Old Style

Faster than you can say "new American cuisine" or "Asian fusion," the Nuevo Latino trend is sweeping the rest of the country. Of course, this is an instance where Houston has been ahead of the curve: For years, restaurants like Américas, Churrascos and Cafe Annie have produced interesting, high-end food using elements of Mexican, Central and South American cuisine. But hardly anyone here has paid much creative attention to that other main source of Nuevo Latino inspiration: Cuban cooking.

And at the Latina Cafe, you realize what our chefs are missing. Not that the place is nuevo in any way: The cafe started humbly, as a grocery store that also served food, and though eventually the restaurant took over, the little place hasn't lost its humility. It's still family-run, and the decor consists chiefly of old reviews hung on the walls. The food is strictly home-style cubano. Call it Viejo Latino.

Start your exploration with an order of mariquitas con mojo ($2.25) to munch on while reading the menu. These thin banana chips are served with a bowl of mojo, or garlic sauce, for dipping. This creamy sauce combines garlic, onion, citrus andŠ well, traditionally it also contains lard, but I didn't ask about this version. What I don't know can't hurt me.

Other appetizers follow the mariquitas' exemplary lead. We fought over the last bites of the tamal cubano ($2), a richly flavored tamale served huskless and drizzled with more of that garlic sauce. Just as popular were the croquetas preparadas ($2), finely minced ham mixed with just enough cheese to hold it all together, rolled in crumbs and fried. Greaseless, lightly salty and delicious. A nicely spiced ground meat mixture, accented with raisins, filled the flaky turnover shell of the empanada cubana ($2). I regret, though, that I didn't try the papa rellena, another meat mixture inside a cylinder of mashed potatoes, breaded and fried. It looked marvelous on the other diners' plates.

Now, I know most people wouldn't think that a Cuban sandwich ($4.25) qualifies as an appetizer, but Latina Cafe lists it as one, and who am I to argue? The sandwich is a good one, although the bread is not of the highest quality, and for some reason the sandwich is not flattened and toasted in the traditional plancha, a tool something like a waffle iron; instead, the bread is just heated. But the high-quality roast pork and ham and gobs of melted cheese help make up for those shortcomings.

The black bean soup ($1.35 small, $1.75 large) was good (in a Cuban restaurant it had better be!), but since black beans come with all entrées, it seemed redundant. Other soups fared less well: The chicken soup ($1.75 small, $2.25 large) was passable, with a mellow broth and lots of noodles, chicken and carrots, but somehow I wanted more. It didn't exactly do a cha-cha across my taste buds, if you know what I mean. Compared to the appetizers, it just seemed dull.

Things picked right back up again with the entrées. In general, the selections on the regular menu are far better than the daily specials. My favorite entrée is also the simplest, the pescado asado ($8.95). A beautifully fresh tilapia fillet is lightly seasoned with cumin and other spices, grilled to a turn (crispy on the edges, moist and flavorful throughout) and drizzled with, yes, garlic sauce. A perfect example of less is more.

Texans who appreciate chicken-fried steak will love the bistec empanisado ($7.95). It's a beefsteak pounded thin, dredged in highly spiced breading (emphasis on cumin) and fried to a golden crisp. A couple of squeezes of lime is all it needs. (Of course, now that I think about it, a little more of that garlic sauce wouldn't hurtŠ)

Vaca frita ($7.25) seems more exotic: Beef brisket is cooked and shredded, then fried — without a sauce — with onions and green peppers. It does, I admit, look a little plain on the plate. But the dish isn't about looks; it's about flavors and textures. The beef is tender, spiked with some chewier browned pieces; the onions and peppers contribute a bit of sweetness, which calls for a nice squeeze of lime.

Masas de puerco fritas ($7.95) are chunks of fried pork, spiced and crusty on the outside, moist, sweet and juicy on the inside — and really, really good. Cuban-style frying also suits chicken: An order of pollo frito ($7) brings a huge breast, fried perfectly and, sigh, drizzled with garlic sauce. (Are you beginning to see a pattern?)

Alas, fricase de pollo ($7.20), a chicken fricassee, isn't nearly as good. Again, you get a good-size chicken breast, but it doesn't even taste like it was stewed in its boring brown sauce; instead, the sauce seems to have been poured on after the chicken was already on the plate.

Similarly, the Cuban classic, ropa vieja ($7.35), loses the effect of the shredded beef that had been riveting in the vaca frita. Simmered in a somewhat bland tomato sauce, it's not bad, but nothing more.

All entrées are served with black beans, white rice and your choice of green or sweet fried plantains. The black beans are superb, firm beans in a sauce rich with onion, garlic, bay leaves and cumin — Cuban soul food. The choice between green and sweet plantains is, for me, a no-brainer. Green plantains are bland and starchy and boring; I don't get the point. But sweet ones are another matter entirely — succulent warm slices similar to bananas, and a lovely accompaniment to any of the entrées.