Havana Restaurant & Bar

I have been to Havana several times and always enjoyed the experience, unfortunately this wasn't the case last saturday night when 4 of us dined there.

The service was really bad, starting first with the waitress bringing me a drink full of ice when I specifically insisted not to have ice and remembered her repeating it after me: she should have used the good old pen and paper and take notes maybe!

Then it carried on, when I asked for a jug of water to our waiter upstairs, he brought us a glass of water each, my friend didn't really need water, but I did more than anyone need a full jug as I am 7 months pregnant and can't drink, surely he could see! It’s annoying for me to keep asking for water and for the waiter to keep refilling: maybe it's the policy not to give any jug, this way other customers don't spot it on the table and don't get the same idea, saving £8 a bottle!...business is business after all!

When I actually asked for a second glass of water, the waiter told me:"with ice and lemon Madam?", I thought, how thoughtful, but never got it and had to ask again after 20 minutes waiting for it!...the same waiter said:"oh, it's on the counter but HE didn't bring it"...who was "HE", I don't know and really didn't care as the person I asked for it was YOU, so don't blame a colleague and just apologise.

After waiting 45 minutes after ordering for our starters, starving we received some bread, and then the waiter finally brought the starters an hour after ordering to our table, no apology still, but a:"it did take time, but you actually ordered the 4 starters that needed to be cooked when they are ordered", sorry???...1 foie gras, 2 soups and a risotto: the 3 first orders can be easily made in advance, and should be (how do you make your own foie gras on order?...well done if you can as it is impossible, I know it as my dad does make his own and it takes him long hours of preparation) the only one which needed to be made was the risotto, but this shouldn't take 60 minutes and if it did, customers should be advised of the waiting time on the menu, or by the waiter...we were not!

My "bouillabaisse soup" tasted like a bag of salt and nothing like bouillabaisse, which is a speciality from Marseille, south of France; being French myself I thought that'll be great to be able to have it in Brighton and Havana should be the best place as food is so good...big mistake, I should have sticked to the leek and potato soup, the one my friend ordered, which apparently was delicious (you can't really mess up such a soup, I do it at home and don't see the point to order dish I can make when I dine out), also this particular soup is traditionally served with croutons and rouille, an aioli based paste: I just had few bits of hard baguette, not even grilled or flavoured with garlic to call it "croutons": big, big disappointment and they charged £9!...oh, maybe the scallop at the bottom explained the price?...you'll never find scallops in bouillabaisse, and being pregnant I can't eat seafood so had to give it away to my partner.

To resume, this soup should have been called: "fishy, salty soup, with baguette"!...it's more like it, but I do understand that wouldn't sell!

My partner's foie gras was the worst he never had and he usually goes for this kind of delicacy as he loves it and becomes therefore a bit of a connoisseur.

2 out of 4 enjoyed their starters: ouch, bad start!

My main was nice but definitely overcharged (£24 for duck and noodles) it's only when looking at the bill that I realized my mistake: my fault after all.

My friends liked their main, but weren’t really amazed tastewise and definitely not about the portion sizes for the gents, filling up on side orders of mash and vegetables.

One of my friend who is an absolute puds lover was excited when we got the desserts menu, but after a quick look concluded that he won’t order any this time as they were the same as ever and found it very disappointingly boring to reorder something he had already tasted before, pointing it to our waiter, who didn’t take any responsibility(again!), telling him to complain to the maitre D downstairs as there was nothing he could do about it: why doesn’t he refer it to the maitre D himself or the chef?...isn’t it his job?

He ordered cheese instead and my partner and I decided to go for the option of “selection of ice-cream and sorbets”; when I asked what was the selection of sorbets, the waiter didn’t know but as he didn’t want to ask the chef, suggested that he could ask for 3 different sorbets to be put together: I agreed with this option, a bit tired after all and my partner asked for 1 vanilla and 2 sorbets scoops.

