Lunch @ La Caridad 78

This afternoon I enjoyed a delicious, filling, and inexpensive lunch at La Caridad 78 on the Upper West Side. I just moved away from the Upper West Side after ten years and have wanted to try this place. I finally went in for lunch and was not disappointed. The menu does not blend Cuban and Chinese foods, as I had originally thought, but presents both types of food separately on the menu. The restaurant was opened in the sixties by Chinese entrepreneurs who emigrated to Cuba and subsequently fled Castro’s revolution.

Having just eaten chinese food from from Grand Sichuan International on Friday night, I opted for the Cuban side of the menu. I started with the fried plantains which were sweet, caramelly, crispy. Then all the serious food arrived: chicken livers with onions and peppers, scrambled eggs with shrimp, corn tamale with pork. The chicken livers are sauteed and obviously had some soy sauce added - they were crispy, soft, rich, creamy and were perfect with the onions and peppers. The scrambled eggs with shrimp, which are also cooked with onion and green peppers, were a knock out. Cooked perfectly and just fantastic. The corn tamale came out last, even though it was ordered as an appetizer, but I didn't care, because it was fresh out of the steamer. Perfect little tasty nuggets of pork and with a little hot sauce added, it was wonderful. The eggs and the chicken livers came with beans (red or black) and rice (white or yellow).

Cheap, tons of food, delicious, interesting menu options, chinese waiters that looks like they have been there for decades - this place was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Why did it take me over tens years to finally try it out?