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PETE TITTL: If they can take a risk, how about you?

BY PETE TITTL Contributing columnist
pftittl@gmail.com | Sunday, Oct 30 2011 12:01 AM

Last Updated Sunday, Oct 30 2011 12:01 AM

I've always been the biggest cheerleader for culinary diversity in Bakersfield, and I take it hard when those bold trailblazers who fight to offer us something more than meat and potatoes fail. A couple of years ago a Chester Avenue Cuban food buffet opened with an enthusiastic owner, but within months he had to put aside his bid for diverse cuisine and revert to burritos and tacos. Too many people didn't want something different.

Other than Mama Roomba downtown, I haven't really seen a Caribbean place take hold and thrive, and perhaps the market just isn't that large for that kind of cuisine. But boldly moving into the market is a place that might take hold: Manzanillo Latin Grill on H Street, right near the Bakersfield High campus.

It's a beautiful space inside, transformed with tasteful use of colorful tiles and faux yellow wooden window shutters on the wall. I have hopes it can make a go of it by offering high quality, moderately priced authentic fare in humble surroundings. Manzanillo is not offering alcohol right now, so it won't be competing with Mama Roomba's after-work crowd.

We stopped by on a Friday night and stuck to the Cuban portion of the menu (five entrees), selecting the garlic chicken ($7.99, pollo al ajilio for those who insist on the authentic name) and the lechon asada ($7.99, marinated oven-roasted pork with grilled onions). They also offer shrimp in a Cuban sauce ($10.99), steak ($8.99) and shredded beef with bell peppers and onions ($8.99). There are six sandwiches, including the traditional Cuban with ham, pork and Swiss cheese, five Mexican plates and four burritos. We wanted to try the lentil soup, but they were out at that hour.

It was good. The chicken was a thigh and drumstick piece that was slightly crispy on the outside but not deep fried, with a yellow drizzle of the strongest garlic sauce we've sampled in quite awhile. The pork was presented in chunks like a chile verde, with a thin sauce, and topped with a heap of caramelized onions. Both were served on plastic container plates with compartments of black beans and white rice. You could mix it all up and get a lot of different flavors.

Our biggest gripe was with the thick fried plantains, which were not as irresistible as those we've enjoyed at Mama Roomba. My companion thought it might have been the oil, but I think they'd just been prepared in advance and didn't have that fresh-fried charm that we prefer. Like chicken, they don't hold well if done in advance.

Service was a plus. It looked like a two-person crew, with a pleasant young woman behind the counter, bringing the food to the tables and generally acting as the "face" of Manzanillo. She brought us some buttered toasted bread as a free appetizer (though we doubted, based on the taste, that real butter was used in the preparation) and later some samples of Cuban coffee. I'm not as familiar as I should be with that liquid, but a customer sitting nearby called it "rocket fuel." The version here is very sweet, like liquid coffee candy. After a few sips I let it rest, not wanting to be energetically climbing walls at about midnight.

I think Bakersfield is big enough to support another Cuban restaurant.

Give Manzanillo a try if your palate seeks new adventures.