Havana 1957

Havana 1957 was enthusiastically recommended by the concierge at our hotel when I asked for places that served Cuban food.  He said this place was way better than the ones recommended in our guidebook, so of course we had to go try it.

The guidebooks made it a point to emphasize that Miami is known for its fresh juices, so it was surprising that I hardly saw any during our trip.  I asked at several restaurants and the only fresh juice they had was orange. What happened to guava, pineapple, or other choices?  Here I decided to just try their canned pineapple juice (boohoo) and Hao tried a Cuban soda.



Harvey loved the plantain chip appetizers and had to wrangle with Hao to see who could eat more.  Okay, I'm sure Hao gave more to Harvey, but it was fun watching them both eat.

Especialidad de la Casa - A family traditional roasted chicken in our delicious Cuban gravy, served with white rice, black beans, salad, and sweet plantain.  They had me at sweet plantain. This dish was awesome!  I wasn't planning to finish it, but I couldn't help just eating spoonful after spoonful -- it was that good!  the chicken was juicy and flavorful, and the gravy soaked rice was drool-worthy.

Before we even looked at the menu, Hao said all he wanted was pork.  So of course we had to order the Lechon Asado, and no it's not the same as Filipino lechon asado.  Their version is slow roasted pork leg with Cuban mojo, served with more rice and yuca.  I was too satisfied with my own dish to even bother with his!

And lastly, dessert was tres leches cake.  Ever since I had really delicious tres leches in Puerto Rico, I've been hoping to find one as good anywhere, and sadly, this was not it.  It was extremely sweet and I only managed two spoonfuls before I gave up.

Despite the disappointing dessert, this was one of the best meals of the entire trip.  The tagliolini from Scarpetta is still the best dish, but this was overall more satisfying.

Havana 1957
405 Española Way
Miami Beach, FL 33139
305.503.3828