El Siboney

For today's post I will do a restaurant review. For lunch today Zane and I went to El Siboney, a Cuban restaurant here in Key West. We talked about family, gut instincts, God, the human heart, and of course, training.

First of all, the street it is located on could've come straight out of Cuba or Costa Rica or any Caribbean island.... well, technically, Key West is a Caribbean island... but I mean it was full of small, quaint, brightly colored houses, palm trees, and a crappy road. The restaurant is not well marked, which kinda adds to the appeal a lot of times (have you ever been to that burger shop in LoHi in Denver?? I don't even think it has a name, but damn those are great burgers!)

The dining room was a bit cramped, but I heard more Spanish than English, both from the kitchen and the dining room. Always a good sign at a Cuban Restaurant! I was tempted by the paella, and the ropa vieja (always good Cuban selections) but I went with my go-to, a Cuban panini, and some black beans.

The pulled pork was delicious, and the shaved ham and turkey added to my meat-sweats... in a good way. I loved the aioli most, it was SUPER garlicky (I sweat pure garlic on my run this evening) and there was just the right amount of it. The bread was the best part though, it was yeasty, buttery, and dense and it was very crispy. Somehow they kept the lettuce and tomato fresh and cold when they cooked the panini, maybe they added it after? The black beans were well seasoned, and although they gave me some GI issues on the run later (sorry for the mental image) they were very good... I mean, beans are kinda hard to mess up, right?

All in all, I would recommend this restaurant. My only suggestion would be go for dinner. Even though it felt like a lunch place, the prices and entrees suggested dinner time to me... but maybe thats just the broke triathlete in me (see earlier post). Either way, check out El Siboney next time your in Key West, and FOLLOW THE PACE RABBIT!