah, a rare example of racial harmony.

Other great dishes are the bistec de palomilla ($12.95), a sirloin steak marinated in olive oil and pan fried, and the filetillo salteado ($11.95), sliced beef saut�ed in garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Both come with moros and cristianos. Heck, order both if you've got the time and the appetite (though the latter is unlikely - these are big dishes).

Finally, for dessert, there's the flan de leche ($4.75), or milk and egg custard, which goes great with some Cuban coffee ($1.50). Or, if your sweet tooth runs to the fruitier side of the spectrum, there's platanos maduros ($2.50), or sweet fried bananas. 

If you're getting a tropical hunger, Cuba Caf� is the place to get it satiated. Cuba Caf� is located at 2055 E. Tropicana Ave. (between Eastern and Spencer). For more info, call 702-795-7070 or visit www.cubacafelv.com. LW