Bongos Cuban Cafe

[sherryberry 35]

We ate at Bongos the other day (the big pineapple at Disney Springs). This was a first for me, but it has been a really long time since Kenneth ate here. I have to say that this is now a favorite for me.

I had the Award Winning Cuban Slow Roasted Pork. It was served with black beans and white rice. It's very similar to the pork carnitas that my sister makes (and almost as good). And I'm a sucker for black beans and rice. All of this at Bongos had really good flavor.

One of kenneth’s favorite sandwiches is a Cuban. He ordered the midnight Cuban. It has pork, ham, pickles, mustard, and Swiss cheese on it - just like a regular Cuban. The difference here was that they used a sweet bread instead of Cuban bread. I had a few bites of this and I would order this in the future. The fries here were some of the best I've had at Disney. They're so crispy - I kept stealing them off of kenneth’s plate.

We also had a side of sweet plantains (they taste like bananas to me when they're ripe and sweet). I eat them with my meal and Kenneth tends to eat them as a dessert.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

We've always avoided Bongo's because of bad reviews.  But that food looks really good!

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I went to Bongos a loooong time ago and enjoyed it. I'll have to try it again.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I also ate at Bongo's a really long time ago.  I liked it fine.  I like Cuban food, and everything we had there was good.  But, I don't like Cuban food at Disney prices.

It will be interesting to see how Bongo's does now that it has so much more competition at Disney Springs.

TCD

[Seals 111]

I've never eaten AT Bongos, but I've gotten food from their Express/Take-out window several times. On our last visit in September I had the

 Midnight Sandwich

Hot Pressed Sandwich made with our award-winning Slow Roasted Pork, Ham, Pickles, Swiss Cheese and Mustard on Sweet Cuban Bread served with French Fries

$12.00

 

I ate the fries and half the sandwich there (they have some outside tables near the window) and asked for a to-go box. We were staying at the All Star Music family suites and I ate 1/4 sandwich each of the next two mornings for breakfast. It was plenty filling.

[Travisma 1,317]

31 minutes ago, Seals said:

I've never eaten AT Bongos, but I've gotten food from their Express/Take-out window several times. On our last visit in September I had the

 Midnight Sandwich

Hot Pressed Sandwich made with our award-winning Slow Roasted Pork, Ham, Pickles, Swiss Cheese and Mustard on Sweet Cuban Bread served with French Fries

$12.00

 

I ate the fries and half the sandwich there (they have some outside tables near the window) and asked for a to-go box. We were staying at the All Star Music family suites and I ate 1/4 sandwich each of the next two mornings for breakfast. It was plenty filling.

That's a medianoche sandwich...  

Medianoche: The Cubano's Hot Sister 

We can only hope you know the joys of the Cuban sandwich, or Cubano. It’s a variation on the classic ham and cheese sandwich that’s so universally appealing. All griddled together are thin slices of juicy roast pork, salty ham, sour dill pickles, tangy yellow mustard and sharp Swiss cheese, regardless of politics, to form a crispy, melty, panini-like creation. 

The telltale difference between the Cubano and the medianoche (besides the fact that one means Cuban dude and one means “midnight,” the hour at which this sandwich is typically served) is the bread. While Cubanos are typically fashioned on Cuban bread (a crisp, baguette-like loaf whose secret weapon is lard), the elusive medianoche is constructed on sweet, eggy bread similar to challah. The pillowy texture and rich flavor of the bread rounds out the saltiness of the pig products and nicely complements the cheese’s mild nuttiness. Plus, Dexter likes them. How do you argue with that?       

All the Cuban sandwich shops serve them.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

2 hours ago, Travisma said:

That's a medianoche sandwich...  

Medianoche: The Cubano's Hot Sister 

We can only hope you know the joys of the Cuban sandwich, or Cubano. It’s a variation on the classic ham and cheese sandwich that’s so universally appealing. All griddled together are thin slices of juicy roast pork, salty ham, sour dill pickles, tangy yellow mustard and sharp Swiss cheese, regardless of politics, to form a crispy, melty, panini-like creation. 

The telltale difference between the Cubano and the medianoche (besides the fact that one means Cuban dude and one means “midnight,” the hour at which this sandwich is typically served) is the bread. While Cubanos are typically fashioned on Cuban bread (a crisp, baguette-like loaf whose secret weapon is lard), the elusive medianoche is constructed on sweet, eggy bread similar to challah. The pillowy texture and rich flavor of the bread rounds out the saltiness of the pig products and nicely complements the cheese’s mild nuttiness. Plus, Dexter likes them. How do you argue with that?       

All the Cuban sandwich shops serve them.

I love Cuban sandwiches and order them all the time   However. we are going to Cuba in July and I googled where the best place in Havana to get a Cuban sandwich. And to my surprise Cuban sandwiches, probably, didn't originate in Cuba. 

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

14 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I love Cuban sandwiches and order them all the time   However. we are going to Cuba in July and I googled where the best place in Havana to get a Cuban sandwich. And to my surprise Cuban sandwiches, probably, didn't originate in Cuba. 

I am surprised you are surprised. So many things we eat with a nationality attached are not from there or generally available. Chinese food, a lot of Mexican dishes, and Italian dishes. They are all american versions of things with the names tacked on for affect. 

