2011/12 – Havana : Paladares And Eating Out – Part One

5 Dec

Best Paladar, best menu and best service : La Moraleja & Ingrid

Dec. 2011

The best food I have had in Cuba was always the comida criolla, the home made pork, chicken, rice & beans, palanga and yucca that we used to eat at Robaina’s farm, which has a newly opened Paladar by the main road now called El Pinar.

So part of the Cuban experience has been eating mediocre or bad food along with miserable service except at very few Paladares (private restaurants), the few good state run restaurants or in Casas particulares.

This has changed in the last few years and particularly this year.

Since early this year the government has issued more licences to allow Paladares to be opened and this has seen an increase in such places.

Talented chefs, sommeliers, maitres and other staff are leaving the state run restaurants and hotels to work for themselves or associate with others and start a good paladar even though the conditions are still not favourable and many obstacles and high taxes by the government remain in place.

I found my oasis in Havana to be the newly opened La Moraleja very near the Habana Libre Hotel.

Great informal open air ambiente, warmhearted service, a creative chef Ernesto, the best Octopus salad ever, and to top it all a cigar offered at the end of every meal. Definitely my number one in Havana.

In Havana places like La Guarida, La Paila or La Cocina de Liliam, are very good but also hard to make reservations for, quite expensive and altogether a bit repetitive in their menus.

El Templete or Castropol are good alternative places, government restaurants but very well run and with superb chefs, the same goes for La Gijonesa or Prado 309 where I’d recommend the rooftop terrace for a leisurely lunch or fine dinner. Dos Hermanos or La Imprenta are OK for simple meals and a few beers.

El Aljibe and El Palenque are the best traditional Cuban eateries and always worth a visit, the best chicken at El Aljibe and the best pork at El Palenque.

Rivals to La Guarida would be the newly opened San Cristobal which is also located in the same neighbourhood as La Guarida and the brand new Le Chansonnier in Vedado.

I was invited to the opening of Le Chansonnier and enjoyed the old/new fusion design, the Bar where snacks could be also had, the high ceilings of the rooms and the creative menu.The prediction is that it will be successful with the In-crowd.

More down to earth would be places like Habana Chef, La Casa or La Fontana, the latter has been around for some time and is a stalwart of predictable good meals, good service, a great patio and a fun bar.

In the same range would be places like La Campana and El Carruaje, beautiful settings, open air atmosphere, solidly good cooking and good service. For seafood and a cool seaside setting in a 50’s architectural eyecatcher house I’d recommend Vistamar.

Around the corner from Vistamar and La Fontana, El Tocororo offers a good bar with live music and a good menu.

For good Spanish food and a beautiful setting I’d go back to La Casa Española next to El Aljibe/Dos Gardenias and definitely to El Templete, still one of my favourites in Havana.

Further out from the city, the Club Habana offers decent food by the beach – and excellent cigars at the Casa Mons and Santi’s Paladar ( known to the local expat crowd and hard to find) in Jaimanitas the freshest seafood.

Only Paladar disappointment so far has been Doctor Café – been there twice and the service was poor to rude, so I am happy to have a wider selection now and disregard bad places.

Nino