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Star dishes include exquisite fresh pasta; complex variations with eggplant; and concoctions with spinach, sweet potato, yucca, millet, rice and whole wheat bread; tasty desserts; and freshly squeezed natural juices.
Wine lovers, take note. Otramanera’s owner is a Spanish sommelier, who pays special attention to his wine selection. For Cuban standards, the restaurant has an excellent wine list, offering a wide variety of reds, whites and sparkling from all over the world.
5 Esquinas Trattoria is located on the corner of the peculiarly-named “Sword alley,” a charming cobblestone street in the historic center of Havana. Indeed this is one of the most exciting restaurants in Old Havana. Pizzas here are the real deal and made in wood-fired oven.
In a strikingly high-ceilinged 120-year-old Vedado mansion, this stylish second-floor paladar offers competently done international meat, poultry, pasta and seafood dishes that satisfy even if they don't always totally dazzle.
We just revisited this newish and slightly more spacious annex of Havana's coolest but enduring "in" bar, O'Reilly 304, just across the street. Their drinks are still some of the very best in a city.
Today, private restaurants or paladars in Cuba seem to be opening up everywhere in Havana. But you would hardly expect, in the crowded and bustling streets of Centro Habana, to find a Swedish restaurant.
This cool new tapas restaurant, opened in early January, is owned by Partagas Cigars' former manager for quality control, Támara Diaz and her husband Alexis Ortas.
Rightly named after its Spanish owner Pilar, this private restaurant or known as paladar here opened its doors three years ago, and is – without a doubt - one of the best Spanish restaurants in Havana.
You wouldn't expect President Obama to have dinner in a private restaurant on the evening of the first day of his official visit to Cuba - the first in nearly 90 years. But we think he made a good choice. President Obama chose Centro Habana's San Cristóbal - one of our favorite places to eat in the city.
The name of this private restaurant in Old Havana may evoke the delicious distillates produced on the island. Or maybe the sound of an old American car engine starting.
Located in Vedado, not far from the Melia Habana hotel, L'Atelier is a sweet spot of great food, atmosphere, and service that make it a stand-out among Havana's best restaurants.
Located on the lower floor of an restored traditional limestone building with a few tables scattered in the pedestrian street, the food here is mainly Cuban, with pork and fish dominating the menu, which actually changes daily depending on the fresh ingredients available.
Located on the second floor of one of the newly restored buildings that surround the Plaza Vieja in Old Havana, this loud, funky and eclectically decorated lounge-like restaurant commands one of the most envious views of the ancient Plaza Vieja from its terrace.
The hip Café Laurent is located on the top floor of an eclectic building in the heart of Vedado, just a few blocks away from the historic Hotel Nacional. This paladar is refurbished from an old apartment, but one can still have the cozy feeling of dining in a living room.
Al Carbón, a new restaurant that opened only a few months ago in Havana, is a new addition to Havana's fine dining scene. Created by the same owners of the immensely popular Iván y Justo, the restaurant strikes out in a different but equally successful direction, specializing in traditional Cuban dishes cooked over charcoal.
This is hands down the best fish restaurant in Havana. Far from the salinas and commotion of Old Havana, it is tucked away near the mouth of the Jaimanitas river in a fishermen’s village of the same name in western Havana.
This restaurant, whose name translates as "The Printer," is owned by Habaguanex, an enterprise of the Havnana City Historian's office. It is located on Calle Mercaderes in Old Havana, one door away from the famous Conde de Villanueva hotel, where you can also find one of Havana’s best cigar shops.
La Domínica, a lovely Italian restaurant facing Hemingway’s Ambos Mundos hotel in Old Havana, is one of the best Italian restaurants in Havana. The food is reasonably priced, and the live music performance really upped the experience.
Café de los Artistas, opened less than a year in Old Havana, is a purveyor of great food and feeling. It serves some great ropa vieja and the best tostones.
Microbreweries are catching on in Havana, and Cervecería Antiguo Almacen de la Madera y el Tabaco is at the forefront. It serves the best beer in Havana.
Ivan & Justo is a place where you can’t get in without a reservation. We chanced it twice, each time we were politely turned down by the doorman downstairs.
Bella Ciao, a lush Italian restaurant deep in the Miramar area delivers stellar classics that stay faithful to their Italian roots. With outdoor seating under a roof of green ivies and trees, there’s a casual atmosphere that plays nicely off the classic austerity of many of the dishes on the impressively packed menu.
El Palenque, a large Havana food court, a local institution, stands out as an unpretentious and authentic eating spot that that attracts a large number of Cuban families and foreigners.
This is one of the most upscale restaurants in Havana, located in Plaza de San Francisco in Habana Vieja (the very professional and jacketed waiters traded off-street salsa with classic live piano performance). The decor is striking and grandiose; you'll regret it if you dress down.
In a short span of two years since its opening in 2013, Mediterráneo has already amassed a loyal following among Havana foodies and visitors. The restaurant’s overall environment is agreeable: Mediterranean blue and white decor, spacious, airy, attractive and modern.
French-style bakery is still a new concept in Havana, and you’d be surprised by how some local bakeries can turn out jaw-dropping, hard-as-a-rock chocolate muffins. Bianchini is in a class of its own, a bakery-cum-café that first opened near Plaza de Sanfrancisco over ten years ago.
Café El Escorial is the closest thing Havana has to Starbucks, minus the takeout services. If you insist, bring along your own mug or even a Ziploc bag (like Cubans do) for a café con leche, the holy grail at this quaint café shop on Plaza Vieja, for only $1.2 CUC!