Ed eats
Café Cuba
The Strand,
Sliema
Tel: 2010 1313
Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 8/10
I’m back from a brief break and very happy to read Doug’s review of Momo’s. As usual, his reviews make me feel like I should go back to school and learn how to write. I had no doubt he’d feel the same way as I do about the place, and his glowing review went to show that he loved it as well.
This pizzaiolo is one of those artisans who spins a ball of dough through a couple of rotations, magically turning a blob into a perfect disc
I spent some of my break away from the island and, as usual, stared in wonder at the price of food on many menus. We pay so much for our food in Malta that whenever I’m almost anywhere on the continent, I feel like most informal restaurants are on sale. They’re blessed with scale and the low food cost that this brings with it, so try as we might, it will always remain a struggle to compete.
Back to our scorching island, the first item of news I read was about the death of Neil Armstrong. In my last column, I lashed out at the futility of the lunar landing and its exorbitant costs. I hope this had nothing to do with his passing. My only consolation is that the likelihood of his reading The Sunday Times is as low as my ever becoming a vegetarian.
I was out and about over the weekend with a handful of siblings, having left the other dozen at home. We ended up in Sliema at that beautiful time of day that is far enough from breakfast to contemplate an early lunch. Café Cuba beckoned, its call amplified by my sister’s report of a great pizza.
The choice of a table deep inside its air-conditioned interior was an easy one. The temperature outside was hotter than Anastasia Steele’s pillow and there was no way we were going to brave that.
The inside area is a warm and welcoming space that has been simply and attractively done up. The Cuban theme applied is pleasant without being overbearing, and a roaring, wood-burning oven adds a reassuring touch. My sister’s claims of excellent pizza were further fortified by the flames.
One of the girls in the Café Cuba uniform, smiling and energetic, brought menus and good cheer and left us to browse through. Another smiling girl, who went by the name of ‘Trainee’, brought us the pints of cold soft drinks we’d ordered. So far, so pleasant.
We deliberated over the menus, carrying out that futile exercise of asking each other what everyone’s eating. Unless you’re sharing, the final decision will be yours. Yet we seek inspiration, just in case someone says, “I’ll be having the vegetable soup”, with enough conviction to change your mind.
I was all for pizza, as was my favourite sister. The others were pondering the various burger options as well as the ribs. The pizzas all looked very tempting and my decision was sealed when I read the description of the very last one.
Quattro Muse is a formidable one, with four different pizzas in one, each variant occupying its own quadrant. I wasn’t overly concerned with mixing of ingredients, taking a leap of faith in Café Cuba’s ability to solve this issue. Beef, caramelised onion, mozzarella, tomatoes, pancetta, basil, Parmeggiano and others would all make an appearance on this Noah’s ark of pizza.
Both the regular burger and the Cuba burger were chosen, as was the rack of ribs. All our deliberation took a while, and the girl who tried to take our orders was patient as we asked for more time. Busy as the place was, we were always attended to promptly and with a consistently jovial demeanour.
The girl who eventually took our orders didn’t need to take notes. She committed the lot to memory, including side orders and the cooking temperature of the burgers.
We hadn’t expected to be given a choice of burger-cooking temperature. This is a rarity, and only those who are absolutely convinced of the freshness of their beef allow this luxury. Given the choice, burgers were ordered medium-rare.
As we waited, I peeked at the man who was busy preparing pizzas. This pizzaiolo is one of those artisans who spins a ball of dough through a couple of rotations, magically turning a blob into a perfect disc.
His creations go into the oven with a well-rehearsed swing and they’re out in a very short time. There’s nothing quite like seeing the Neapolitan approach to really work up an appetite for pizza.
Our food took a while, but when it arrived, it was all served at once. I’m happy to see a restaurant work so well despite having completely separate kitchen and pizza areas.
The solution to my pizza flavours was an elegantly simple one. Thin strips of dough form a cross on the pizza, giving each variation its own discrete quadrant. The dough is very thin, very light and not crisp at all. Yet it remains dry despite the load of ingredients, and thanks to its flexibility, remains palatable even towards the end. Very crisp bases tend to stiffen too much after a few minutes, making the last bites too much of a struggle to enjoy.
The combinations of ingredients were fabulous and, while I won’t go into the entire pizza, I will mention one pleasant quadrant that had nothing but a thick wedge of buffalo mozzarella, a slice of tomato and basil leaf.
These had been added after the pizza came out of the oven so they hadn’t been cooked. The cool, fresh ingredients on top of that wonderful base made the world a better place for a few moments.
I looked up from my reverie and remembered I wasn’t alone at table. From just across the table, I gathered a report on the ribs. They could have been better, and were suffering from having been compared to the excellent pizza and very good burgers. The sauce was good but the meat was not as tender as it could have been.
The burgers looked the part and, I gathered from the looks on the faces of those who were rapidly consuming them, that they tasted the part too. I asked my brother, who has fed me what he thought were the best burgers I’ve ever tasted.
Between bites, he said he loved the ensemble but had one thing to criticise. When cooking a burger medium-rare, he claimed, a higher grill temperature is needed to cause rapid charring of the exterior and thus a more intense grilling flavour. He admitted he was nitpicking though, and that the overall experience was a very positive one.
We were all too full for desserts but settled for a compromise. We’d share a few between us, enjoying the sweets with only half the guilt. I didn’t taste the cheesecake but devoured half the banoffee and wished I’d ordered my own. This banoffee is well worth every ounce of guilt.
Espressos were ordered all around, helping us focus on the arduous task of walking back to our cars, and we asked for the bill. This set us back just over €16 each – fair for the quality of the food.
The name Café Cuba might be a little misleading unless one reads the ‘Bistro – Pizzeria’ subhead. This is much more than a café. It is a formidable contender for a place atop the pizza podium, enjoys a fantastic location, and has achieved a level of service that puts many similar establishments to shame.
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