NY DINING DAY 3: HAVANA CHELSEA

I'm going to be blaming Tom for my lack of blogging during the last 2 days. He was nice enough to lend me his brand new Nintendo Lite and I've been playing Tetris ever since, trying to top one score after the next. Right now I'm at level 11 with 107 lines. Maybe that'll change in an hour, though.

At any rate, I did want to finish posting about our trip in NY. Our last day there was a Monday, which we spent touring Tumbador Chocolates in Brooklyn and then s walking the floor of the Fancy Food Show for hours. Needless to say, it was a long, tiring day and the heat didn't help at all. By the time I'd finished up the show, it was rush hour in NY. So we decided to wait out the traffic and grab some food before heading back in Boston.

As I said in an earlier post, we were really going for hold in the wall places on this trip. So I took Tom to my favorite Cuban restaurant in my old neighborhood, Chelsea. I stumbled upon Havana Chelsea a few years back. It's just around the corner from my old pottery studio on 18th and W. 8th. Actually, there is (or was) a large Cuban population in Chelsea. Chelsea Havana actually reminds me a lot of the neighborhood Cuban restaurants in Miami, and the number of Spanish speakers and locals is a sign of its quality and authenticity. In case you don't know where Cuba is located, here's the placemat to help you out.When Tom and I arrived, it was still pretty early, and the restaurant was fairly empty. I ordered my usual, the Yellow Rice with Chicken (arroz con pollo). When it's colder, I also love to order the chicken stew, but it was a hot day. Tom got some sort of chicken sandwich.

Here's my dish below. It's really a huge portion, with green olives and a red pepper. There's like half a chicken buried under all the rice. I've never finished a plate of this stuff, I always end up taking it home, which is also what I did this time.

Simple, tasty and cheap. That's what I loved about this place. I think Tom also enjoyed his sandwich. So if you're ever in Chelsea and you want to skip some of those trendier restaurants that I've noticed popping up all over, try Havana Chelsea for some truly authentic Cuban American food.