Eats in the Florida Keys- A Diary of Our October 2015 Excursion

Sunday.

Blue Heaven Day. (See prior post)

Monday.

Our final full day of vacay took us to couple new places featuring distinctly local flare.  Our first stop was in the Cuban neighborhood of Key West.  Sandy’s sandwich shop specializes in Cuban fare, breakfast items and an array of street foods and sandwiches.  Known for for their Cuban sandwiches, their “Cuban Mix” sandwich consists of ham, pork, pickles, lettuce and tomato on Cuban bread with a mix of mustard and mayo, then heat pressed to sear the outside of the bread.  The ham and pork were melt-in-your-mouth tender and packed with salty porky flavor.   Also of note was their Cafe Con Leche (Cuban coffee).  The coffee is particularly strong but served with steam milk, it is similar to New Orleans’ cafe au let.  Sandy’s is easily a gem of a place for something simple that can be a filling lunch or dinner. Traditional Cuban sandwiches without the bustle of some of the bigger tourist traps.

Cuban sandwich at Sandy's

Stock Island is directly northeast of Key West and separated from Key West by Cow Key Channel.  This working class village seems miles away from the high-end vacation homes, tourist traps and the debauchery of Key West.  Situated in this community along a marina is Hogfish Bar and Grill.  This is a very unassuming establishment on the water “where the locals go.”  Our hotel bartender described Hogfish as “Key West before the cruise ships stopped here.”  One huge attribute of Hogfish is their utilization of local seafood and fishermen.  They purchase their fish directly from the fishing boats; if one particular species is not available, there are no substitutes for menu entrees and the items are temporarily removed from the menu.  The menu itself consists of a variety of land and sea choices but we went for their item of choice, the hogfish.  Served in a variety of ways, we elected to try the fish with tacos and their signature sandwich for entrees.  Both items involved frying the fish (per recommendation of our server) but one can opt for blackened or grilled.  The hogfish itself has  a firm texture with mild flavor.  The sandwich is served with sautéed onions, mushrooms, swiss cheese and Cuban bread.  A blend of mild cheeses, baja sauce, jalapeños, lettuce and onions complemented the tacos.    Served with black bean and rice their Mexican take was exceptionally well put together in a generally Cuban influenced neighborhood.  

Hogfish Bar, Hogfish sandwich & tacos

Our third trip to the Florida keys opened up some new doors and reinforced others.  We were treated to an array of local fare that was both harvested from nearby waters and imported from neighboring countries.  This form of travel is surely our passion and it is what drives us to return to favorite places and pursue new adventures.  With Key West being a place we have been multiple times, each time we go offers a better opportunity to try new things for various reasons. For starters, we did the tourist stuff already so that is out of our system. Secondly, the more we go the more interested we are in what drives the locals, including the food. To be honest, we want to move there ourselves so it would stand to reason that we are more and more drawn to things that people who live there do themselves. That may be us someday giving you recommendations on where to go and what to try. Someday…