Desserts coming, I started to taste the first scoop, vanilla, the second scoop, vanilla, and the third, oh surprise, vanilla again!!!...and again, having to call the waiter, who, again didn’t apologise but said that I might have my partner’s ice-cream: how can it be when he ordered 1 vanilla scoop and 2 sorbets???...shall we blame again the fact that none of the waiters take notes using pen and paper and saving everybody’s time?!

My partner anyway had 1 vanilla and 2 sorbets, so it definitely was the waiter’s mistake.

He went back to the kitchen and came back with 2 sorbets and a chocolate scoop; I was surprised as for me sorbet, means fruits, but the waiter insisted that was “chocolate sorbet”???...never heard of it, but ate it anyway...after all, I had had enough grief for one night.

When the bill came, we found out that we were charged around £27 for the appalling service!...funny enough, our waiter didn’t dare bring the bill himself, leaving us without saying a goodnight?...is this really professional and was he expecting to get a tip, or was he just rude thinking that anyway 12% service would be automatically added onto the bill so why bother being nice.

I am so sorry to say that because of such a bad service and experience, I will not come back again to Havana, even after all those years thinking it was the best restaurant in Brighton and recommending it to other friends.

There are many other venues to go and try in Brighton luckily and I do understand now why Havana hasn’t got any Michelin stars (but do charge as if they do): food quality and service have definitely to be improved.

The best thing we ate all night was the guiness bread!
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Cecile
Thursday, February 28, 2008

I have to agree, Havana is a fantastic restaurant, a great set up and amazing food.
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

This has got to be one of the best restaurants around. great service, classy atmousphere and exquisite food, what more is there to say? 10/10
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Monday, February 11, 2008

What a lovely restaurant. The food was great - beautifully presented and delicious. Service was perfect. Loved it, loved it.
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Brixton Bird - View all reviews by this user
Sunday, February 10, 2008

I often dine with friends at Havana, and find it a great place to relax and enjoy great food and wine. The atmosphere is wonderful, the food just exceptional and the service, (1st class). We dined at Havana yesterday and very much enjoyed our Afternoon.
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Friday, February 01, 2008

I'm going to this restaurant very often and to be honest I have NEVER been disappointed, quite the opposite really. Food is first class, service is excellent (surprised about someone's comment on it, must have been a bad day)

Try the Egg Benedict for a light course and you'll be hooked! No really just fantastic.
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J Roberty
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

I love the athmosphere of this restaurant and have been there twice before. However, I wasn't impressed with the service - and yesterday's visit topped this impression. We went there for a business lunch. The table was wobbly, for a start, which could have been picked up. We ordered the second bottle of wine three times before it finally arrived. Also, we had to top up our own wine twice being bored of waiting for the waiter and sat on our empty plates for too long. It was impossible to get eye contact with any of the staff around. To get the bill, our business partner had to shout across the restaurant to gain attention from a waiter who was staring out of the window. The food was fine although not splendid - the quality of my steak could have been better, and the sauce on the starter was unpleasant.
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Grace
Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I was at Havana on Saturday the 19th and it was absolutely fantastic.

The food was divine, I would recommend the duck starter, which my girlfriend said was the best starter she has eaten.

The staff were also fantastic, very attentive and knowledgable.

All in all I haven't a bad word to say about this place, and would highly recommend to anyone for a great night out and dinner in Brighton.
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Liam Tohill
Sunday, January 20, 2008

I Shall keep it short but to the point.

Gorgeous place, Fantastic Ambiance, Devine food, Exceptional Service.
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Louise
Thursday, January 03, 2008

A delightful place set in the Heart of Brighton. We only stumbled accross whilst walking in the Lanes. We decided to give it a try becuase the restaurant just look amazing, and the menu looked very interesting. Thank goodnes that there are still genuine restaurants out there that serve fantastic food and offer great service. The place it self was just beautiful, and spotless, and were shocked when they told us that they had been trading for 12 years, the place looks brand new. A Wonderful evening out and very impressed.
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Danny and Akiah
Friday, December 07, 2007