Return
to Restaurant Reviews MenuTropical
Bakery
222 Grant Street (corner of Lafayette)
by Laura McClusky & Mike Niman
Buffalo Gazette Culinary Arts Critics
Buffalo has many Puerto Rican restaurants tucked way on the
West side, but there’s a new kid in town and this kid is well worth paying
attention to. We don’t mean to slight the fantastic pernil (roast pork) at
Vargas’, the Pastelles from Wishbone, or any of the other delectable treats
they and other restaurants such as the Niagara Café and Ashley’s Comidas
Crioles offer. There’s room for everybody, especially when each one seems to
offer something the others don’t. This
is especially true of the Tropical Bakery, home of the region’s most diverse
Caribbean menu and the newest player on a growing list of excellent Island oases
in Buffalo.
First, there are the Cuban style sandwiches. What are We
talking about? Well, how does this sound? Take a slab of French bread, stuff it
with Ham, Turkey, Salami, Pastrami and Swiss cheese, add some lettuce and
tomato, slather it with mayo and press it in a double sided grill and whamo!
You’ve got yourself a delicious, warm, extra tasty not-to-be-missed Cubano
sandwich ($5.75). It’s truly a special treat! Do you have a fancy for
different kinds of meat? Try the Biftec ($5.50).
It’s stuffed with deliciously spiced and smoky marinated slices of beef
in the same roll, whamo and all. Or
try any of the other sandwich meats. Tropical Bakery offers many that are
familiar to the American palette such as Jamon Ahumado (smoked ham- $5.00), Pavo
(turkey- $4.50), Tuna ($4.99), Moradella (salami- $4.50); but the real treat, of
course, is to get something you can’t easily get somewhere else in Buffalo,
like Pulpo (octopus- $6.50), Pernil (roast pork- $4.00), Tripleta (a Bistec and
Hot Dog combo- $5.50), or even Carrucho (conch meat- $7.50).
You can’t go wrong, so try something new.
Then there’s the Empanadillas (fried pockets). Delicious
pockets of dough filled with interesting
and delicious fillings such as Carne y Queso (meat and cheese - $1.25), Pulpo
(octopus- $3.00), Camarones (shrimp- $3.00), Carrucho (conch- $3.00) and Pizza
($1.25). They’re good for a quick lunch or afternoon snack.
As the name might suggest, Tropical Bakery also provides an
overwhelming array of baked goods. From the standard cakes, cookies and donuts,
to the Puerto Rican savory and sweet specialties, like Flan Coco, Flan Queso,
corn bread, bread pudding, brazo gitano, sweet bread, pastelillos de guayaba,
famosos quesitos, it’s a cornocoppia of wonderful baked goods.
We tried the Budin (bread pudding), which was a steal at fifty cents.
It’s complex medley of flavors covered the spectrum of dessert tastes
from cinnamon and nutmeg through to a hint of coconut.
The desserts are to die for. Literally.
We haven’t yet tried the combination dinners ($5.75 for
your choice of meats with rice and pigeon peas, yucca in garlic and boiled green
bananas). Nor did we try the salads ($12.00 for either shrimp, octopus, conch or
a seafood mix), but we plan to VERY soon. We did order up a big serving of arroz
y gandules (rice and pigeon peas - $2.50). It was an excellent surprise – the
best plate of yellow rice we’ve had in a long time, loaded with chunks of
pork, plenty of peas and an exceptionally flavorful mix of spices.
All we can do here is tempt you, and ourselves, with the offerings, but if you see us around ask us how they were because by the time this goes to publication, we’re sure to have returned to try something new. Tropical Bakery will be one of the places we’ll go back to over and over and we think you will too. Our only complaint is that they don’t offer much in the way of healthy low-fat foods – which is a problem in a city whose population suffers from one of the highest rates of obesity related disorders in the nation. But hey, ya only live once and if you’re gonna eat fatty food, make sure it’s good and worth the cost. In that respect, Tropical Bakery fits the bill – it’s damn good food.
Stop by for take-out or enjoy your meal in the sit-down
section next door on Grant Street. Either way, you’ll want to go in the main
entrance and look at all the wonderful cakes and cookies and custards and
savories and … the list goes on and on. Tropical Bakery is open 7 days a week
from 5:30 AM – 11:30 PM. Delivery is available 882-5105. Make it a point to
stop by.
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