Cuban food and A Cuban Sandwich

[Fussy Foodie]

My wife moved out here from Florida and really misses good Cuban food. Anyone have any recs for Cuban food, preferably in the east bay but anywhere in the Bay Area will work. We're looking for a place that gets the standard dishes right, Arroz con pollo, fried plantains, cuban style frijoles negros.

Also, where can I get her a good Cuban sandwich comparable to what she used to get in South Florida. I liked the one at Luna Park, she thought it was a joke!

TIA

[Fussy Foodie]

Anyone been to Habana Cuba in San Jose. Looks promising.

www.998cuba.com

[Lord Griffin]

Im from florida too and miss cuban food constantly. surprisingly the cuban at magnolia pub is pretty decent.

[OldTimer]

Sadly, I fear you must make your own. Hard to find the right kind of bread, tho. Bay Area seems commited to hard-crust rolls.

[Fussy Foodie]

There should be a mexican bakery that makes a soft roll. Most tortas are made on super soft rolls.

manchego cheese or swiss?

[Chipotle]

Torta rolls are too soft, I think -- at least in Tampa, Cuban bread tended to be a lot more like French bread.

The last (and only) time I made at-home Cuban sandwiches, I used a "sandwich roll" from Lunardi's which looked like a baguette with the ends cut off. It may not have been perfectly authentic, but it was a pretty good imitation.

[nicedragonboy]

you can go to a vietnamese or asian grocer and buy the fresh french bread there in the morning or mid morning.

[PorkButt]

Compared to Cuban bread, the crust of Vietnamese bread is much crispier and the crumb is fluffier and lighter. Not a good substitution.

[Scrapironchef]

There were a couple of Cuban places down in San Jose, I liked the one near J-town quite a bit but the othe place had it's proponents. I haven't been to either in over a year so I hesitate to recommend. Do a search on the board hereto see other opinions. Other than that it is a desert.

[Lori SF]

no joke pretty much non existence, sorry. If you make it down to LA you will have a few good options.. nothing like NY or Florida.

[wolfe]

This board would appreciate your reports on the places in these post and threads.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/37277...

[Lori SF]

I thought the samething.