Havana Restaurant & Bar

I used to live in London and have just recently moved to Brighton, and I have to say that Havana is by far the best restaurant I have come across, everything from the service to the ambience to food is just great...highly recommended.
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William
Thursday, June 26, 2008

Havana is simply a great place to dine out. Some friends and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time last weekend. The standard of food and service is first class and the place itself is just…., to put it in one word just ‘Beautiful’. If you enjoy fine food and great ambiance then this is definitely a place you must visit.
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Jasper
Thursday, May 22, 2008

We recently ate at Havana and had a fantastic meal. Havana was recommended to us by our friend and what a great choice. This place is definelty worth a visit if you enjoy fine food and service. Wonderful evening out, and highly recommend it.
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Monday, April 21, 2008

Went there on Thursday not so busy, so we had a very good service. The decoration and the asmosphere is very nice and trendy The food were okay, nothing to write home about, a bit too salty for the main course.

I had spicy tuna for starter, I expected it to be a hot dish but it turned out to be cold and tastless. They should put it on the menu which is hot whis is cold.

My main course was better. I had chicken brest with parma ham, couldn't really find the ham but the chicken was very nice (even though I occasionally chewed a chunk of salt from time to time.) we didn't have desert because nothing is interesting and the price were very expensive. Over all, the quality of food and service are okay, but I think all in all it's over priced. I don't think I'd go back again, there're so many restaurants in Brighton to go to, the more reasonable one. Don't want to recommend it to anyone.
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pickychoosy
Friday, April 18, 2008

I needed a special place to celebrate a family birthday and saw lots of good reviews of Havana on this site so decided to book up. What a fantastic choice! As people who eat out quite a bit we all felt this restaurant hit the mark in all aspects. Firstly the stylish decor has a very 1930's south american colonial feel with it's mixture of clean white walls, pillars, dark wood and wooden venetian blinds, it feels like you're in a different country (the photos don't do it justice). The lighting is just right and an added bonus of live jazz just rounded off the perfect ambience - a buzzing lively place without being brash. The cocktails were superb (I recommend the Cuban Missile) and when we ate, the food was gorgeous; fresh, clean flavours with a modern, creative twist. The staff were all friendly and attentive but not obtrusive.

A thoroughly great night had by all and I'd recommend this place to anyone who likes good food in a great atmosphere. Certainly the best restaurant I've been to in Brighton... by a long way.
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Alastair
Tuesday, March 18, 2008

what a gorgeous restaurant and staff, the staff were so welcoming i have twins boys and the waiter a lovely french guy was absolutely brilliant with them looking at their books teaching them the words in french, A****

the food was deilcious to
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Amanda
Saturday, March 15, 2008

Simply a wonderful place to dine. The place is just so wow....It is everything you expect from a fine restaurant. Exceptional food beautifuly presented, Great professional service and one must not forget that the place is just simply beautiful. All in all a wonderful restaurant.
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Doris
Friday, March 07, 2008

What a great place, set in the heart of Brighton. It was by pure luck that we stumbled accross Havana, whilst walking in Duke Street.

My wife and I agreed that it is one of the finest restaurants we have dined in. We had a wonderful evening to celebrate our Anniversary. Service is first class, food simply divine and ambiance wonderful. Great place, thank you for such a lovely evening.
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Jack & Suzy
Tuesday, March 04, 2008

We went to Havana on a Saturday night. It was our first visit here and we loved it. Food was perfect, as was the service. Will be returning next time we are in Brighton. 10/10
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Lauren Gower
Monday, March 03, 2008

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