[Jamesongrrl]

Thinking of going to Pambiche for dinner.
What are the stand-out dishes?
(went for lunch once and though it was Ok, good but not great.)
Suggestions?

[ExtraMSG]

Remember to get there damned early. No reservations, ultra-small, 30 minute wait often by 6pm.

My favorite are the oxtails. They do a very nice version of the ropa vieja, too. Mmmm, black beans. If you don't like Pambiche, you don't like Cuban food, imo.

[vrunka]

oh man.... I love Pambiche. It may well be my favorite restaurant in town. If not, it's near the top.

Anyway, I'm a little obsessed with their yucca, though that may have more to do with the mojo sauce than the yucca itself. I always recommend the Ajiaco, rabo and ropa vieja. But you can't go wrong with any of the dishes, really. Arroz con pollo is probably my least favorite, but that's just because it's a little boring, but even so it's still delicious.

It's always hard to do so, but try, try, try to save room for dessert. Again, you can't really go wrong with any of their desserts, but I've lately been evangelizing about the carrot cake. For years I went to Pambiche and never ordered the carrot cake because it didn't sound as sexy as the other offerings, but now that I have tried it, I weep for all those lost opportunities to eat more cake. It is a force of nature. I hope I'm not overselling it.

And, yes, get there early or be prepared to wait.

Have a great meal!

[ExtraMSG]

Vrunka, if you like yucca, you need to get to Butikim out at 122nd and Division for their fried yucca. (And linguica.)

[Jill-O]

Some of my favorite things @ Pambiche:

-tostones (ask for banana ketchup to dip these and the empanada into - it comes mild or hot - you'd probably prefer the hot)

-potato and cheese empanada (the empanadas are great, these are my favorites, though)

-oxtails

-plato cubano (roast pork, rice and beans - you get a choice of black or red, both good, but black is better, yucca)

-garlic shrimp (shrimp in a great garlicky sauce, rice, avocado salad, toast rounds, roasted peppers)

-almost anything from the dessert case (seriously too bad you're not big on sweets - maybe getting some sorbetto at Staccato Gelato after would be more your speed...)

-interesting soft drinks like coconut soda

[vrunka]

oh yeah, I forgot about your anti-sweet thing. Maybe the carrot cake would change your mind!

What did you have on your first visit?

[ExtraMSG]

They usually have something like a passionfruit mousse which might be tart enough. I don't know if you have any interest in that sort of thing, though.

[Egads]

I really liked the lengua when I went there. I second (third? fourth?) what everyone else said about getting there early.

On a side note, has anyone been to the Cuban place up on 44th (or so) and Fremont? I was up at Fife last night and noticed it, but didn't think I had seen it before.

[ExtraMSG]

Yeah, a few of us went to Malanga after Oregon Food Bank one night. Not *bad*, but definitely not good. More expensive and not in the same league flavor-wise as Pambiche. It's by Eric Laslow. Though I don't know if we went there after Laslow's closed or before. Maybe he's in the kitchen and improving things.

[RM]

ExtraMSG said:

It's by Eric Laslow.  Though I don't know if we went there after Laslow's closed or before.  Maybe he's in the kitchen and improving things.

I heard after Laslow's Northwest closed that Eric & Connie had moved to Colorado.

We did go to Malanga about a year ago and thought it was ok but not great. Looks like I should try Pambiche for lunch someday.

Salvador Molly's (Hillsdale - haven't been to the other one) does a good cubano sandwich.

[ExtraMSG]

I like Salvador Molly's kalua pork taco.

[sfspanky]

Made it to Pambiche for the first time last night. Wow! I had the oxtails and Kim had the shrimp in the Cuban/Creole sauce. The oxtails were exactly what I was looking for and I loved the hot bannana sauce, which I only mixed with the white steamed rice. The red beans with bacon and pork, which came with the shrimp dish, were fantastic and I absolutely loved the corn fritters with anise that came with the oxtails. I cannot wait to go back to try more, especially the empenadas.

Brian Spangler

[chefken]

I go to Palmbiche usually once a week for lunch and love the oxtails and the plato Cubano, but am crazy for their Arroz con Pollo, Yum. Wish their Sugar Cane Lemonade was less sweet, but that's a quibble. Their happy hour - I think from 2 to 6? - is one of the best bargains of the city!

[ExtraMSG]

Every dish I've tried is at least decent to good (although sometimes the tostones are too hard), but now that I've tried most everything, I always end up with the oxtails. They're probably on my top 25 Portland dishes. I don't know if you guys know, but they're planning on opening a North Portland location in the future. I posted about it on extramsg.com a while back. My wife loves the maduros.

[foodjunkie]

sfspanky said:

Made it to Pambiche for the first time last night. Wow! I had the oxtails and Kim had the shrimp in the Cuban/Creole sauce. The oxtails were exactly what I was looking for and I loved the hot bannana sauce, which I only mixed with the white steamed rice. The red beans with bacon and pork, which came with the shrimp dish, were fantastic and I absolutely loved the corn fritters with anise that came with the oxtails. I cannot wait to go back to try more, especially the empenadas.

Brian Spangler

So you finally made it.... :roll: Give me a buzz anytime & we'll hook up there for lunch or coffee and a quick Cuban cigar. :wink:

[ExtraMSG]

Do Cuban cigars meet Slow Food's standards for local/seasonal? ;-)

[EvaB]

Malanga closed a while ago. Blue Olive is now in its space.

[foodjunkie]

ExtraMSG said:

Do Cuban cigars meet Slow Food's standards for local/seasonal? ;-)

Well...they ARE hand made... :roll:

[sgindigo]

For me, Pambiche is all about the Vaca Frita. There once was a time it wasn't on the menu, but after they closed Canita, they put it on the Pambiche menu. I make myself sick eating way too much it, drenched in the mojo.

[Egads]

I went to Pambiche the other night with friends from out of town, and we were confronted with the typical 1.5 hour wait (so we ended up going to Taqueria Nueve instead). But, as we loitered around out front, I peeked inside, and, correct me if I'm wrong, it really looks as though they've removed a few tables. My long-standing complaint with Pambiche is how frickin' close the tables are to each other (I've had times there where I was literally closer to the person at the next table than to the person sitting across from me), and there seemed to be more space. Anyone else notice this recently?