From The New Orleans Menu Daily By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published June 1, 2007 Liborio 2$ CBD: 321 Magazine 581-9680 Lunch Mon.-Fri. Dinner Tues.-Sat. AE MC V Cuban. Liborio is a long room with an attractive tiled floor and draped ceiling. Despite those modern touches, it feels in some ways like a venerable New Orleans restaurant. Which, in fact, it is. It's the city's oldest Cuban restaurant, having first appeared on Decatur Street in 1969. The fact that it's moved a couple of times since then doesn't explain why, after all these years, most people I tell about it have never heard of the place. (The inexplicable unpopularity of Cuban food in New Orleans may be the problem.) Cubans of my acquaintance all say the same thing about Liborio: it's good, but not as good as the Cuban food their grandmothers make. This is also why we don't have many Greek restaurants: the people most likely to understand and patronize such places eat that kind of food mostly at home. But to those of us without that resource, Liborio is pretty good. The menu is a comprehensive catalog of all the Cuban specialties, along with a scattering of Mexican food and straightforward grilled items, for those hesitant about trying an unfamiliar cuisine. But before looking it over, check the markerboard for the specials, which always include a good soup (the black bean soup, when they make it, is wonderful, but so is the lentil soup) and two or three entrees. Those are sometimes surprising: the lamb shank on Thursday, for example. According to a review I wrote in 1977, and many other samplings since then, the best Cuban steak in town is to be found here. A Cuban steak is cut from the round, and is so large in surface area that even oversize plates can't quite contain it. They grill it simply, and it comes out juicy and good. The one they sell for $18 here is really too much even for a big appetite. They also make bistec empanisado--the panned version of the same thing--and that's even harder for one person to deal with. The dish most people remember most in their early explorations of Cuban food is ropa vieja. Perhaps that's because of the colorful name, which means "old clothes"--suggested by the way beef is shredded and slowly, moistly cooked to make for a heartwarming, soft juiciness. The sauce is good, made with red wine, garlic, and a little tomato. It's a classic, abd very good here. Roast pork is another mainstay of Cuban cooking. Lechon asado comes out in big chunks that look as if they will require much slicing and chewing, but which in fact fall apart, for all their firmness, into delicious shreds that all but melt in the mouth. You can sample some of this along with roast chicken and ropa vieja in the combo plate which, like the other meat platters, comes with black beans and deliciously sweet fried plantains. Also here is Cuban fried chicken, made with a lot of garlic and pepper. And paella, a dish served in almost all Hispanic restaurants practically as a point of honor. But paella is hard to make well, and unless it's a house specialty (and I would not say it is here), it's lackluster. They have a little bit of seafood, but that's not a strength either. They have a few good appetizers, if you can possibly find room for them (the entrees are enormous). The three kinds of empanadas (beef, chicken, and shrimp) are all excellent and prepared to order. The mammoth Cuban tamals--utterly unlike the little hot tamales made famous at Manuel's--make a good starter for two people. At lunchtime they make the traditional Cuban sandwiches, which are like poor boys in some ways, and totally different in others. Finally, my consistent observation that nobody makes better flan then Cubans is once again proven here. In texture, flavor, and sweetness, it's everything a flan should be. Liborio is busy at lunch, less so at dinner. The service staff is accommodating and friendly. This was a restaurant in the 2007 Top Sixty Ethnic Restaurant Countdown. To view the entire list, click here. Click here for an index of all restaurant reviews. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com.