Sandy's Cafe

There's a place that aaaalllll the locals know about, and the very privileged tourists know about. There is tasty Cuban food at this spot and it's pretty unique. What place is this, you say? Why, it's Sandy's Cafe.

As you can see from the picture above, Sandy's Cafe is a humble place.  There are only about 5 places to sit right outside of the building. Actually, this is the new and updated Sandy's Cafe. About four or five months ago, they shut down to remodel--now everything is shiny and brand new.

You can walk up to this place and take a good few minute to decide what you want--there's all kinds of decisions. There's breakfast items like cheese bread (cuban bread with cheese), cafe con leche, and even a southern classic, grits. There's typical Cuban/Hispanic grub like black beans and yellow rice, picadillo, and maduros (ripe grilled plantains). 

Yummy Cuban style black beans to go with all that yellow rice that goes with your meal.

Oh, but it doesn't stop there: Cuban sandwiches (the Cuban Mix is GOOD), fish sandwiches, pork, ham and cheese, vegetarian, the list goes on and on and on--and that's just sandwiches. There's a lovely choice of soups, Mexican burritos, tacos and quesadillas. There's wraps with roast pork, stead, buffalo chicken. Breakfast wraps with steak and eggs and cheese, bacon, turkey, ham. There's omelets! There's the Dinner Plates which are the bestest like Grilled Pork Chops, Palomilla Steak, and Shrimp in Garlic Sauce.

Palomilla Steak with yellow rice and maduros
(black beans comes with the meal, but aren't pictured)

But, I don't want to just list these things like they're nothing--I want you to understand that all of this is GOOD.  I've eaten here so many times that I don't even have that many pictures to post, because I'm so distracted by the food, and I don't remember to take pictures until I've eaten half of it already :-/

Things that I have eaten and can personally attest to their deliciousness on their menu: Cuban Mix sandwich, Fish Sandwich, Cheese Toast, Plantains, Rice and beans, Buchi (Espresso), Cafe con Leche, Shrimp in Garlic Sauce, Picadillo dinner, Palomilla dinner, Grilled pork chops dinner, and sides of plantains and bacon (really thick and crispy).

Oh, and when we're talking about cafe con leche, if you're not from the area (or if you really like cafe con leche already), you HAVE to try it. It's espresso and hot milk. Wait, espresso and milk?...that's a latte, right? No--it's cafe con leche. I know..big woop, right? NOT! We order cafe con leche and cheese bread at work every Wednesday. Why? Because it's good. Just order it.

Oh, and to make this better for you if you're in town doing the tourist thing: They deliver (as long as the order is $10 or over) all over the island, aaaaannnndd they're open 24 hours a day! But, check this out--they take cash only. So, when you prepare your taste buds for this good food, don't arrive with your credit card--you'll be politely told "we only take cash."

For Key West, the prices are very nice. And even better is that you get a lot of food.

For example, to order a side of plantains costs $3.95. Not shabby, right? But look how much you get in the order:

Side order of Plantains

That's about 10 hunkin pieces of marvelously caramelized ripe plantains you're looking at there. Plantains come with the dinners, but I always get extra.hehe. Or scroll back up and look at the Palomilla steak dinner--that huge steak, black beans, rice and maduros all for 11 bucks?? I'll take it! And you should too.

Located on White Street, it's sort of far from the downtown tourist area on Duval Street (I say sort of far because the island itself is barely 3 miles long), but its worth the trip if you want some really good food at a really fair price.

The service? Really good. The people are always friendly and I've noticed they don't get upset when you arrive and you have no idea what you want. I like that, in particular, about Sandy's.

SSoooo....

The Bottom Line

Food:  The food's really good and has lots of flavor. The new grill is getting seasoned, so it's getting even better!

Price:  Nicely priced. There's lots of food for the money. So, really you could get a meal an split it, making it even more economical.

Service:  Cool people work there. They're patient with you and do their best to get your food right.

Overall:  Umm....if ya haven't gotten the message by now, you should go there. Tasty, economical, and definitely a part of the Key West local scene. On o a scale of 1 to 10; 1 being horrible, 10 being amazing, I'd give it a solid 7.9...they still need to let that brand new grill get seasoned like it was.

Eaton Street Seafood Market, Part 2

Along with the seafood at the Eaton Street Seafood Market is their own special menu. There's some attention grabbing features on this menu.  The one that caught my eye? The Lobster Roll.

And while I couldn't bring myself to spend $15 on one "sandwich" when I first discovered the menu, the thought of a classic lobster roll flooded my mind: fresh, delicious lump lobster tail and claw meat mixed in a light mayo-lemon dressing, seasoned very simply with salt and maybe some other herb, like dill or thyme for a pop of flavor. The thought of the classic lobster roll (maybe with an unexpected key west twist) lived in my mind until I could wait no longer to taste it.

After scraping up enough pennies, getting over mommy-guilt and rationalizing getting only one lobster roll for me (instead of me and my two little ones--after all, that'd be 30 bucks...if they shared one roll), I made my way to the market and got it!!
I walk in. Order. They ask if I want it toasted, I say yes (how could it not be toasted, right?). And I wait about 5 minutes while they prepare the lobster roll that I have had many a succulent fantasy for. The guy behind the counter returns with a white styrofoam box, places it inside of a plastic bag and hands it to me. I pay, and head out of the market to the car.

As soon as I sit in the driver's seat, I open my box and find:

My long-awaited lobster roll, halved. And a small bag of fried plantains chips.

Okay, I'm gonna be honest: I was thinking the lobster meat was going to be more lump-tious, but it looked like it was chopped or really hard to get out of the shell. But, hey, its still a good amount of lobster in there.

