Cuban Food in Asheville, NC

GGGrrrrrrrr.

I love Cuban food. I have ever since I have the chance to live in South Florida for a couple of years. I have been living in Atlanta since 2002 and have not been able to find good Cuban food.

This week I took my family up to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate. More on the Estate in a future post. The night we arrived, we were trying to decide where to eat. We came across an ad on a local map for Havana. Yeah, I know, an original name for a Cuban retaurant. So, I piled the family in the car and off we went.

Havana is located in downtown Asheville near the Grove Arcade. There are plenty of restaurants and shops in the area, but don't get the shopping bug after six at night, as they roll up the sidewalks and shut the doors to everything except the eateries.

When we walked in the restaurant, I was worried. The place was very unassuming with a low drop ceiling and flourescent lights with paint the plactic covers in a attempt to give the room a tropical flair. The restaurant also has Bonnie's Little Corner, a tobacco and cigar bar that looks like you could light one up right there in the room. Now, I love a good cigar, but I would have been PISSED if someone lit up a stogie while I was trying to enjoy my dinner. My concern grew deeper when I pulled out my chair to sit down and it had that "this chair hasn't been cleaned in months" stickiness to it. However, I was determined not to judge the place to harshly as I have eaten in much dirtier places.

The server (is waitress politically incorrect?) came up and asked us what we wanted to drink. My family ordered Coke and Diet Coke, to which we were informed they only had RC products. RC PRODUCTS????? Are they still in business or have you been hording your soft drinks since the 1950s? Yikes! I order a beer, and they bring me my Miller Light in the bottle. No glass, just the bottle. I look around. I am in a restaurant and not a biker bar, right? So needless to say, I am now dreading having to order and am seriously considering paying for the drinks and leaving.

I look over the menu and order cheese dip with chips and crab cakes. My family loves crab cakes, so I risk it as I am concerned because I have never seen crab cakes on a Cuban menu before. the chips and dip come out first. The chips look home made. I take a small chip and put it in the dip. I am pleasantly surprised. The chips are light, tasty and crispy. The cheese dip was real melted cheese, not some white gooey premade slop. My family and I finish off the entire plate.

The crab cakes arrived next. They were fantastic. They had a nice crust on them and they were very flavorful. Now mind you, these were not the best crab cakes I have ever had, but they were very good nonetheless.

We ordered our main course next. Andrew had the Seafood Pasta, my wife had Lechon (Roasted Pork), Jessica had the Pasta Aux Champions, and I had the Palomilla Steak. Again, I became concerned again when the server could not pronounce my daughter's order, trying to say the "X" at the end of aux, but the food was good so far, so what? right?

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meal. My daughter's was the highlight and clearly the best plate of food that evening. Afterwards, I had Cafe con Leche and my family shared some cheesecake. Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant.

Which begs the question. Why can't I get good Cuban Food in Atlanta?