We’d spotted this place earlier on as we wandered the streets and initially thought Buena Vista Social Club were playing, although it turned out they were there on the following night. However, we were assured that there would be music all night and with a meal deal for around £10 including a cocktail, main course, sweet, and coffee it seemed like a deal that we couldn’t refuse. We hadn’t been at the table long before the group, a nine-piece band, started to play. To begin with, they were playing in the street, just near our window, but then they danced their way into the main restaurant giving renditions of good solid Cuban "happy music". The room lent itself to this kind of entertainment as the music and vocals echoed around the cavernous room, with its high ceilings and tiled floor.
A small plate of salad was placed in the centre of the table and for a time we pondered if this was to accompany the meat or to eat separately. After a moment or two we decided to eat now with vinegar and oil added to our taste, a very flavourful and colourful salad of green beans, cucumber, tomatoes, and a couple of different types of cabbage. To start with we just nibbled at it but soon we’d devoured it. I was much more peckish than I realised. The main course arrived, not best presented, as it’s basically meat piled high on a bed of rice, carrot, and cabbage, but it was surprisingly tasty and the meat was really succulent. The pork and beef escalopes were not over done and the chicken was spot-on. However, it just looked dank and unattractive; not that it stopped us finishing off the whole plateful.
A couple of dancers, professionals, started to perform in front of the band and after a dance or two, the performance broke as they brought round the hat. We’re wise to this by now, so throw in a bit of coinage and the entertainers depart, not necessarily happy but at least they’re out of our hair.
The pudding arrives, a fairly ordinary scoop of chocolate ice cream on a bed of uninspiring and indistinguishable fruit. We soon finish it off, the ice-cream is very rich, and as we sit back enjoying the ambience, a women pokes her hand through the open window and attempts to sell us a tube of peanuts. I think she tells me its good for the brain but I insist that I’ve already eaten too much and don’t want ‘brain food’ at this time of night. She departs, chattering some kind of Spanish obscenity as she goes.
A strong cup of coffee, a large measure of Cuban rum, and we’re ready for off but our waiter is in a world of his own and it proves very difficult to catch his attention for the bill. All in all, a pleasant night out!