Miami, FL (The Joy of Food) — A Cuban bakery may be the most overwhelming place you can visit in Little Havana, a plethora of carb-laden choices staring you in the face and people swarming to get at them. You’re quickly reminded that Miami’s Cuban population is second only to that of Cuba itself.
Translated as ‘the strong arm,’ El Brazo Fuerte is the quintessential Cuban bakery. This is the mothership, a place where golden-brown pastries, crusty baguettes, and caramelized custards dominate the enormous counter and the air, along with the tarts, eclairs, cakes, and butter-saturated croissants that span cooking influences from Spain, Africa, France, the East Indies, the Americas, and more. The best way to order is to speak Spanish and get a few of everything.
The pastillitos here are deceivingly light, edible little clouds filled with guayaba (guava), queso (cream cheese), carne (beef), or coconut. They are crisp and buttery, like the very best croissant, and they don’t flake or fall apart as you eat them. Somehow, they are chewy and slightly dense at the same time. Best of all, El Brazo Fuerte’s pastelito is more fully packed with guava jelly and cream cheese than anywhere else in Miami.
The papas rellenas (potato balls) are an essay in contrasts, light crunchy crusts of fried dough giving way to a moist interior as compelling as that of the best creme brûlée. As delectable as these are on the outside, the inside is creamy like the softest mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day. The croquettes are fried and shaped like little fingers and come stuffed with jamón (ham) or pollo (chicken). They are bites of salty, savory richness and are as popular for breakfast as they are for lunch.
Espresso and pastelitos go pretty well together, so order a cortadito con evaporada for a strong jolt of sweet, milky caffeine that ensures a long night of sleeping with your eyes wide open. Cuban coffee is without a doubt the center of the Miami universe.
Note that they use a number system that, ironically, can make ordering a little erratic when it’s busy and they start helping regular friends of the business regardless of their place in line. If you are dining in, there are a few standing table tops inside the busy establishment, otherwise most stuff gets boxed up to go.
Written by Joy
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Place sounds delicious. Makes me want to visit Porto’s.
Yes! I was at the House of Cuban Flavor a few weeks ago (formerly Los Pollos) and the quality of the pastelitos has gone downhill. The puff pastry is pretty stiff and there’s next to no filling. 😢
I haven’t been keeping up. What happened other than the name change? They cost cutting on the pastelitos?
Like a lot of places quality has gone down and portions have gotten smaller. Aside from the pastelitos that I already mentioned (tough and empty) the Cuban bowl is a shallow rectangular dish now, and the pork was pretty dry.
So much good fried food in that area. The potato balls and croquettes here were a standout, though.
I see you can get a computer-shaped cake there. Too bad they don’t do mailings!
If El Brazo Fuerte served nothing but its papas rellenas, that would be enough. Though that computer cake needs to look more like a Mac. And the beer bottle cake needs to sport a Peroni.