Lo Mejor Del Mundo Cuban Cafe (https://www.facebook.com/lomejordelmundocubancafe/) is a small, casual, no-frills Cuban cafe and restaurant (hence the name) at 181 Oxford Rd, in Fern Park, Florida. Where Casselberry ends and Fern Park begins, I have never quite figured out, and I live around here! That stretch of Oxford Road is currently torn up by construction, but if you can get through, it is definitely worth a stop in. On my first visit in a long time, these guys were waiting outside the door, wishing they could get in:
As I often do, I brought home takeout. This was ropa vieja (literally translated to “old clothes”: a savory, hearty dish of shredded beef stewed in a tomatoey sauce with onions and bell peppers, served with fluffy white rice and sweet fried plantains (maduros), which are always one of my favorite foods. 
My wife wanted this bistec con chimichurri, steak cut thin and pounded even thinner, then topped with chimichurri, a bright condiment made of parsley, garlic, olive oil, and salt that goes perfectly with just about any meat. She is always much more into steak than I am. It was served on a bed of moros rice (white rice mixed together with savory black beans, sometimes referred to as congri), with even more maduros on the side. 
Each meal came with beans, which they served in separate containers to avoid them dripping out of the styrofoam boxes. I prefer red beans when they are an option, and my wife is a traditionalist and prefers the black beans.
I hadn’t been here in so long, I also got a Cuban sandwich for the purpose of reviewing it here. It isn’t the biggest Cuban sandwich in the Orlando area, nor the best, but even a mid Cuban sandwich is better than not having one at all. It was also on the dry side, but a lot of places serve really dry roast pork on their Cubanos. I think I might have added more mustard from my vast mustard collection and more pickles (Grillo’s, natch) once I unwrapped it and took the first few bites.
These pastries were far better: a pastelito con carne and a fried empanada con carne. But you can never go wrong with either of these! 
Yes indeed, they were both stuffed with seasoned ground beef. Some places add tomato sauce and even olives and raisins for a specific Cuban dish called picadillo, but these were much more standard. I love how the baked pastry shell of pastelitos is often slightly sweet, contrasting against its savory fillings, and you can’t ever go wrong with the rich fried dough shell of Cuban empanadas.
And finally, I got a quesito for each of us — sweet pastries stuffed with sweetened cream cheese. Funny thing is, growing up on Cuban food in Miami (mostly from Latin American Cafeteria, which we could walk to from our house, and La Carreta), I don’t remember ever getting quesitos like this down there. But when I moved to Orlando in 2004, they were ubiquitous at Cuban restaurants, cafes, and bakeries. Hey, I’m not complaining! 
It was interesting revisiting Lo Mejor Del Mundo Cuban Cafe after so many years. Not being on a main road, and with all the construction happening right in front of the little shopping strip it’s in, the place could definitely use a spotlight shined on it. That said, everything I brought home was perfectly fine, but in the future, I’ll drive a little further to Cubans on the Run (where Casselberry starts fading into Longwood) or further still to Vicky Bakery.
The Saboscrivner 