Cuba’s cultural mix has produced some
superb national dishes, and was for many years like a dormant giant, hungry to
wake up again.
After many years, finally the Cuban
government has allowed small private entrepreneurs to move forward with their
businesses, and the dining scene is recovering its old glory. Small private
restaurants, called “Paladar” by the Cuban verbal ingenuity, are flourishing
all over the country. Havana, the always
populous capital, takes a huge amount of the steak in this opportunity, but
other cities across the Island also have started to manage their own way into
this prosperity and make good fair competition to state-run restaurants, mostly
needed of this big push for variety and quality in service.
Last year, trying to scape from the excited
vibe of Havana, I traveled south to Cienfuegos, the city in Cuba that has well
gained its motto of “La Perla del Sur”, and makes a feast to your senses just
by letting you loose in its French architecture and its more quiet, but still
beautiful Malecón.
I'm lucky enough to have friends who live
there, and they introduced me to El Tranvia, a paladar that had been opened
just a few weeks ago and was starting to make some noise in the noche
cienfueguera. Eager to try something new and trusting in my friends' taste, we
went there one evening… and that what is!!
The first thing that got my attention was
the location, off the busy Boulevard, and second the name “El Tranvia” (the
streetcar)… but all came together when I realized that this quaint restaurant
is located in a private house on the same street in Cienfuegos where the now
gone route 103 used to travel. The train rails are still in the street as a
remainder that Cuba was a flourishing country once upon a time.
El Tranvia is a theme restaurant situated
in calle Arguelles just a few blocks from Paseo El Prado, with waiters dressed
in old train conductor uniforms that will make every effort to please even the
most demanding guest, and its “conductor” is a Cuban-American who went back to
his home city to open the paladar.
After we got seated, I couldn’t stop asking
our waiter Bruno about the history of the tranvias in Cienfuegos and he caught
my attention with a lot of info about it, in a well-spoken English… until I
told him that I was Cuban too!!
After a nice chat and a couple of glasses
of wine, yes! good wine in Cuba, I choosed a plate of fresh fish with coconut
sauce that made a party in my mouth, seriously. The food is just delicious,
mouth-watering choices of lobster, seafood, chicken, lamb, traditional Cuban
dishes like Ropa Vieja or others created by the house chef, even vegetarian
options. Letting myself loose into that
atmosphere, I couldn’t resist crowning my dinner with my favourite Cuban
dessert, a flan that tasted like heaven.
While we were having an amazing dinner, a
band of house musicians played typical Cuban songs and we even danced to the
rhythm of EL Cuarto de Tula.
But the best surprise was yet to come, when
they announced us that on the second floor was a terrace that works as a bar, a
well stocked bar resembling an old train car with large carta of internationals
and Cuban cocktails. We had to have that experience… so will you!
Getting from the dining floor to the
bar/terrace upstairs, you’ll have to pass thru an open patio that works as this
paladar's kitchen, an opportunity to first see how the fresh food is handled
and prepared, no tricks in here.
Live music, great fresh food, reasonable
prices, vintage ambience, an open-air bar, the best piñas coladas ever tasted
(made with real pineapples) and after having two El Tranvia, the house drink, I
was feeling confident that finally Cuba is getting back on the food track, this
time on board of El Tranvia… chuchuaaaaaaa
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