Havana November 2018 – Hole In The Wall – El Laurel – Seafood And Fauxhibas

This place is out in Jaimanitas – I had heard about it but so far preferred the usually excellent seafood dishes at both nearby Santy’s and Marea.

It’s been opened for many years now and I always wanted to try it.

This time it was by pure chance that we ended up having lunch there as Marea was choc-a-block crowded with two busloads of tourists. Not my kind of atmosphere – even though the lunch we had there a few days earlier was excellent, but I prefer quieter, more local places.

We walked over to El Laurel and I was nicely impressed by the setting next to the sea and overlooking the Hemingway Marina.

Pretty place and a nice organic herb garden in the pathway leading to the tables as well.

It was nicely crowded and many tables were Cuban families having lunch.

The atmosphere is nice, service was good and the food, while not stellar, was tasty and fresh.

Having noticed we were smoking cigars, one of the managers offered us two “IKEA-paste-the-seals-yourself” fake as hell Cohiba boxes for “only” 60 CUC each …. we had a good laugh and politely declined the offer.

It was a good experience and a good option to eat open-air in this far-away area west of Club Habana – but bring your own cigars …. 🙂

Nino