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| - Food & Drinks: 4 stars
Service: negative 5 stars
We've been to Havana Cafe twice, however, the service that we received on our most recent visit is enough to make us rethink attempting to dine there again. On our first visit, we sat at the bar and had some mojitos and tapas. The mojitos were some of the better ones that I've found in the Valley and all three of the tapas items had great flavor and as the bartender explained, were homemade with fresh ingredients.
We were excited to come back and try out some of the entrees for dinner and returned about a week later. There were only three other tables that were occupied, yet we were seated along the front "window" which is a sun-warped dingy looking sheet of some sort of plastic rather than glass. Needless to say, this did not add any ambiance to our meal. I ordered a cup of black bean soup and the Cho Cho, which is described on the menu as "Fresh Chayote squash stuffed with lentils, corn, carrots and onions. Topped with a Jamaican Curry cream sauce. Served with white rice and a spicy green tomato chutney." My husband ordered a cup of the zucchini soup that was a daily special and the Berenjena con Garbanzo described as "Grilled purple eggplant stuffed with chickpeas, fresh tomatoes, onions, Manchego and Parmesan cheeses and thyme. Served with fresh asparagus, on a bed of white rice and topped with a creamy sherry tomato sauce." We waited at least 15 minutes for the two cups of soup to make their way out. My black bean soup was excellent and I would certainly order it again. My husband's zucchini soup was also very flavorful. Before we were even done with our soups, a waiter brought out our entrees and tried to remove our soups while we were still eating them. We told him that we'd like to finish the soups first so he just set our entrees alongside each of us and walked away, leaving our empty drink glasses on the table without asking if we'd like another round of drinks.
When I finished my soup and moved my entree in front of me, I could tell that we should have stuck to the tapas that we'd had last time. It actually looked like someone had thrown up in my plate. The squash certainly weren't stuffed, but rather, there were a couple pieces of squash found beneath a pile of carrots, red peppers, and onions with a yellow, gelatinous sauce poured over the top on a huge pile of white rice. The veggies themselves would have been edible if not for the strange sauce that had been applied. It had only the slightest hint of a curry flavoring and had a texture that seemed to indicate that it had been thickened with cornstarch. I tried the rather flavorless chutney served on the side only to discover the same cornstarchy texture. Now, I certainly would not knock a restaurant for making an authentic dish that I just don't happen to care for, so if this is how this dish was supposed to turn out, then those who prefer this presentation would probably enjoy it, but I really couldn't manage to eat more than a few bites before deciding to call it a loss and order something else. My husband's entree, while better than mine, was also less than exciting and tasted to me like a very bland version of eggplant parmigiana. He liked his well enough to continue eating (this may have had something to do with the fact that we were both starving when we came in).
Now here is where the service really goes downhill. For the next 30 minutes, no one came by to find out how the food was or ask if we'd like drinks. In fact, we didn't even see any of the three wait staff even enter the dining room. Finally, when my husband finished his meal, the waiter came over and asked if I'd like my entree boxed up, to which I replied "no, but I'd like to see a menu to order something else." He promptly brought over a dessert menu so I then had to explain that the reason my entree was still in its entirety on my plate is because I didn't care for it and would like to order something to eat for dinner. He brought back a menu, dropped it on the table and waited while I decided to order the Tortilla Espanola. He then quickly darted away before we even had a chance to order drinks. Having sat there for at least 40 minutes with empty glasses, I finally got up from the table, walked into the bar, and placed the empty glasses on the bar. The two waitresses who were sitting at a table in the bar area chatting apologized for the wait and said that they'd have drinks right out. About ten minutes later our drinks appeared along with my Tortilla Espanola which was as delicious as when I'd had it during our prior visit. The waiter did take my entree off of our bill, but in my opinion, the poor service that we got in a nearly empty restaurant is inexcusable. It really is a shame that this place isn't able to pull itself together to provide an excellent dining experience given that there are in fact many palatable selections on the menu.
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