If your heading to Cuba with dreams of eating at four star Michelin restaurants sorry to burst your bubble but that’s not happening. Don’t get me wrong I was able to find some really good spots during my trip. It’s just not a place you where you go for fine dining. I won’t to get into politics and the island’s food security issues THIS time I’ll save that for a later date. Instead let’s enjoy the great food I did find. Before I headed to Cuba I read through just about every “what to eat in Havana” list the internet has to offer.
When I got there I learned I was way more interested in taking photos of the city then I was in eating so ended up skipping most of the list. But the few I did check had some pretty good food. Most of time I didn’t think about eating until i had too many rum and coconuts or mojitos. Holy s**t I’ve never had so many mojitos in my life. I went into a lot a bar in search of cold water and kept getting talked into mojitos but I digress.
The stand out restaurants were Rio Mar(seafood) and Chef Ivan Justo”s Al Carbon. My advise to anyone traveling to Havana is to go to the recommended restaurants but still keep its simple as possible. Don’t go ordering dishes that would be complicated to pull off in the states an expect it to be top notch in Havana. The best meals I had the entire trip were on the beach. At Santa Maria Beach there’s a lady walking around with a walkie talkie that takes your and bring it right to your beach chair. To be honest I’m not even sure which restaurant the food came from but it was amazing. There’s all kinds of seafood to choose from, whole fried snapper, broiled lobster and shrimp etc. They also had bbq pork and chicken but I stuck to the seafood. To top it off there are guys that cut open fresh coconuts and fill them with rum. I drank so many after awhile I stopped getting new coconuts and just kept refilling the rum. My plans on cooking at least one breakfast while I was there didn’t work out either being I didn’t spend and time in my AirB&B, but I did get a chance visit a few of the local outdoor markets.
Havana is a very beautiful place. The people a extremely nice once you get out there airport(long story). I’d suggest it to anyone interested in going. Next time I’m there i’ll be better prepared and I’m definitely staying longer so I can really get a taste of what Cuba has to offer.