Rice & Beans and Sweet Plantains at the Habana Outpost

I love Brooklyn. Really and truly. And one of my favorite things to do is park myself at some outdoor seating to eat and drink with friends and people-watch. Habana Outpost has been around for a few years now, but it's still a great spot to go for icy drinks, yummy Cuban & Spanish food & awesome people watching (www.ecoeatery.com, 757 Fulton Street, at So. Portland Ave., and mere steps from both the G and C trains, 718-858-9500). It's also a completely Green restaurant, using solar panels for all their electrical needs, human-powered smoothie blenders (with a bike) and rain water is used in the bathrooms to flush the toilets. Pretty cool stuff.



I got the rice and beans, the famous grilled corn, and a side of sweet plantains. The rice and beans totally hit the spot, but were your basic yellow rice and black beans, without much else in the way of spices or flavor. The corn was great, covered in cotija cheese and grilled to crunchy perfection. The sweet plantains, which I LOVE, were delicious. They were just the right bit of sweet, and were a nice consistency, but there weren't enough of them, even at $4. I also got a Frozen Mojito which was ample and strong and the yard was packed with the It's-The-Weekend! crowd. The tables are sort of communal if you're not there with a large group, so go only if you're in the mood to talk to a stranger. It can be quite the pick-up scene there too, so be forewarned. Or tipped off if you're in the market.