Frost Yourself

Every once in a while, I indulge. I have to. Monday afternoon in the quiet, peaceful snow, I took a stroll up half of State Street. I was headed towards what seemed like a somewhat forgotten spot: Cabana Room, which was nicely nestled underneath Samba

When I arrived, I was one of three customers. Fine by me. Unfortunate for them. Waiter, Clint, seemed thoroughly happy to see me though.

Throughout my indulgence, his service was pretty close to excellent, though he seemed intimidated or nervous. The bartender was nice too- he even came to greet me and tell me about a special dessert sampler. Seriously, it was so cute and totally appreciated.

Since it is sort of underground, the small space seems a little dark, making it the perfect place to meet your mistress for lunch. Just kidding. Sort of. You can take your regular girlfriend here too though.

The menu was short and sweet, just like I like it; nothing was too fancy or confusing. The back of the menu however, revealed an impressive beer list: ca-ching! Local microbrews make my heart beat a little faster. They also have Miller Lite, if you’re into that (I am, it’s all good).

I ordered the Cabana Burger: Brick pressed with angus beef, avocado, carmelized shallot, bacon and cabrales. Cabrales? What’s cabrales? Bleu cheese, straight from Spain. It was served with a side of ketchup and a side of chimichurri. I ignored the ketchup; they should really leave that off unless you get French fries. Let me tell you, this burger was fantastic. It was easily the best burger I have ever eaten. The complexity of flavors was incredible. With each bite, I noticed something new to love. Not only that, but the burger was massive and messy and that’s exactly what a burger should be.

I ordered the green salad with mango vinaigrette on the side, but other choices include fries or beans and rice. The dressing on the salad was slightly sweet, but not overwhelming.

To drink: I ordered a Hoegaarden, a Belgian white ale. It was noon a Monday; so sue me. Ladies, if you aren’t a “beer girl,” this microbrew might just make you one.

From the second the bartender said dessert, I knew I had to order it. Get this: the dessert sampler was $3! It included a small piece of flan, a creamy square of cheesecake and brigadeiro, a traditional Brazilian candy. Everything about this dessert was indulgent and more than I should have eaten and delicious. If you don’t go to Cabana Room for anything else, that’s fine, as long as you get dessert.

My total bill was $16.88 plus tip. Worth every penny, but I can empathize with this being too pricy, especially for lunch. However, remember that I ordered beer and dessert. You don’t have to do this. Head in for just a burger or just a beer or just dessert- they were all great, though the combination left me full far past dinner time. This may just be the perfect place to take a date, as long as you don’t mind burger juices running down her hands.

JM & Nichole also thought Cabana Room was pretty dang good.

Big shoutout goes to whoever can name the movie from where I abducted this title.