My friend Mauro recommended Havana Cuban Cuisine as a good place to go for drinks with my girlfriends. He'd been there for a work function and had really enjoyed the mojitos - they have a wide variety. I figured it was worth a try.
We went there last Saturday night, as an early girls-only St. Valentine's day celebration, and were very impressed both by the food and the drinks. It's moderately priced and I would definitely go back.
The restaurant itself is not very impressive. The narrow rectangle dining room has white walls decorated by immense photographs of Cuba life scenes. The photographs are very pretty, but it was hard to see more than one from our table. In all, I thought the place lacked ambiance.
The menu is somewhat limited and features small plates and entrees. We were there mostly for drinks, so we only explored the tapas menu. We loved almost everything we got.
We started with an arugula salad, nicely dressed with in a walnut vinaigrette and topped with shaved Manchego cheese and some type of roasted seed. We got a large portion, which was good for 3 people. We all really enjoyed it - the contrast between the bitter leafs and the salty cheese was very nice.
I ordered the Mixed Grill, which consisted in two smallish skewers each with a chunk of marinated skirt steak, chorizo and pork tenderloin. It came with a chili mango sauce and sofrito rice. The steak and chorizo were both very nice, with strong flavors. The pork tenderloin was less so, but that's pork for you. The rice was stupendous, specially eaten together with the sauce. I'd definitely order it again.
Aamani ordered the scallops, served with a ginger citrus sauce. We all enjoyed them, though I wouldn't say they were particularly special.
Paz had the grilled shrimp which came with a cilantro-lime sauce. The portion was quite generous and the sauce was wonderful, even I enjoyed it. I think the shrimp came with rice.
Finally, we all shared a large plate of garlic fries, served with a sweet guava chipotle sauce and a chimichurri aioli. The fries were thin, crisp and had just the right amount of garlic. The sauces were also delicious, neither was spicy but they complimented the fries very well. Indeed, the fries were so good that I couldn't help eating them with bread.
The bread, by the way, was also very good. It was fresh and reminded me of the bread back home.
As to the mojitos, we all enjoyed them. I had the pineapple one and was happy that it wasn't too sweet or too sour - it didn't taste much of pineapple, but it was good.
The service was efficient and friendly, the waitress warned me about an unpopular strawberry mojito, glasses were refilled frequently and plates removed quickly.
In all, I had a wonderful experience which I hope to repeat some time.
Update I just realized that you can get discounted gift certificates for Havana at restaurant.com. As usual, make sure to google "restaurant.com coupons" to see if you can get a discount. Sometimes you can get a $25 off GC for as little as $2.
Havana Cuban Cuisine
1518 Park Street
Alameda CA
510.521.0130
http://www.havanarestaurant.net/