[keith_h 420]

33 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I love Cuban sandwiches and order them all the time   However. we are going to Cuba in July and I googled where the best place in Havana to get a Cuban sandwich. And to my surprise Cuban sandwiches, probably, didn't originate in Cuba. 

I had always heard it originated among the immigrant Cuban population of Florida.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

9 minutes ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

I am surprised you are surprised. So many things we eat with a nationality attached are not from there or generally available. Chinese food, a lot of Mexican dishes, and Italian dishes. They are all american versions of things with the names tacked on for affect. 

I'm surprised your surprised about me being surprised.  I always heard the Cubans brought the sandwich with them to Ybor City and key west.  I didn't realize it was invented here.   

Pizza was invented in Italy and we have given it our own spin.  

 

Another thing I found out about Cuba is that they are credited with inventing  the sloppy joe.     And I've been to Sloppy Joe's in key west several times.   I look forward to going to the, now reopened, original Sloppy Joe's in Havana. 

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

1 minute ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I've been to Sloppy Joe's in key west several times. 

You're making me hungry ... I love their sloppy joes!  And they have the best margaritas.

[Seals 111]

5 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I love Cuban sandwiches and order them all the time   However. we are going to Cuba in July and I googled where the best place in Havana to get a Cuban sandwich. And to my surprise Cuban sandwiches, probably, didn't originate in Cuba. 

Well, in Cuba they'd just call them sandwiches. Like in France they're just Fries and in Canada it's just Bacon. ?

4 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I'm surprised your surprised about me being surprised.  I always heard the Cubans brought the sandwich with them to Ybor City and key west.  I didn't realize it was invented here.   

Pizza was invented in Italy and we have given it our own spin.  

 

Another thing I found out about Cuba is that they are credited with inventing  the sloppy joe.     And I've been to Sloppy Joe's in key west several times.   I look forward to going to the, now reopened, original Sloppy Joe's in Havana. 

But not if you're talking about the New Jersey sloppy joe which is a completely different sandwich. 

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

2 hours ago, Seals said:

Well, in Cuba they'd just call them sandwiches. Like in France they're just Fries and in Canada it's just Bacon. ?

But not if you're talking about the New Jersey sloppy joe which is a completely different sandwich. 

From what I read the Cubans in tourist areas of Havana make " Cuban sandwiches" for the tourists.   

 

 

A New Jersey sloppy joe is what I would call a Dagwood sandwich.   I have never tried one but they look good. I saw one on one of those food network shows.  

Heres what Wikipedia had to say about a New Jersey sloppy joe. 

"The bar, in its heyday, can be seen in the movie Our Man in Havana starring Alec Guinness^[4] as it is the bar in which the character (Jim Wormold) is attempted to be recruited into the secret service. It supposedly inspired the deli sandwich sold in northern New Jersey for over half a century by the same name, sloppy joe."

[Travisma 1,317]

14 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I love Cuban sandwiches and order them all the time   However. we are going to Cuba in July and I googled where the best place in Havana to get a Cuban sandwich. And to my surprise Cuban sandwiches, probably, didn't originate in Cuba. 

Most articles credit the Cuban immigrants in the Tampa area as inventing it or changing it to what is now a days.

They are good, but give me a good northern sub sandwich any day.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

20 minutes ago, Travisma said:

Most articles credit the Cuban immigrants in the Tampa area as inventing it or changing it to what is now a days.

They are good, but give me a good northern sub sandwich any day.

Yep. Tampa's Ybor City was home to many Cubans involved in cigar making.  

And it's now a pretty cool area to hangout on the weekend. 

[keith_h 420]

On 3/7/2017 at 10:26 PM, Seals said:

.... in Canada it's just Bacon. ?

Every Canadian I've known calls it Ham.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On ‎3‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 7:49 AM, h2odivers...Ray said:

Yep. Tampa's Ybor City was home to many Cubans involved in cigar making.  

And it's now a pretty cool area to hangout on the weekend. 

If you visit Ybor City, make sure you know how to pronounce Ybor.

It's not WHY-BOR.  It's EEE-Bore. 

This popular craft beer, which seems to be everywhere lately, is made by the Cigar City Brewing Co. (which began in Ybor City):

If you want one of those, it's not pronounced JAYA-LAYA.  It's pronounced High-Lie.

Now, go have fun.

TCD

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

20 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

If you visit Ybor City, make sure you know how to pronounce Ybor.

It's not WHY-BOR.  It's EEE-Bore. 

This popular craft beer, which seems to be everywhere lately, is made by the Cigar City Brewing Co. (which began in Ybor City):

If you want one of those, it's not pronounced JAYA-LAYA.  It's pronounced High-Lie.

Now, go have fun.

TCD

I would have to drink a lot of those before I'd play a game of Jai Alai.  Doesn't that call move over 100 mph?

That ball looks like it would hurt if it hit you. 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

22 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I would have to drink a lot of those before I'd play a game of Jai Alai.  Doesn't that call move over 100 mph?

That ball looks like it would hurt if it hit you. 

Back in the good old days before the Seminoles built their giant casino, we had a Jai Alai fronton in Tampa, where you could go and watch and bet on the players.  It was quite a thing to see.  And really good people watching.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

38 minutes ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I would have to drink a lot of those before I'd play a game of Jai Alai.  Doesn't that call move over 100 mph?

That ball looks like it would hurt if it hit you. 

It's a very hard leather ball and it could kill you not just hurt you.  Near the end of the frontons days in Tampa the players started wearing helmets.