Cuba

…Cuban Cuisine

Do you like rice, black beans, cabbage, tomatoes, ham, cheese, pizza, and ice cream? If so, you’ll be in heaven in Cuba. 

99.99% of main meals we had in Cuba all had rice and black beans, a salad of cabbage and tomatoes, and some form of meat – usually fish or chicken.

Most lunches consisted of ham and cheese sandwiches, or pizza. And all dessert was ice-cream. Cubans really dig ice-cream, and it is one item here that is extremely inexpensive. For example, at the Copellia in Havana (the Copellia is a huge ice-cream restaurant), we paid 5 Cuban Pesos (not to be confused with CUC), about 4 Australian cents for a serving of ice-cream with maple syrup on top. The Copellia does one type of ice-cream each day, and literally hundreds of people line up halfway down the street to get it.

The other very cheap food option is “peso pizza”. Bought at street stalls, its name comes from the fact that it is sold in Cuban Pesos (not CUC), and only costs about 10 Pesos a slice (about 8 Australian cents). You’re given a wedge of cardboard to put it on, and comes in a variety of different flavours – although usually only ham and cheese is available. We’re convinced that ham and cheese is the only flavour that is actually available.

The food that you get cooked in your Casa is usually fantastic, and it is relatively cheap. Most meals cost about 10 CUC (AUD$10), and consisted of the above options, however on a number of occasions we were given a lobster each, which went down an absolute treat.

After Casa Particulares, the next private enterprise opportunity that the Government allowed was Paladares. These are simply regular restaurants, except they are in people’s houses, with food cooked in the family kitchen, and eaten at the family dinner table. We found these to be a bit hit and miss; the food was always excellent, but the prices ranged from good value, to very expensive. All Paladares also serve beer, wine, and homemade cocktails (rum-based ones being the most common).

The last option for eating is state run restaurants. The food you get here is the same you get in your Casa or at a Paladare (lots of rice, cabbage and black beans!), except the service is guaranteed to be terrible, and the prices are guaranteed to be expensive. With the existence of Casas and Paladares, we don’t know why these restaurants even exist. We ate at these only a few times, and every time after getting shown to your table, we had to wait literally 15-20 minutes for a menu (even after asking), and when you went to order one of the 200 meals that were listed (Ramsay wouldn’t be too happy!!) you were told that what you wanted wasn’t available. After asking for your second choice, that too often wasn’t available either. You very quickly learn to just ask what is available and find that it’s rice, black beans, and either pork or fish. After you order, you generally wait about 45 minutes for your meal, and then it comes out one bit at a time. Finally, when you’re done, you ask for the bill, and wait another half an hour while for it while your dirty dishes are sitting in front of you with about 1,000,000 million flies hovering around. All in all, Cuban restaurants are certainly an experience, however there are far better options available.