The amazing city of London, which we’re lucky enough to live in, is known for its celebration of cultures and Cubana celebrates culture like no other.
Just a stone’s throw from Waterloo station, Cubana is pretty tricky to miss when you pass it on the street due to its wall murals, brightly coloured outdoor seating area, authentic Cuban music blasting from its speakers and the traditional food stand out front (which you can purchase at insanely low prices). As soon as you head inside, you feel like you’ve been transported from London to Cuba, with Mother Mary statues and bold bright colours covering every single surface.
The highlight of Cubana, aside from its décor, has to be the food. Cubana does everything from main stand out dishes through to sharing tapas and individual bites and sweet, delectate desserts. You could definitely manage a few sides to go with your main and given the flavours are so good here, I’d definitely recommend it. The chorizo croquettes, lime covered chicken wings and yukka chips (a bizarre texture to grasp if you’re unfamiliar but incredibly tasty!) and the Pollo Criollo (free-range chicken, seared and casseroled in fresh orange, onions, garlic and sherry) was sweet and delicious. Definitely order yourself a side of their slaw too. It’s creamy, well-seasoned and goes with everything.
We ordered a few of our bits as starters and were getting a little nervous when we were waiting a while but it turns out everything was brought over as art of the main so definitely be really clear if you want your food staggered. In all honesty though, we really didn’t mind because it meant more of a feast to pick at!
The drinks menu is really reasonably priced and they do a two for one happy hour which even holds on a Saturday (quite difficult to find in the City!) which is from 4pm – 7pm and offers two for one on certain cocktail glasses and also jugs. A great bargain which we found drew the crowds in as soon as 4pm struck. If you fancy embracing the Cuban culture I’d recommend the strawberry and mango colada which genuinely just tastes like a smoothie (so drink responsibly!) but you also can’t go wrong with the jug of mojito to share. Absolutely packed with mint (and rum!) this is insanely refreshing and quite easily one of the best mojitos in town.
The venue is really open with high ceilings and is staggered across two floors which are split into three rooms. If you can, we suggest trying to get one of the podium tables. They’re both raised up and are really secluded so you have your own, sectioned off taste of Cubana (you’ll need to book these though because they only have two in the venue).
Don’t just consider Cabana as a daytime eatery though. We’re told the weekend evenings get LIVELY with live music and salsa dancers. Should you be heading down there soon, expect to see us back there!
You can book Cubana here: https://www.cubana.co.uk/
We were guests at Cubana restaurant and asked the owner to describe what’s good about the venue in his own words. He said: Cubana is London’s freshest, juiciest bar-restaurant, where you can enjoy authentic Cuban and Latin-American dishes, freshly-prepared with free-range produce, the very best Mojitos and fresh tropical cocktails and late night live Salsa – all at reasonable prices