Pambiche

• Website

• Area: Northeast (around 28th)

• Price to fill up two people: $15-$25, depending 

Linda Ethier introduced me to this really cute and tasty little Cuban restaurant; on the first day of a week-long glass casting class she said “if you don’t mind I’d like to go to the Cuban restaurant across the street today, and after that we can go wherever you want.” After that lunch, none of us wanted to go anywhere else. Tiny, tiny, tiny, only a few tables…but inexpensive and absolutely delicious.

There were eight of us, and we pretty much ran through the whole menu that week, except for the desserts (this place is also a bakery, and if we hadn’t been so stuffed after lunch we’d have made serious inroads on the cakes, especially this foot-high banana thing that looked dreamy).

Word to the wise, though: Hit up Pambiche on a Friday night (or most of the weekend) and I can almost guarantee there will be a line. The last Friday night I was there, it went around the block. Much, MUCH better to try this at lunch.

Tip: order the special, or anything on the menu that sounds like it has citrus in it.