There are few things more satisfying than a well-run lunch counter...
...so when it's a well-run Cuban lunch counter, well, that's just gravy.
Enter La Isla, in all likelihood the best reason to ever find yourself in Hobo.
Unsurprisingly, La Isla was a biweekly craving for my Bombshell Foodie Friend, who recently jumped the NJ ship for greener pastures in Brooklyn. We were on our way to Ikea to furnish said greener pastures when she got a gleam in her eye and proposed a detour.
There was a bustling lunch crowd, but we managed to snag a couple of counter stools, where we were mere inches from the well-oiled assembly line of folks ladling black beans, molding rounded cones of annatto-tinted rice, and pressing Cuban after Cuban in a mighty panini iron.
We inhaled deeply, rolled up our sleeves, pulled back our hair, and ordered off the daily specials menu--Bombshell opted for the albondigas (Cuban meatballs in tomato sauce, pictured just above) with black rice and plantains, and I answered the siren song of Masitas de Puerco (hunks of pork deep-fried in lard, title picture) with yellow rice and plantains.
We each got a Morir Soñando (mixed drink of evaporated milk, OJ, and sugar), to fill in any caloric cracks. As we were sucking these creamsicle confections down, Bombshell scrunched her brow and remembered that this drink literally translates to the words "die" and "dream"; as in it's SO good, it's "to die dreaming".
(Inevitable tangent: Does this mean that Dominicans conceived/invented the Dreamsicle/Creamsicle??? Hmmmm...)
I peered across the counter at deeply jade salads, rice so yellow that it was tangerine, and rich red plates of stewed oxtail and albondigas, all of it rapidly disappearing. These Technicolor tropical vittles jogged my mid-March, gray-scaled noggin into something of an acid trip--seriously, I even squinted up at the light fixtures and wondered if the bulbs were somehow tinted to make the food look punchier and more vibrant.
As I hunkered down and tucked into the sweet, perfectly caramelized plantains, savory rice and unbelievably-rich-yet-spartan nuggets of crispy pork, it was hard not to be downright giddy. So why fight it? The folks behind the counter grinned as Bombshell and I hummed, bounced and swayed a little on our stools, swapping bites of fat-shot pork and tender meatballs.
But this isn't a place to linger; hungry lunchgoers are waiting for your seats. Which is just as well, 'cause the super-warm staff somehow makes you feel as welcome going out as you did coming in.
If you're smarty-pants, when (not if) they pack up your leftovers, ask them to toss in an order of Tres Leche Cake and Cafe con leche for the road. You'll need a 'lil something to ease you out of your porky stupor.
Still want to try: All things brunch, Bacalao con Papa, Chicharron de Pollo, Papa Rellena...hell, EVERYTHING. BRING IIIIT!!!!
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La Isla Restaurant
104 Washington Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
PH: 201 659-8197
FAX: 201 659-8320
For Borough-based crybabies; this experience can be had by simply taking the PATH train. La Isla is barely 2 blocks away from the Hoboken stop.
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