Saturday, January 11, 2014

Frita Batidos – Ann Arbor, MI

Cuban Inspired Street Food!

The inside had a simple design with communal seating on long tables, along with a mini bar at the front window and in the back space.  As I watched the place fill up with the Saturday lunch crowd everyone seemed quite comfortable with the seating.


You place your order at the front when you come in.  Giving them your name they bring the food to you when it is ready, calling your name as the place fills with people.


Cajeta Coffee $5
A Cuban style espresso with cajeta and steamed milk.
A Cuban espresso refers to an espresso shot which is sweetened with demerara sugar as it is being brewed.
Cajeta is a confection of thickened syrup usually made of sweetened caramelized milk.
Caramel?  Yes Please !!!!
The serving size is about 8 ounces, for the price I would have like more, but I do like the serving size.  A thick creamy, caramel cappuccino.  Not like the once you get at the coffee shop that uses some caramel flavored syrup though, this one had a thick caramel taste and feel to it.
                Each table, and along the mini bars, has a container of water along with cups to serve yourself.  Stacks of napkins and bowls of dominos are there for your use.

Chorizo Fritas $8
Add-on: Tropical Slaw and Fried Egg +$2
Inspired by traditional Cuban burgers made from spicy chorizo served with shoestring fries on top on a soft egg bun.
                I told the gal at the front that I wanted something on the traditional side.  I knew I wanted the Chorizo Frita, but was told the fried egg is traditional and the tropical slaw is a great pair for it.  I was expecting a bit more spice from the chorizo, but it may have been muted by the slaw and sweet chili mayo.  It is Very messy, licking fingers was needed so I would not lose any tasty bits.  Back to the water I mentioned above.  Make sure you pour some into a cup before you begin eating, this will come in handy with a few of those napkins from that stack over there.  When your hands have gotten good and messy, just pour a bit of your water onto a couple napkins and clean up.  Then you can pick up the fork and eat the remains of your sandwich (if there are any). 


Churro $1.5
You can taste a hint of the orange zest, a nice freshness to a fried dessert.  It is rolled in cinnamon and sugar, and they make them big!  The gal left the tray for me since the cinnamon/sugar can get a bit messy.
Chocolate Espanol $4
Described on the menu as: Rich, hot chocolate infused w/cinnamon

It did not have the consistency or taste like a hot chocolate to me, but still good.  I got more of a whipped milk chocolate pudding feel from it.  It was thicker than I expected, and I didn’t taste any additional cinnamon that other than from dipping the Churro in.  When I drank the remaining chocolate it was more like a pudding.  For a serving size of only about 2 ounces, I did feel the price was too high for it.

~kate

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