Amboy Eats: Antojito Latino

(Restaurant Review, Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
By Bill George
Antojito Latino, 236 New Brunswick Ave., Perth Amboy. Open six days,
Tues.-Sun., 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Mon., closed. Call (732) 442-0064. Rating: ****.
Antojito Latino, which translates literally as “Latin craving,” opened on
March 20 in a storefront that used-to be Parnes Bakery before it was
turned-into a Dominican cafeteria-style eatery.
Owners Alvarro, Smirna, Maria and Tino have transformed the previous food
operation into a comfortable dining experience incorporating the best in
Central American, South American and Caribbean cuisine, with a self-serve
all-you-can-eat buffet as its centerpiece.
The theme here is “Conserving Our Roots,” with the goal of offerring the
dining public a choice in authentic Latin dishes spanning a wide variety of
tastes.
The buffet, which is available Tuesday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and
7 p.m., features a soup kettle, 10 hot entrees and a salad bar, with coffee
or tea and dessert included, for an incredible $8.50. A sit-down breakfast
is served between 9 and 11 a.m., and sit-down service is offered all-day
Sundays and as an option when the buffet is open.
The buffet comes with at-least two varieties of rice — white and another —
and red beans, but what brings many local diners back here is the
perfectly-seasoned Pernil (baked pork shoulder), almost-always presented on the
buffet in one piece, ready for slicing, with a crusty skin and tender and juicy
interior. Sometimes, the Pernil is cut-up and cooked with tomatoes and onions
for a taste-sensation. Alvarro says it’s not uncommon for Antojito Latino
to go-through three pork shoulders in one day.
Running a close second to the Pernil in popularity is the Flat Iron Steak
($12.50), which arrives at your table sizzling in a black iron pan, covered
with mushroom slices and garlic cloves, along with an oval platter of white
rice and red beans, joined with a green salad. The meat is so-tender it melts
in your mouth.
Mofongo & Shrimp ($10.50) is a huge oval platter with a mound of smooth
mashed plantain covered with grilled medium shrimp in a garlicky sauce, also
joined with a green salad.
Those who enjoy the flavor of shrimp also will love Shrimp In Garlic Sauce
(also $10.50), featuring 10 extra-large pink beauties in bowl with a
flavorful sauce, accompanied by arepa, a large cornmeal cake covered with white
cheese.
A delicacy for particular tastes, Grilled Red Snapper ($12.50), turned-out
to be a culinary masterpiece at a bargain price. It was only my second
snapper because of the usually-prohibitive price. The entire fish arrives on a
huge colorful oval platter with lime wedges, and the flavorful beige flesh
strips cleanly off the bones. Casamiento — formed brown rice with black and
brown beans — and golden-brown fried yucca, crispy outside and soft inside,
complete the feast.  
Grilled Chicken Breast & Garlic Shrimp ($12.50) is a boneless breast topped
with five large garlicky shrimp, with casamiento and  tostones (fried green
plantain slices) and a bowl of pink dipping-sauce.
Baked Chicken Breast Stuffed with Crabmeat ($12.50) is exactly-that. The
flaky crabmeat-and-parsley filling is NOT the usual breadcrumb lump that’s
CALLED “crabmeat stuffing.” The boneless breast, topped with two jumbo shrimp,
sits-upon a bed of spaghetti and a tomatoey reddish-orange sauce, with
mushroom slices and onion strands.
Carne Asada ($9) is a perfectly-grilled flat steak topped with pico de
gallo (similar to bruschetta), accompanied by casamiento and a green salad.
Served that way is Grilled Chicken Breast ($8.50).
BBQ Ribs ($8) are four large meaty pork ribs, covered with a slightly-sweet
reddish-brown sauce, tender down to the bone, with arepa and a green salad.
Returning to the buffet, I found many dishes that I really-enjoyed. The
variety of offerings is astounding, given the reasonable price charged for what
can be considered gourmet dining.
In the buffet, on any given day, one might find: Chicken Stew, large white
meat and potato chunks in an orange-colored broth; Chicken Fingers, breaded
white meat strips; Chicken Nuggets, unbreaded pieces of white meat; Lemon
Chicken, breaded boneless white meat pieces in a luscious lemon sauce; Chicken
& Stringbeans, white meat chunks sauteed with fresh stringbeans; Grilled
Chicken, charcoal-grilled wings or drumsticks; Chicken Teriyaki, white meat
chunks sauteed with fresh peppers and onions in a slightly-sweet sauce; Fried
Chicken, crispy-coated pieces; BBQ Chicken, pieces coated with a
slightly-sweet sauce; Dominican-Style Spaghetti, pasta with chicken and peppers in an
orange-colored sauce; Empanadas, crispy doughy pockets with beef or chicken
fillings; Tacos Dorados, rolled tortillas filled with a chicken paste; Pork
Feet & Chickpeas, a great dish over white rice, and Steak, Tomato & Fries, a
one-pan meal. I hope I got them all!
Also, sold a la carte: Burrito ($7 each), large and filling, in beef or
chicken varieties; Pupusas ($1.50 each), filled dough cakes, and Tostadas
(three for $4), Guatemalan tortillas with toppings.
Breakfast ($7.25) can be various starch-meat-egg combinations, such as
Pancakes, Chicharron and Scrambled Eggs (the Pancakes are soft but crispy around
the edges, as they’re supposed-to be, and the Chicharron is hard, smokey
and salty, as it’s supposed-to be), or French Toast, Chorizo and Colombian
Omelette (the soft, cinnamony French Toast and smokey, thick-skinned Chorizo
are a contrast in textures and tastes, but the Colombian Omelette, with sliced
scallions and diced tomatoes, is a REAL treat!).
Beverages include the usual bottled sodas at $1.50 each. To be adventurous,
try the Passion Fruit Shake ($2.50), Salvadorean Fruit Juice ($1.75) or
Raspberry Iced Tea ($1.50). What a difference!
The homemade cakes at Antojito Latino  (carrot is my favorite!) aren’t
overly-sweet, but they stand-up to the freshly-brewed coffee.
In evaluating food, atmosphere, service and value, Antojito Latino easily
earns our highest rating of FOUR STARS.