El Bacura

CA3
Style of food: Cuban/Creole
Cost: Moderate
Type of place: Paladar (private)
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for: Huge portions will leave carnivores fully satisfied
Worst for: Can be baking hot on a summer day
San Juan entre Santa Martha y San Carlos, Reparto Celimar, Habana del Este
(+53)7763 - 0082
Open noon-10: 30pm
  • El Bacura is a great option coming back from a day out at the beach. This is a farmhouse-cum-restaurant and you are welcome to wonder around back where there is a weird and wonderful assortment of animals and where cows are milked at daybreak. More to the point, this is where Gladys (the owner) and her son Paulino can care for their beautiful thoroughbred horses. Indeed, the bistro’s walls are covered with saddles, spurs and bits and pieces from his pride and joy.

    The restaurant itself is based around a large courtyard and boasts a number of areas to sit both inside and out. The only real issue here comes in the summer when the whole place becomes a bit of an oven. At this time, it is reasonable to wish for a bit more outside covering.

    The food is focused on staple Creole dishes, which are done heartily and well. Think big portions at reasonable prices. This is not fine cuisine but some of the main dishes are certainly big enough to share and the meats are always good quality–roast pork piled up high, whole chickens and the like. Plentiful beans and rice. This is great value and I like it, but it could do with a little more work on the outside décor especially in the warm summer months.

    
  • Mango Habana

    Mango Habana  LH 3

    Mango Habana is a small low-key restaurant located just behind the Capitolio near to Parque Central. For the style of mom and pop places this is pretty decent with clear transparent prices outside, a …

    Decamerón

    Decamerón  LH 4-

    Located on the corner of Línea and Paseo (park by the gas station on Línea), from the outside this place looks pretty nondescript. This is an indoor place, no view, and no terrace. Non-smokers beware …

    1830 Restaurant

    1830 Restaurant  LH 2

    I have been to a few parties at 1830 where it would be fair to say that ‘old-world opulence meets Hollywood glamour in this eclectic-style house’. Unfortunately, on an ordinary night, this is simply n …

    La Tasquita

    La Tasquita  LH 2+

    This is a classic old-school Cuban paladar, which offers authentic charm in a Cuban kitsch Centro Habana way. Although some of the dishes are ridiculously overpriced (CUC 8-12), the owner is lovely, w …

    La Giraldilla

    La Giraldilla  LH 2

    Opinions vary at La Giraldilla. It is next to the Macumba nightclub, which is extremely popular on nights when good groups are playing. The entire complex is very upmarket featuring acres of white mar …

    La Divina Pastora

    La Divina Pastora  LH 2+

    La Divina Pastora has a wonderful setting behind huge 18th-century cannons, offering a great view back over the harbour into Old Havana. Unfortunately, that is about it. The food here struggles to rea …

    Hotel Telégrafo

    Hotel Telégrafo  LH 2+

    Initially located on Amistad Street and relocated in 1899 to its present site, the Telégrafo Hotel was rebuilt in 1911 and was considered then one of the most modern hotels in Havana. In 2001 it was r …

    Casa de la Amistad – Primavera

    Casa de la Amistad – Primavera  LH 2

    If you like interior design, then a table for dinner at this exquisite mansion built in the 1920’s by the wealthy Catalina Lasa is a must. The food is pretty standard fare but the house is to die for. …

    Adagio

    Adagio  LH 2+

    Adagio (new Bar-Restaurant Havana) Havana is a wonderful city full of little surprises. Lately there has been a whole bunch of new restaurants and bars opening up. Adagio is one of those places. I fou …

    Rancho Palco

    Rancho Palco  LH 2

    Apparently the place has had a make-over and may be worth checking out for the great shows they are putting on…watch this space Opposite La Finca, the attraction of Rancho Palco is really as a venue f …

    « 11 of 14 pages »