Havana Restaurant - Albuquerque
Sorry that this is going to have to be short. Havana Restaurant is at 5331 Menaul [(505) 830-2025], in the strip mall near Baillio's, and I went there with a friend for lunch last week.
The food was really delicious. I got the special of the day (two thick-cut pork chops, black beans, rice, fried plantains) and my friend got ropa vieja with white rice and french fries. The ropa vieja was quite good, but not the best I've had. The pork chops were astonishingly good - wow, these guys know pork. Ice tea was sweetened (blech) and the cafecito was very nice. A profoundly filling lunch for two of us was $26+tip (most other people were getting sandwiches, which ran about half the price of the big entrees we got.)
It was pretty clear that no one serving spoke much English, but their friendly manner and wonderful cooking made us quite comfortable. Service was not rushed, but not really slow, either. The room was clean and interestingly decorated (sort of like "grandma's living room," but several zebra skins on one wall didn't really call Cuba to mind), with Spanish music playing and a TV turned low enough that it wasn't at all distracting. (NB: I've tried to go before and found them not to be open despite signage saying that I was within their business hours.)
We'll definitely be back. Great place, if not fancy.
-
Erich
Jun 7, 2011 10:12 AM
Went back with my wife a month ago for lunch on a Saturday. I had the gi-wamba cuban sandwich (with shredded pork added) and my wife had the special (saffron chicken, IIRC) - we split an order of fried plantains. We were very happy about it - it was a very nice meal. The cuban sandwich was not the best I've ever had, but it was certainly the best I've had in ABQ! That was the only eating I did that day - plenty of food!
›1 Reply
