CHEAP EATS
Luzvina’s Family Restaurant: Rellenos de Papa that are to die for
Rellenos de Papa, where have you been all my life? Until the recent Saturday when John, Julie and I stopped into Luzvina’s, I had never even heard of Rellenos de Papa. My loss! Now I’m hooked.
Faced with a ridiculous amount of food on a lunch special platter (the cost was just $7), I used a fork to break the brown, crusty, baseball-sized ball into pieces and handed segments over to John and Julie. We each took a bite, and after a brief silence, we each said something a bit more colorful than “Wow!”
The relleno, I find out, is a staple of Cuban and Puerto Rican cooking. It sounds simple— ground beef cooked with spices and enclosed in a ball of mashed potatoes, which is then deepfried. But in the case of Luzvina’s, it’s the subtle and delicious spices in the beef that make the dish— already appealing for its comfort-food ingredients and its contrasting textures—a masterpiece.
The platter also contained two incredibly good pastelitos, deepfried, hand-crimped turnovers filled with chicken or beef, cheese and spices. The tostones—fried plantain fritters—were tasty and even better when brushed with the slightly spicy dipping sauce.
You’ll find out, if you ask, that Luzvina’s is a family affair. The friendly server says the chef is her dad, who has cooked his whole life. While we are marveling at the dishes that he has produced, Dad strolls through the dining room, and we call out kudos. “You like everything?” he asks. “The food, the hospitality?”
Yes, and yes. Although we waited a bit while our food was cooked, it all came out at the same time and was served hot. A Cano Belle ($4) was an egg sandwich, usually made with sausage but with bacon happily substituted, and cooked green pepper and onion. The cheese choices were extensive, and the server said they had just gone out and bought white American cheese (rather than orange) for a customer who requested it. The Cano Belle’s generous egg mixture was served on an English muffin.
A breakfast special offered two eggs, home fries, a choice of meat and toast for $4.95. We guessed that the eggs were scrambled in the same pan as the sausage for extra flavor. The home fries were spiced with paprika and something else we couldn’t quite identify, but they were delicious.
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments