There is a great Cuban restaurant I regret not having visited earlier. Since the day they opened, they kept me updated through their Facebook page. However, for some reason (probably the price) I have been delaying the visit... until this summer!
My friends and I went to The Cuban, the cocktail bar and restaurant located at the Harbourside, passed Millenium Square, in front of Pizza Express.
We arrived quite late as a result of a misunderstanding between my friends and I. We haven't done a reservation and the restaurant seemed to be very busy that Friday night. I went inside to talk to the maître to ask if it was possible to get a table available for 5 people in such a busy night. In spite of being full at that moment, he promised he would try to squeeze us if we agreed to wait for some minutes. We obviously agreed.
Around 9.30pm, we were offered a table with such bad luck that one of our friends was late. We had a cocktail at the bar while we waited for our friend. I wanted something fruity and fresh, so the barman suggested the Passion Fruit Collins (£6.95), which was absolutely what I wanted.
At 9.50, we finally were at the table ready to order. That's when I paid attention to the decoration. The large restaurant is beautifully set up with a Cuban theme. At the beginning, there was live music which switched to salsa music during the dinner. The music was getting louder and louder, so we understood that we were having a late dinner for English standards and it was already time for drinks and dances. Our waiter, Theo, came and told us we should order food before 10pm, which is the time they close the kitchen. We ordered some Nachos Rancheros (£5.95) to share. In addition, I ordered Patacon con Todo (£10.95) and the rest ordered Slow Roasted Pulled Pork (£8.95), Cuban Seafood Cassolete (£12.95) and Cheese and Vegetable Empanadas (£8.95). Minutes later, Theo came back and told us they were out of seafood and they didn't have empanadas anymore. So, some of my friends had to choose another main.
Mains arrived, but I got a pork dish instead of the patacon. Theo apologized and brought the correct main for me, really fast. Nachos arrived while we were already having our mains. For all the inconveniences caused, they gave us a free bottle of wine and a discount in the bill, which we appreciated very much.
The food was absolutely amazing! I enjoyed my dish very much and I really recommend it. It was a deep-fried flattened platacon (similar to the banana but not sweet) filled with chicken and topped with home-made guacamole, sour cream and tomato salsa. My friends also liked the roasted pork dish.
The entertainment started while we were having dinner. A dancer started with some belly dance and switched to salsa thereafter. The atmosphere changed rapidly, some customers joined the girl in the stage for some basic salsa moves and some minutes later, there were around 30 people dancing. I pretty much enjoyed the transition from the dinner to the party time. It was so much fun!
When we finished the dinner, we joined the stage and try to remember the salsa dance-moves learned in the salsa classes I used to go.
Overall, I really recommend The Cuban. Despite everything, they were able to manage to find a table for us when we didn't book a table and they were obviously busy, they also managed very well the issues when ordering and the food was amazing! Good job, guys!!
NOTE: Pictures taken from Bristol Culture and What's on Bristol websites. Thank you! :)
WEBSITE: http://www.thecubanbristol.co.uk/