I'm not sure what type of bread it was...maybe a potato roll/bread? I'm not sure, but it apparently was toasted well and was still warm when I unwrapped it.
At this point, the kids in the back seat are hearing paper and wrappers crinkle and rustle and are interested in what they're missing out on...so I hand over the bag of fried plantain chips. Then I dive in!
The lobster is sweet, as it should be. The dressing is thinned nicely and doesn't over-power the delicate-ness of the lobster. It aaaalllllllmmmoosstt needs more salt, but that would compromise the sweetness of the lobster meat. There is also a hint of butter--I can't tell if it is with the lobster and mayo, but my guess is that it's from the toasted bread. The lobster and dressing are really good. The roll, however....

As you can see from my partially bitten lobster roll (apologies for that), the roll is definitely toasted--in fact, it is toasted too much for this particular type of sandwich. If I wanted toast to put jelly on, or peanut butter, or even for a grilled cheese sandwich, this is what I would want it to look and taste like. However, those same charred bits that complement a grilled cheese sandwich don't fit the delicate flavors of a lobster roll, and over-powers the sweet  flavor of the lobster on the inside. Actually, that strong flavor made me only eat the lobster inside of the final bites of the second half of the roll.
I reflect for a moment and remembered the first time I went there, a gentleman ordered a lobster roll (which is partially what brought my attention to it in the first place), but he did request for it to be lightly toasted.  Of course, I recall him saying that after I took the first few bites, then I understood why.
Part of me gets somewhat defensive says that the guy shouldn't have to ask for the roll to be lightly toasted--after all, it's supposed to be lightly toasted in the first place.

The Bottom Line:
Food: PreTTy good! The charr on the outside of the bun sorta ruined it for me, but I know that if i get it lightly toasted, it'd be a nice treat.

Price: Prices range from $10 - $15, so really not that bad..think of it as going to a restaurant for a burger, but not having to leave a tip. Perhaps not family-budget friendly, though since everyone will want their own sandwich.

Service: Again, Okay. Not overly friendly, but I was accommodated appropriately.

Overall: All of the items on the menu seem tasty..I mean, who doesn't like lobster, crab cakes or shrimp? I say definitely give a try..just ask for things lightly toasted.

Eaton Street Seafood Market

When trying to fulfill their hankerings for seafood, I've found out that conchs (conch = Key West native) go to Publix or Winn Dixie.  I'm sorry, but I find this nuts! As much seafood, and as many fishing boats and access to seafood as there is on this island, I'm surprised that there aren't a slew of local seafood markets.

I digress...
Though there may be some fresh seafood in the local grocery markets, I have found only one seafood market on the island (again, please update me if I'm wrong, so I can check them out too ;) ) and that market is Eaton Street Seafood Market.

This is a nicely sized building, but the actual market is rather humble in size, compared to the entire size of the big white building. The picture on the right is a picture of the right side of the building, and the picture on the left, is the left side of the building. When you open the door, this is what you walk into:

Scallops! Salmon! Tuna! Black Grouper! Clams! Mussels! Seafood salads! Stone Claw Crab! Lobster tails! An abundance of fresh seafood!  It looks rather enticing. You see the vibrant, clear color of the meat of the fresh fish. Then you remember how murky and dull the seafood looks at the supermarket, in comparison--and you can't help but to buy some

However, all of this delicious, fresh seafood comes at the cost of a pretty penny. If you can't make out the costs of each type of fish and crusteacean in the picture let me list it here for you:

Salmon - $16.98 per pound

Ahi (Yellowfin) Tuna - $22.95 per pound

Scallops - $19.95 per pound

Yellowtail Snapper - $17.95 per pound

Black Grouper - $20.95 per pound

Lobster tails - $24.95 per tail

Pink Shrimp - $17.95 per pound

Large Stone Crab claws - $32.95 per pound

Medium Stone Crab claws - $21.95 per pound

After the sticker shock set in a little bit, I decided to give one of these fresh staples of Key West a shot. My choice? The Salmon. It was soo pretty! I got an 8. something ounce piece, so with tax and everything for the one piece of salmon, the price was $10.91. I figured it wasn't too shabby of a price. When I had my 8. something ounce salmon steak in my hand as I was walking out of the door to see my husband and kids waiting in the car for me, I realized: 8. something ounces of salmon is not enough for everyone. It's barely enough for me and The Hubs.

The next day, when I cooked the salmon (salt, pepper and lemon juice, 7 min in the oven at 450 degrees), it was AMAZING! And I'm not tooting my own cooking skills here. That REAL fresh-never-frozen quality made a pronounced difference not only in the flavor of the salmon I prepared, but in the texture and color of the final product as well. So, despite my $11 splurge for 8 ounces of salmon, I was rather pleased with the outcome--even if it only fed me and The Hubs.

Allow me to continue with the tour of what's available here:

Not a wide selection of produce, but definitely things that would complement the seafood being cooked: bell peppers, lemons, limes, pomegranates, and a few other fresh salad greens.

There are three drink refrigerator cases immediately to the right when you walk into the store. Two of them hold drinks, but one case holds house made items such as goat cheese, spinach and artichoke dip and smoked fish dip.

The Bottom Line:

Food: The salmon I had was really good--fresh taste.

Price: High---BUT if you catch it at the right moment, it's the freshest.

Service: Okay. People aren't overly friendly, but will accommodate you.

Overall:  Not bad, but Publix or Winn Dixie might have better prices for same quality depending on when you catch the freshness of the seafood.