Fillet

Lusting for
Cuban?

Tamar Laddy

     El Nuevo Frutlandia
     3077 24th Street at Folsom
     (415) 648.2958

El Nuevo Frutlandia Cafe is one of those restaurants you'd never find on your own, unless you live in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District. I'm not talking about the "Valencia corridor," with its hipster bars and trendy supper clubs. At Frutlandia, plastic non-smoking signs are plastered to the wall above each table and maps of Puerto Rico hang from the neon pink walls that have yet to be gentrified.

But you don't go to Frutlandia for the ambiance; you go for the authentic, lip-smacking Cuban and Puerto Rican fare served from noon till nightfall. It should be noted that if you're even five minutes past the 8:45 p.m. closing time, it helps to have a Spanish-speaking friend who can charm the waitresses into giving you a table. It also helps if that friend happens to be from Miami and knows the best dishes to order.

In case you're not so lucky, I'd suggest you start off with a plate of the tostones con mojo de ajo ($2), plantain fritters made with whole cloves of crushed garlic. Served piping hot, the twice-fried tostones are the ultimate finger food - salty and chewy, with a subtle sweetness.

On my first visit to Frutlandia, my Floridian friend insisted I try the pastelles puertoriqueños ($2.25), which he described as the Puerto Rican version of a tamale. As we watched the mariachi players hurry past the storefront in search of more profitable gigs, the pastelles arrived at our table wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with tender pork. Traditionally served on Christmas, the rectangular pastelles are boiled rather than steamed. As a result, the mixture of yucca root and green bananas has an almost pudding-like consistency.

Not to be missed is the mofongo ($6.75), a savory dish made with crushed plantains, pork cracklings, olive oil, and what seems like an entire head of garlic. Drowned in chicken broth, the mofongo is dome-shaped, like a big flattened matzoh ball. As my friend explained, once the plantains are fried with the garlic and pork, they are mashed into a mortar and then inverted onto the serving dish.

On my second visit to Frutlandia, this time in the company of a nice Jewish girl from the suburbs, I took a leap of faith and ordered the picadillo a la Habana vieja ($6.50), a tomato-based meat sauce. The picadillo was swimming with sliced olives, plump capers, and chunks of onion, with a few raisins adding a sweet touch. I made the mistake of ordering the dish a la carte - for an additional $1.50, I could have ladled the sauce over a bed of rice and had my choice of a side order of Cuban black beans.

My friend ordered the bisteca de palomilla ($7.25), thin strips of sirloin marinated and fried in citrus juices and topped with parsley and lightly sautéed rings of onion. While the beef itself was overcooked and the sauce a bit oily, its tangy, bright orange flavor made the dish memorable.

You'd think from this review that the only ingredients in Frutlandia's kitchen are plantains and beef. But don't be misled; the menu also includes a variety of chicken, pork, and seafood specialties. At lunch, the restaurant also offers medianoches ($4.75), traditional Cuban sandwiches made with ham, pickles, Swiss cheese, and roast pork.

To finish the meal, try the plàtanos maduros ($2) chunks of sweet plantain fried until the outside is a chewy caramel and the inside a vibrant yellow honeyed mush. The casquitos de guayaba con queso ($2.25) are jellied halves of guayaba fruit served with cream cheese, a combination that tastes something like cheese cake and is cloyingly rich. If you're craving a milkshake, choose from one of the batidos de frutas ($2.25), a Cuban fruit shake made from your choice of mango, papaya, tamarind, or guanabana.

Tamar Laddy is a freelance food and travel writer.