When you find yourself craving a Cubano sandwich...

...as I was after watching Chef, head over to the Old Havana Sandwich Shop in Durham, and they will fix you up.  A group of us tried this relatively new restaurant at lunch today, and everyone enjoyed everything they tasted.  We sampled a reasonable selection of the menu--the Havana, their Cuban sandwich; the Caney, a modified Cubano with avocado but no ham; the vegetarian Baracoa; maduros; papas bravas; a grilled cheese on the Cuban bread--and we found no losers.

I recommend the place and will definitely go back.

Now, having said that, I still want to experiment with making my own Cubano, because the one I tasted, while quite good, was not perfect.  The bread was spot on, but the grill treatment wasn't ideal, nor did they spread quite the right amount of butter on it.  The sandwich should have contained more pork, and they should have more evenly distributed the meat on the bread.  The ham was also on the scant side.  The cheese should have been a bit thicker, a bit tastier, and better melted.  The cooks were clearly rushing to keep up with the large crowd of customers--a crowd I was happy to see--and that showed.

Again, though, I definitely recommend Old Havana.  We've needed more genuine Cuban food in the Triangle, and I am very happy these good folks are helping meet that need.