Pambiche

Pambiche
2811 NE Glisan Street
Portland, OR

I don’t recall/remember/know how or when this began but, somehow, I have been deemed to be the subject-matter expert when it comes to Latin American food. Don’t get me wrong, I do really appreciate people think that is the case; however, I am not sure to what extent my expertise goes, as Latin America cuisine goes in almost all directions: from meat in Argentina, to seafood in Peru, to spices in the West Indies. The list goes on and on. But, rather than taking it for granted, I take it as a challenge. So why bring this? Since our showing of Latin food in Vancouver is heavily skewed towards Mexican, other Latin cuisines have been extremely shadowed by it. The only growing sprouts of other Latin cuisine have been Peruvian (El Inka Deli and Mochikas, which I still have to go) and Salvadorean (Rinconcito Salvadoreño) but even then, they are “forced” to serve Mexican dishes because the public “demands” it. But, given I was in the US, with a heavier Latin, non-Mexican influx, I thought I should give these other places a try. And the place is one of the top rated restaurants in Portland and which Sherman heavily recommended me give it a try: Pambiche.

One thing that I liked almost right away was how it is set up: similar to a lot of places in Latin America (even Miami), the restaurant “spills” over the sidewalk. It might be a nuisance to some but, hey, that is part of the charm. Of course, this concept might not necessarily work in Vancouver due to our “wonderful” weather. As I arrived, they use a system similar to that of Guu and other restaurants here in Vancouver: put your name in a waiting list and they will call you as they go. And you know what? Here is the big advantage of going to a restaurant solo: In most restaurants, they will have a bar or tables for two; however, since most parties are of at least 3, you are almost guaranteed a table! As a result, I was able to “jump” the queue of three parties ahead of me and get a table right away!

Since I was able to browse the menu on-line, I already had a good idea of what to order. In fact, it was more of a matter of what *else* to order. In fact, I was so engrossed with my entree that I didn’t pay attention to the drinks. Initially, I was going to go for my “default” – diet soda; however, after quickly looking at it, I saw something that I thought might be interesting…

Limonada con guarapo. OK, a brief lesson: During the XVIII and XIX century, one of the main crops in the Caribbean was sugar cane. And what you do with a lot of sugar cane? (Aside from sugar, that is?). How about some alcohol in the form of rum? Of course, not everybody is into booze and here is one of the other uses: Just chew them for the sugary taste. Alas, in this case, the “lemonade” overpowered the sugar cane “juice” (the guarapo of the name) and the sugar cane was dry.

Croquetas de bacalao con papas, a fish croquette. No, it is not as gross as it sounds. While I could “taste” the texture, the taste of the fish wasn’t there. Now, we are not talking about that fish taste, instead, slightly salty and some sweetness as well. Still, it was actually quite good, just that it felt slightly short.

For my main, I went for the Plato Cubano or Cuban platter – The typical Cuban plate. Adobo marinated roast pork, served with your choice of Cuban beans & rice. Dinner served with yuca con mojo. I know Sherman and gang went for the tongue and ox tail and what not. While I am sure they might have been good in their own ways, my yardstick is pork. And this one would suit me fine.

The yuca con mojo, yuca as mentioned previously is also known as cassava and “mojo” (not “mojo”; the “j” is a soft “h”, rhymes with “coho” as in coho salmon) is a olive oil, garlic and sometimes lemon “sauce”. However, here is the big epic fail: the yuca shouldn’t be fried; instead, it is boiled so that it develops a slimy external texture. Furthermore, the garlic/oil didn’t really come out; instead there was some wacky “sauce”. Now, it wasn’t bad, in fact, I am sure a lot of people will eat it fine. However, that is not yuca con mojo! Want to see how it is supposed to be? Check the one I had in Guantanamera!

Ah, the pork… Sorry, I am a pork/bacon person… In this case, these were cooked quite well but, at the same time, there was something I thought it should have been better, as if there was something that ended up “short”. Probably because there was no crackling? Probably because I was expecting a bit of sweetness in it? Otherwise, it was a fine piece of pig roast.

Moros y cristianos, the Cuban version of rice and beans. If you are not used to this, it might be a bit difficult to explain. In this case, the grainy texture of the beans came out and “infused” itself into the, otherwise, bland rice. However, at the same time, I can see who are not used to eat this combination not liking it. So, in a way, it can go both ways.

When the waitress walked by and asked how things were I told her some of the “issues”, specially that of the yuca con mojo (the fried vs. boiled “problem”). I think she might have overlooked had it been another customer; except that, in my case, I was telling her that in Spanish. While she didn’t offer to change my dish (I was already done by then), at least she did get the gist.

Now, by what is being written here, you might think the restaurant was bad. That is actually not the case. Other customers were enjoying their meals and, had I not known any better, it might have enjoyed it. But the problem is that my expectations are different so, from my personal perspective, it falls short.

Tagged under: Latin America • Pork • Portland