Cuban Cuisine Valentine’s Dinner at Atlas Dining

We celebrated Valentine’s day with Cuban cuisine in Atlas Dining South Yarra this year. 

It would be our first experience eating Cuban food, and I did a bit of research before dinner. I learned that even though they are heavily influenced by Caribbean Cuisine, due to them being neighbouring countries, Cuban food is different from Caribbean food. Other cultures are influencing the Caribbean cuisine pot, namely Spanish and African. This tidbit of information excited me because I love Caribbean, Spanish and African food, and I looked forward to eating a cuisine influenced by these cuisines. 

We reached Atlas Dining at 6 PM and were promptly seated. A passport and boarding pass was waiting for us on the table, a novelty that never wore out for me. 

We gave our drinks order – Guava Daiquiri for me and Cuba Libre for Fafa. It came, and soon after, the restaurant was filled with a bridal party table who seemed to be having the bestest time of their lives.

As usual, Atlas Dining offered a set meal. This time, it was a five-course Cuban cuisine meal. 

Cuban Cuisine Sample Menu

Ceviche

The first was a plate of Ceviche of Snappers smeared on Gazpacho with slices of mango, a tiny bit of orange and almond. It was okay, just that the fish wasn’t cold enough, nor had the zesty of Ceviche. Also, it didn’t taste fresh.

Cubano Sandwich

Next came the Cuban sandwich. A traditional Cubano is slices of bread filled with cheese, pickles, ham, seasoned pork meat and a bit of mustard. But Atlas’ interpretation of the sandwich was way too funky. Aside from the tiniest bread that was slightly grilled, the rest of the filings served on the side were a letdown. It had a cold block of pork meat (it would have been heaps better as a pate), a sad piece of torn prosciutto and a teeny tiny bit of cucumber and a teardrop of mustard. I didn’t like it, but Fafa was okay with it.

Now, Atlas Dining could be a hit and a miss with us. Sometimes, one of us didn’t like a plate or two from the course meal, but the overall set had always been delicious. And that was what I expected that day would be too. Especially since the third offering on the menu is my favourite seafood, Octopus.

Octopus

Octopus, Corn & BBQ Guava, as the menu said. The Octopus was dry and got even drier when drizzled with dry non, recognisable bbq-ed guava. The corn was okay, but I didn’t come to Atlas to eat a handful of steamed corn kernels.

Chicken Ropa Vieja

The biggest letdown of the night, though, was smoked Chicken Ropa Vieja. When I was reading about Cuban cuisine, the Chicken Ropa Vieja recipe came up plenty of times as it’s the country’s national dish. So imagine my surprise when the chicken on my plate looked nothing like it. It looked and tasted like unflavoured roasted chicken. Also, it came in sliced, in big chunks, not shredded as how a Chicken Ropa Vieja should be. Google the images online; you will know what I meant. In most of the Google images, the chicken looked reddish and flavoured. And I can only regret now for not having the balls to ask for salt and pepper to add a bit of flavour to the flavourless Chicken Ropa Vieja served that day.

And with that, I know Atlas has gone way too far away from what Cuban cuisine is supposed to be.

Rum & Pineapple Cake

To be fair, the dessert was good. Rum & Pineapple Cake with coconut and caramelised pineapple sorbet drizzled on top of it. It was easily the best among the five courses, but none have a set-down meal only for a good dessert, do they?

Also, being seated right in front of the open kitchen, with the chef yelling and the rest of the staff replying “yes chef” on repeat throughout the night, is not my idea of fancy dining.

We bolted out of Atlas the minute I put the dessert spoon down. 

Though Atlas has an ideal dining concept for me (the change of cuisine from all over the world every six months), in the past years, the executions have gotten worse. Not sure whether I’d be back.

Cuban Cuisine Take Two?

I called Appa and ranted about the Cuban cuisine experience at night. His only comment was, “There is a Cuban food in Melbourne??“. It reminded me how lucky I am to live in Melbourne with multicultural cuisine on my doorstep. Fafa also suggested giving Cuban cuisine another try, “this time, let’s go to an authentic Cuban restaurant”, he said. Okay, Fa, I have added it to the to-do list. 

Ps. Charlie, a self-guided food tour in a foreign country means you are going for meals while travelling.

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