Las Marías

CA3
Style of food: Cuban/Creole
Cost: Cheap
Type of place: Paladar (private)
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for: The three Marias are all very charming. Cute. Personal.
Worst for: Those expecting more. This is a small neighborhood place.
Calle 48 No 1107, entre 11 y 13, Playa
(+53)7209 - 2140
Open noon-midnight daily

  • Las Marías is a small charming outdoor terrace in the heart of Miramar, which re-opened on Christmas Eve 2011. More to the point, it is a family affair between María Ofelia, her daughter Marilé and granddaughter Marisol. If this is too much oestrogen for you, there is Julio César who takes care of the kitchen. There are perhaps six tables set beside a nice bar around the side of a typical Miramar mansion with an increasing amount of green shrubbery. Pleasant, warm.

    Marilé is the heart of the place, charming, attentive, and busy. She takes care of her customers and then finds time to chat. She should run courses on multi-tasking to some other people I could care to mention! The atmosphere is low-key with Cuban musicians playing some nights, while on others a TV will play innocuously in the background.

    The food is anchored by the large charcoal grill, which provides for a range of fish and meats as well as a range of other dishes from the smallish kitchen inside the main house. Specialities include Filete de pescado con camarones en salsa bechamel y queso gratinado (fish fillet with shrimp in béchamel sauce au gratin) as well as surf and turf kebabs. Other dishes include octopus, grilled prawns and ropa vieja (shredded meat). The prices are pretty reasonable with a Crema de queso (cream of cheese soup) only CUC 1.50 and chicken dishes at around 5 CUC. Everything is fresh bought directly from the fishermen, which showed in the quality of some of the fish we tried. Desserts include a very tasty, Mermelada de guayaba con queso (guava marmalade and cheese) 1.50 CUC.

    You should be warned that the Marías have developed their own completely lethal cocktail ‘Las Marías.’ This consists of Havana Club 7 años, mint, and blue Curacao, lemon y hierbabuena.

    
  • La California

    La California  LH 5+

    La California Restaurant For quality food, impeccable service & intimate ambience Superb Cuban-Creole/International menu Dine in a beautifully restored 19th-century colonial building just one bloc …

    Opera

    Opera  LH 5+

    – Best for Homely & Intimate enviroment Quality food in a beautiful setting. – Fresh pasta, vegetarian dishes  and quail.

    Nazdarovie

    Nazdarovie  LH 5+

    I never really knew the Cuba from the days of Soviet support. My first memories of the island belong to a time that is very close to the Great Change, when we were already starting to see that what ha …

    El Chanchullero

    El Chanchullero  LH 5+

    El Chanchullero has got to win the most surprisingly good place in Havana award. This looks like a hole in the wall place in a downright run down looking part of Old Havana. It is a hassle to get to b …

    Corte del Principe (Sergio’s)

    Corte del Principe (Sergio’s)  LH 5+

    La Corte del Principe has rocked up the pop charts in Havana on the back of quality authentic Italian fare. Located on a quiet street behind the lovely park (which runs from Calle 60 to 82 behind the …

    Le Chansonnier

    Le Chansonnier  LH 5+

    When a delegation of chefs from Alice Waters’ celebrated Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley visited Cuba (November 2012) on a mission to spark a revolution in the Cuban diet by exposing islanders to …

    Santy

    Santy  LH 5

    On Santi, the mystical Santi. The one that can never speak its name. The one that everyone talks about but no one can find. The one you may be asked to park a few blocks away from and sneak in under c …

    Bikos

    Bikos  LH 5

    Bikos, which I am reliably, told means kisses opened in June 2013 on the site of the old Galeria paladar. This is pure Spanish food and has quickly established itself as the location of choice for Hav …

    Doña Eutimia

    Doña Eutimia  LH 5+

    It would take a hard heart indeed to be immune to the charms of Leticia, the owner of Doña Eutemia. Small, old, personal, she wants an intimate place where you come to relax. So much so, that she stat …

    La Carboncita

    La Carboncita  LH 5

    His is Walter Ginevri’s (the Italian pizza guy) new place in Havana, except that actually this Paladar is owned by Eneida, a pleasant, businesslike woman, who has lived for some time in the accompanyi …

    1 of 14 pages »