Bienvenidos a Miami: Casa Larios

Carrie's brother Pat lives in Miami, so we knew we were going to meet him for dinner at least once. We really wanted to try authentic Cuban, so his friend Mario suggested Casa Larios.

We started out with plantain chips (delicious) and moved onto a  combo platter with tamales, ham croquettes, stuffed potatoes, pork chunks, and stuffed plantains.  Everything was tasty, but my absolute favorite was the stuffed plantain.  It's basically a cup made with plantains, then filled with a shrimp creole type filling.  A little salty, a little spicy, and all around delicious.




Then came the entrées.  I asked Mario for his suggestion and he said I should try something off the menu, the vaca frita.  It was very thin, crispy beef, topped with sautéed onions.  The beef was crunchy, not something I'm used to, but flavorful.  In addition, it was served with rice, black beans, or a mix and green or sweet plantains.



I chose the mix of black beans and rice because it reminded me of Costa Rican cooking and the green plantains, because I wanted a savory side.  The rice and beans were, well, rice and beans.  No strong flavors, but not bad either, just on the bland side.  The plantains were well fried, but seemed to need a touch of salt.  This could be because my vaca frita had such strong flavors that it overshadowed the more subtle.


Overall, this poor sunburned girl loved my introduction to Cuban cuisine.  I can't wait to try some more dishes.