Marc and I went to Julie’s Cuban Restaurant a little while ago.  It is one of my favourite restaurants – amazing food, great service and a warm and cozy atmosphere. The restaurant is located on a residential street and used to be a convenience store. It is colourful, full of knick-knacks and covered in twinkle lights (a personal favourite, as I always tell Marc that you can never go wrong with twinkle lights).

We started off with an organic red from Jean Bousuet, which was wonderful!

We shared a mango salad with greens, avocado, mango, red pepper, red onion and a delicious lime vinaigrette. It was fresh and full of citrus. The mango and avocado was perfectly ripe and the red onion complimented the other ingredients without overpowering.

For his main course, Marc ordered the special – Tilapia with rice and beans, plantains and pineapple salsa.  He thought the dish was great. Full of garlic and light and fluffy.  The pineapple salsa was more like a few chunks of pineapple than a salsa. Funny story, I hate fish (a hatred that goes much deeper than mere taste), but when Marc’s dish came to the table it didn’t smell fishy at all. It actually smelt really good – so good, that I asked for a bite. Marc was shocked and I am pretty sure he thought I had lost my mind.  He handed me a bit and I actually didn’t mind it. I still would never order it, but if Marc hadn’t devoured it I probably would have taken a second bite.

I ordered Vaca Frita and it was amazing.  The dish consists of flank steak, seared and pulled with onion, garlic, tomatoes and lime.  It also came with the usual plantains and rice and beans.  The last time I went to Julie’s I had this dish as a special. It must have been a customer favourite because it was added to the menu. Rightly so!

For dessert, we had Tres Leches Cake (Three Milk’s Cake) with bananas and vanilla ice cream.  Tres Leches Cake is a traditional Cuban dessert that involves soaking a sponge cake in evaporated milk, condensed milk and heavy cream.  It was light and creamy – the perfect way to end our meal.

Other items we love at Julie’s

  • Guacamole – delicious, but, sadly they don’t make their own chips. I am pretty sure they are actually Tostitos.  I could be wrong – actually, I hope I am wrong.
  • Frituras de Mais – corn fritters. These perfectly deep fried balls of dough are like little pillows of amazing-ness served with sour cream.
  • Papa Rellena I – Potato puff stuffed with picadillo
  • Mojitos – all fresh and full of mint. Best served on there patio.

We highly recommend Julie’s to anyone who loves comfort food and a cozy kitschy atmosphere.  If it is cold outside call ahead and reserve one of two intimate window seats. If you go in the summer the patio is a must.