El Oriental de Cuba

The Only Cuban food worth having in Boston.... Me and my bf haunt this place as regulars almost. The food is exceptional, staff is all so friendly and knowledgable and the place is anything but stuffy and overpriced. We recommend the fried pork chops or the griled chicken plate. On that note they have the best tostones in town ( fried plantains) . The crows is very diverse and welcoming even though it can be packed. You have to try it at least once, It wont be your last... I didt even mention the Cubano sandwich because there are no words…

I'm Cuban, El Oriental isn't. The 4.5 stars the editorial staff gace this place is grossly undeserved, but since there isn't an AUTHENTIC Cuban restaurant in the Boston area, they really don't have anything else to compare it to.

This is not the place to go if you want a Cuban Sandwich. In fact, this is not the place to you if you want Cuban anything... except the scenes on the photos on the wall.

The cooks aren't Cuban. The food is a mash-up of recipes of Latin-American origin.

Service couldn't be worse. Sorry guys. If you want good Cuban food, go to El Exquisito on Calle Ocho in Miami.…

Terrible Octopus and inedible Famous Cuban Sandwich.. I have never been in Cuba, therfore I am not sure how the octopus is cook there, but I bet it is nothing close to the huge smelly chunks of cheap and unfresh octopus tossed with rice and lots of oil I got here for $12. It was bad news and I even got intoxicated the next day. They also have "Bacalao" in the menu for Saturdays only and good luck getting that because they don't make it. My wife got the famous cuban sandwich (the specialty) and that was a disaster as well. The two "empanadas" were bad too. Maybe we did not know how to order, but I am not taking the risk going back there. Save yourself a trip !…

A terrifying nightmare of poor service and mediocre food.. This is my first review on Citysearch. I have had Cuban food before at the excellent Cuban resaurant La Isla in Hoboken, NJ and I was prepared for more of the same when I visited El Oriental with two friends on Jan 2nd, 2007. One friend ordered a Cuban sandwich, and the other a beef and rice dish. They were both moderately satisfied with their food, but we were all appalled and insulted by the service. I ordered the vegeterian plate, which was $7 for plaintains, yellow rice, and salad. The menu said that it also included black beans, but no black beans were served. We ordered but were not served: water, coffee, dessert. Our server took our order and disappeared for the rest of the evening. No explaination or compansation was offered for the fact that more than half of our order was not served. We had to track him down to tell him to strike the omissions from our tab when we figured out that he had no intention of returning to our table that evening. Suffice it to say we were thoroughly fleeced. I suppose that El Oriental is a good choice if you happen to be on this block and absolutely must have a Cuban sandwich, but otherwise, save yourself the agony and give your money to a business that actually notices that you are patronizing it.…