I'll sheepishly admit that swinging by the Texas Cuban trailer on South Lamar was not my destination, but became my destination once I found that Trey's Cuisine, where I hoped to try their mint and sweet soy marinated lamb kabob with feta Greek sauce, had closed for the afternoon given the extreme heat.
Not so at Texas Cuban, where I'm not quite sure if it was the oppressive Castro regime or the sole insanity of the owner that put the nice young man inside the tin sweat lodge at the peak of this 107 degree day hovering above a searing hot griddle and press making hot sandwiches for the few nuts who dared venture outside. That said, it's nice to know that weather can't shut down some people, and I'm glad to say that for his effort and the quality of the food, I'll be back, rain, shine or hell-like heat conditions.
I ordered the El Cubano, which is a half of their signature sandwich, the Texas Cuban, which feeds two easily. As he finished up the one other sandwich he was working on, and started on mine, I asked him how hot it was in the trailer, to which he replied, "a little cooler than outside, but probably around 95 or 100".
Dedication.
The sandwich was well worth the ten minute wait in the shaded, but still cruel, heat, though next time I'll be sure to call ahead with my order. Not that I've had a lot of them, but this Cuban is absolutely the best of it's kind that I've ever had. Juicy grilled pork tenderloin sliced in quarter inch thick medallions, topped with ham, swiss, provolone, pickles and mustard, pressed between an incredible garlic Cuban flat bread which retained it's outer crust and crunch on the ten minute drive home, despite being wrapped tightly in foil and bagged with some smoking hot, and perfectly cooked plantain chips, which, despite being labeled as chips, were actually half inch thick plantains smashed and deep fried to a perfect crisp on the outside with a moist and sweet inside, finished off with kosher salt.
I mean, damn. This is an incredible sandwich. And despite the assortment of hot sauces available outside of the trailer, I brought it home and dipped it in my favorite hot sauce for just such sandwiches, Matouk's Calypso Sauce, which is perfect for a sandwich as good as this.
I urge you to try this if you haven't, if at the very least just to reward a highly dedicated team determined to brave the weather to introduce us to one of Cuba's finest exports.
And after that nice Cuban music, I'll swing you to the other side of this trailer...
Summary:
Atmosphere: Africa-hot, food trailer, shaded picnic tables
Food: Cuban sandwiches
Crowd: gluttons for punishment on this day
Dog Friendly: yes
What to Order for the First Timer: El Cubano
Best Time to Go: Lunch
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