El Criollo - A Cuban Restaurant

The first time I had Cuban food was about 20 years ago when a Cuban friend of mine took me to Versailles. I was a bit concerned at first because I was not a fan of spicy food. She assured me that it wasn’t spicy and she was right. I don’t eat Cuban food often because it is sometimes greasy and is not what you might call low calorie. Sometimes I go to Porto’s in Burbank for their delicious Cuban sandwich. Their pastries are fantastic also. Anyway, today we looked at our coupons and there was a Cuban restaurant in Van Nuys that we had never heard of, although BK swears we went to this restaurant when it was at a different location. This was also convenient because it was not far from Costco and we needed gas.

El Criollo is a real gem. The restaurant is on Sepulveda between Kittridge and Vanowen which is not the most elegant of neighborhoods. As we stepped into this very simplistic but really nice restaurant, we were told we could sit wherever we wanted. We looked over the menu and saw that they had many items. There was the chicken, which most of the people did order. Cuban chicken is roasted with onion, garlic and some type of fruit, often lemon. The people near us had this and it was just a beautiful looking half chicken. I decided not to order that or Cuban pork which is also a favorite of mine. First we were given a basket of warm Cuban bread which was fine but nothing special. I ordered Bistec Empanizado which is breaded sirloin steak that is flattened and lightly seasoned. My meal came with rice and black beans along with plantains. I was surprised to find a small salad on my plate as well. There was no dressing on the salad but they brought bottles of oil and vinegar. Since I don’t usually eat the salad, I really didn’t care. Half the plate was rice. There was a cup with black beans and a spoon to put the beans on the rice. The steak was flat and fried crisp with raw onions on top. I actually took the onions, cut them up and mixed them with my rice and beans although the beans were tasty enough without the added onion. The steak had absolutely no grease and was very tasty. It cost $6.95, a real bargain.

BK was actually a little more adventurous. She asked the waiter to describe the Picadillo a la Criolla which, I believe, is a specialty since I have never seen it on a Cuban menu before. This was ground sirloin that had been broken up and simmered with herbs and spices. This was delivered to our table by, what I think, was the owner. He put down my dish and then BK’s. He bent over her and said that this was his favorite and best. Then he took some of the beans and put them on the rice and then put some of the ground beef mixture on top of all of it, mixed it together and told her that was the way to eat it. She took a taste and declared it wonderful. I took a taste and agreed. She mixed it all together and has brought about a third of it home for dinner. Since we brought home some pizza yesterday, we are set for our dinner tonight. She also had plantains. This meal cost $7.50.

El Criollo is at 6622 Van Nuys Blvd. The website is http://www.cubanfoodla.com/index.html . We will be back and I will have chicken. They also do have a vegetarian selections.