Cuba - Lonely Planet [99]
Pan.com (cnr Calles 17 & 10; 10am-2am) Missing home, decent burgers, club sandwiches, ice-cream milkshakes and quick no-nonsense service? Rejuvenate yourself with your cholesterol here at Havana’s best fast-food joint. There’s an even better branch in Miramar (Click here).
El Conejito ( 832-4671; Calle M No 206; noon-midnight) A red-bricked Tudor-style mansion with lederhosen-clad waiters that serves rabbit (CUC$8 and up); now that’s classic! If the conejo (rabbit) doesn’t grab you, try the chicken, beef, fish or lobster. The rather surreal ambience is lightened somewhat by a resident pianist serenading romantically in the background.
Complejo Turístico 1830 ( 838-3090; Malecón No 1252; noon-10pm) One of Havana’s most elegant restaurants is heavily touted but gets mixed reviews. Try the chicken in lemon and honey sauce and stick around after 10pm when the kitchen closes and there’s live music and salsa dancing in the garden behind the restaurant.
La Torre ( 838-3088; Edificio Focsa, cnr Calles 17 & M) One of Havana’s tallest and most talked-about restaurants is perched high above downtown Vedado atop the skyline-hogging Focsa building. A colossus of both modernist architecture and French/Cuban haute cuisine, this lofty fine-dining extravaganza combines sweeping city views with a progressive French-inspired menu that serves everything from artichokes to foie gras to tart almandine. The prices at CUC$30 a pop (and the rest!) are as distinctly non-Cuban as the ingredients, but with this level of service, it’s probably worth it.
Biki (cnr Infanta & San Lázaro; noon-10pm, closed Mon; ) This place near the university, on the border between Centro Habana and Vedado, is a peso vegetarian buffet with a few meat selections thrown in. It’s laid out cafetería-style; grab a tray and pick from several fresh juices and salads, veggie paella, fried rice, stuffed peppers and desserts. It all costs peanuts.
Restaurante Vegetariano Carmelo (Calzada btwn Calles D & E; noon-midnight, closed Mon; ) This place has the same menu as Biki, but a much nicer locale opposite the Teatro Amadeo Roldán, with patio dining and a full bar.
Also recommended:
Cafetería Sofía ( 832-0740; Calle 23 No 202; 24hr) Late-night hair-of-the-dog seekers meet annoyingly chirpy early risers at this 24-hour institution on La Rampa.
La Casona & 17 ( 838-3136; Calle 17 btwn Calles M & N; 11am-10pm) Eclectic Vedado residence turned restaurant. Eat in the elegant dining room or outside at the barbecue grill.
Restaurante Wakamba ( 878-4526; Calle O btwn Calles 23 & 25; 24hr) An indoor restaurant with a 24-hour outside counter helps stifle those 3am hunger pangs.
Spanish Clubs
Havana’s Spanish clubs offer some of the city’s tastiest and most affordable food.
Los Nardos (Map; 863-2985; Paseo de Martí No 563, Centro Habana; noon-midnight) Directly opposite the Capitolio but easy to miss, Los Nardos is one of a handful of semi-private Havana restaurants operated by the Spanish Asturianas society. Touted in some quarters as one of the best eateries in the city, this unprepossessing place is decked out in mahogany and leather and serves up such astoundingly delicious dishes as lobster in a Catalan sauce, garlic prawns with sautéed vegetables and an authentic Spanish paella. Portions are huge and the prices, which start at around CUC$4 for chicken and pork dishes, are unbelievably cheap.
Los Gijones (Map; Paseo de Martí No 309, Centro Habana; noon-midnight) Melancholy Mozart serenades you here, causing you to weep helplessly into your ropa vieja (CUC$5). Dry your eyes and you’ll find that you’re in another Spanish mutual-aid society, this time the Centro Asturianas, whose dark mahogany dining room is frequented by a charming resident violinist.
Rancho Coquito (Map; 863-2985; Malecón 107 btwn Genios & Crespo, Centro Habana; 6pm-midnight) At last, a decent restaurant on the Malecón. Run by the local Spanish Asturianas society, this is an inconspicuous food joint with a balcony that overlooks