Key West: Nighttime

The Porch

For drinks we headed to The Porch, a laid-back bar that sells only craft beers and wine and manages to keep away the liquor-thirsty tourists.  The historic-home-turned-bar feels like a chill house party, only with the typical flavorless beers to be replaced with quality microbrews.  We liked it so much, we went back after dinner.

Note:  The camera's flash overpowered the mood lighting and the beer goggles effect.

This guy had it made.  He worked with the Park Service in Virginia.  He heard there was a position available in Key West.  Now he gets paid to work in a museum in Key West.  You can’t help but admire and hate someone that gets paid to do something they love in paradise.

This guy had it made, as far as homeless people were concerned.  Face it:  if you're going to be homeless, go where it's warm.  He and his buddy told dirty jokes -- some old, some new and some downright disgusting -- for only a buck.  Before we left, he asked Ayk what he does for a living.  We told him we were jobless.  "So am I," he retorted, "But how'd you get a hottie like that?"  I didn't have the heart to tell the wisecracking vagrant that even though Ayk's unemployed, he has a masters, and he does have money in the bank.

El Siboney

While we were at The Porch, we asked the locals where we should get dinner.  They all recommended El Siboney, a Cuban restaurant.  Trying to suppress our disgust for Cuban food, we asked what else they recommended.  They insisted that this restaurant would not disappoint.  It took them a while to convince us, but we figured if this restaurant managed to screw up Cuban food only 90 miles away from Cuba, then we’d give up on Cuban food forever.  For real this time, with the exception of an actual trip to Cuba.

A twenty-minute walk later (damn me and my inability to ride bikes) we finally got to the family-owned restaurant.  We weren’t too hungry, so we decided to split the basics of Cuban cuisine: ropa vieja, rice, beans, yucca fries and plantains.  Just two minutes later the server brought the food out to us.  And, wow, was that food amazing. Though we were glad to be proven wrong (Cuban food is good!), it was still sad that we knew we would probably never have Cuban food this great anywhere else.

The plantains were less sweet than I’m used to, but that just means it tasted more like a side dish than dessert.  Without a doubt, the yucca fries with the green sauce were the best part of the meal.  The yucca was paler than the typical golden-brown we expected, but looks aren’t everything.  Crunchy and fluffy, it was like eating deep-fried mashed potatoes.

The savory ropa vieja was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  For once, my rice and beans were moist and well seasoned and not dry.

The desserts were good, but not as phenomenal as the entree and sides.  The creme caramel was delicious, and the guava cheesecake would have been unremarkable if it weren’t for the non-traditional flavor pairing.