a tale of 2 dinners

I started having a craving for deep-fried plantain back in May.

It was partly because of this craving for plantain that we naively chose to have our anniversary dinner at Asia de Cuba. That, and the fact that I'm still a sucker for occasionally going to places featured in my favorite movies and TV shows. Lame, but true.

That night we had their calamari salad (enh), lobster mai tai (enh), plantain fried rice (REALLY ENH) and their "Shanghai noodles" (SO ENH I'm embarrassed to say that we ordered it).

It was a moment of severe disenchantment with the NYC culinary scene. The crowds, the pretentiousness, the over-priced, third-rate, awful and abundant Asian fusion.

During that dinner, I finally came to appreciate my immigrant Chinese parents' unswerving focus on value and quality when eating out. Oh, for a simply prepared lobster at any number of fine establishments in the true North, strong and free.

But wait...there's always hope!

Last week, because I still craved fried plantain, we went to Flor de Mayo on the Upper West Side. We had fried plantain (finally!), a seafood paella, and their Peruvian roasted chicken. A humble meal, at a humble restaurant (as you can see below, I couldn't even find a decent picture of the place!)--and it was fantastic.