International restaurants in Cuba
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Paladar La Guarida
Located on the top floor of a spectacularly dilapidated Havana tenement, La Guarida’s lofty reputation rests on its movie-location setting ( Fresa y Chocolate was filmed in this building) and a clutch of swashbuckling newspaper reviews (including the New York Times and the Guardian ). The food, as might be expected, is up there with Havana’s best, shoehorning its captivating blend of Nueva Cocina Cubana into dishes such as sea bass in a coconut reduction, and chicken with honey and lemon sauce. Reservations required.
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Paladar La Fontana
Havana discovers the barbecue or, more to the point, the full-on charcoal grill. Huge portions of meat and fish are served up in this amiable villa-cum-paladar, so go easy on the starters which include crab mixed with eggplant, quail eggs and fried chickpeas. La Fontana specializes in just about everything you’ll never see elsewhere in Cuba, from lasagna to huge steaks. Big-shot reviews from the Cigar Aficionado and the Chicago Tribune testify the burgeoning legend.
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Restaurante Las Orishas
This Santería-themed place in Guanabacoa has a very pleasant garden bar in a courtyard with colorful Afro-Cuban sculptures. The menu is reasonable and varied, with everything from a CUC$1 microwaved cheese pizza to a CUC$20-plus lobster. There’s good rumba music here at weekends.
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Las Ruinas
One of Havana’s most celebrated restaurants – at least in an architectural sense – is situated on the southeast side of Parque Lenin. Melding off-beat modern architecture – including some eye-catching stained glass by Cuban artist René Portocarrero – onto the ruins of an old sugar mill, this place has an arty and elegant atmosphere, though the food (which is grossly overpriced) doesn’t quite live up to the lavish setting. The menu includes lobster plus a selection of Cuban and Italian dishes and you’ll be lucky to get much change out of CUC$30. Overrated.
reviewed
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Los Portales
The primary – nay only – reason to come to this ground-floor restaurant in the four-star Hotel Plaza is for the pizza, which – rather surprisingly – is among the best and cheapest in Habana. Don’t be put off by the restaurant’s fancy decor (the tables and chairs look as if they’ve been decked out for a wedding) – the prices here are very reasonable. A decent pizza with one or two extra toppings shouldn’t cost you more than CUC$4. The flan (baked custard with caramel glaze) makes for a nice dessert.
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La Rampa Cafetería
One of Vedado’s most welcome culinary oases is this authentic American-style diner tacked onto the side of the Hotel Habana Libre. Superfast service and surgical cleanliness are second nature here and the no-nonsense kitchen serves up excellent milk shakes (CUC$4), filling – and healthy – salads (CUC$6), a mean club sandwich (CUC$6) and to-die-for chocolate brownies in hot fudge sauce (CUC$3). If you just can’t handle another mouthful of rice, beans and deep-fried chicken, this is your get-out-of-jail card.
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Café TV
Hidden in the bowels of the Focsa building, the goggle box–themed Café TV is a funky dinner/performance venue lauded by those in the know for its cheap food and hilarious comedy nights. If you’re willing to brave the frigid air-con and rather foreboding underground entry tunnel, head here for fresh burgers (CUC$2), healthy salad (CUC$1.50), pasta (CUC$4) and Gordon Bleu (chicken stuffed with ham and cheese; CUC$5). Televisión Cubana is around the corner, hence the name and theme.
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La Casa de Quinta Y 16
La Casa de Quinta y 16 is an upscale ranch-style restaurant tacked onto La Casa del Habano cigar shop. Housed in a funky modernist building with a pleasant wood interior, the restaurant presents its food as daily specials, including prawns (CUC$9), grilled fish (CUC$17), paella (CUC$18) and fettuccini alfredo (CUC$12). All mains are served with a glass of wine. Owners of local casas particulares (private houses that let out rooms to foreigners) always rave about this place.
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Paladar La Cocina de Lilliam
Slick service, secluded ambience and freshly cooked food to die for, La Cocina de Lilliam has all the ingredients of a prize-winning restaurant par excellence. Set in an illustrious villa in Miramar and surrounded by a garden of trickling fountains and lush tropical plants, diners can tuck into such Cuban rarities as chicken mousse and tuna bruschetta in an atmosphere more European than Caribbean. Not a cheese and ham sandwich in sight!
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Restaurante Esquina Cuba
Notable for the 1950s-era soft-top that sits regally in the middle of the dining room, this place was one-time favorite of Buena Vista Social Club luminary, Compay Segundo. The man obviously had taste. With lashings of beans, rice, plantain chips and chicken, the food here has the aura of Havana’s famous El Aljibe. Great Cuban ephemera line the walls, including black-and-white photos of Varadero back in its Mafia hangout heyday.
reviewed
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El Mercurio
An elegant indoor-outdoor cafe-restaurant with cappuccino machines, intimate booths and waiters in black ties. You can get decent main dishes here such as lobster and steak tartar, but it’s also a great place for lunch or a snack. The formidable ‘Cuban sandwich’ with ham, cheese and pork (CUC$4.50) should keep you going until dinnertime.
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K
Restaurante La Vega
They’ve diminished the seating at this place to a few tables on a wraparound porch, but the paella’s still good, along with the tempting flan al ron (crème caramel with rum; CUC$3) and strong coffee. Connected to the Casa del Habano, there’s an upstairs cigar lounge for after-dinner smokes (replete with beach views).
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Mi Casita
Perched over a lovely strip of beach, this cozy restaurant looks and feels more like a paladar than a government-run enterprise. Encased in a charming glass-fronted dining room you can enjoy lobster, spicy chicken and succulent fish – all excellent, if a little overzealous with the garlic.
reviewed
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La Casa de Antigüedades
On the edge of the park, parque josone, is La Casa de Antigüedades, an old mansion crammed with antiques where beef, fish and shellfish dishes are served beneath chandeliers.
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Lai-Lai
An old stalwart set in a two-story mansion on the beach, Lai Lai has traditional Chinese set menus with several courses. If you’ve been craving some wonton soup, crave no more.
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Pan.com
Not an internet cafe but a haven of Havana comfort food with hearty sandwiches, fantastic burgers and ice-cream milkshakes to die for. Join the diplomats under the airy front canopy.
reviewed
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Restaurante Guamairé
For something different, this restaurant dishes up pineapple and crocodile kebabs reared at the Boca de Guamá crocodile farm. Perfectly legal in case you were wondering.
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Restaurante El Ranchón
A pleasant thatched dining hall overlooking the beach opposite Hotel Sunbeach. It's a simple, reasonable menu done well: shrimp with garlic, pork chops and fish fillets.
reviewed
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FM–17
With more local vibe than most Varadero visitors ever see, this simple place has sandwiches and burgers for CUC$1 to CUC$2, plus a free cabaret show nightly at 9pm.
reviewed
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Restaurante El Criollo
This is one of the more enjoyable state-run places serving what its name suggests, typical comida criolla. Give it a whirl for a lazy lunch.
reviewed
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