Marina Hemingway – El Pabellón del Tesoro

CA4
Style of food: Chinese
Cost: Moderate
Type of place: State
Food
Ambience
Service
Value
Best for: Excellent Chinese food in a pleasant atmosphere.
Worst for: A little sedate and bland atmosphere.
Ave. 5ta esquina a 248, Jaimanitas
(+53)7204 - 1150
Open noon-midnight

  • There are only two good Chinese restaurants in Havana and this is definitely one of them. In many ways, it is the Yin to Tien Tang’s Yang. Instead of being located at the end of a busy scruffy Central Havana Chinatown street, it is at the end of one of the jetties in the exclusive (if slightly run-down) Marina Hemingway. There are no houses here, no Cubans living here, simply foreigners renting villas or apartments.

    There is no outside space here; it is a two-story building with the restaurant on the top floor (there used to be a buffet on the first floor but that seems to have gone now). The restaurant is air-conditioned, airy, non-smoking and extremely pleasant, especially when escaping the sun on a hot summer day. The view on one side is out to see through the marina. It is soothing.

    The tables are for right people, great round creatures with revolving glass centres. And the food? Good, excellent, not fabulous and if you are a connoisseur you may find room to grumble but, especially if you know what to order (try the spicy soups, the beef and the chicken) you will go home happy and well fed.

    
  • La Terraza de Cojimar

    La Terraza de Cojimar  LH 4

    Ernest Hemingway lived in Cojimar for some years and this was his favorite restaurant there, as evidenced by the many pictures of the American author here, including one with Fidel Castro. In one of t …

    La Moraleja

    La Moraleja  LH 4

    La Moraleja is the point of the story, the moral of a kid’s fable. The philosophy of this new paladar located in the ample backyard of a Vedado mansion is “Dreaming is free, so dream on, you’re at La …

    Club Habana – El Chelo

    Club Habana – El Chelo  LH 4

    Cuba Absolutely Review: December 2012 Club Habana has a long and distinguished history as a beach club for the well heeled. Today it is the one and only beach club left which caters mostly to the expa …

    Los Nardos

    Los Nardos  LH 5-

    The Sociedad Juventud Asturiana is a Spanish cultural society from the province of Asturias, which has a special legal status in Havana. Essentially, the society functions as a cooperative which means …

    Habana Libre Hotel – Sierra Maestra

    Habana Libre Hotel – Sierra Maestra  LH 4

    Of all the views in the entire world, this is the place. Well perhaps that is overstating things but the view is certainly spectacular from the 25th floor of the Habana Libre Hotel. You have a 180-deg …

    Tien Tan

    Tien Tan  LH 4+

    Tien Tan (Temple of Heaven) must be a very hated restaurant from the other Chinese places in Chinatown. It is at the end of the Chinese restaurant strip and every time that we walk down here, the tout …

    La Cocina de Lilliam

    La Cocina de Lilliam  LH 4

    Cuba Absolutely Review: December 2012 La Cocina de Lilliam is set in the gardens of a beautiful villa in Miramar. This is right at the top of the list of many visitors’ dream list. It is easy to see w …

    La Pachanga

    La Pachanga  LH 4

    Havana was needing a cafe that, while keeping the celerity and simplicity of a fast food joint, gave the food a gourmet touch to such dishes as Pollo Pachanga (Pachanga chicken), the delicious smoothi …

    La Bella Habana

    La Bella Habana  LH 4

    La Bella Habana lives up to its name. It is beautiful, tastefully designed and meticulously maintained with attentive staff that is engaging without being overbearing. Above all it is a calm place whe …

    Bom Apetite

    Bom Apetite  LH 4

    Walking in on a rainy night to Bon Appetite was like walking into an oasis. We had tried a few other places nearby which were all deserted, dead. We had put it down to the weather and planned to head …

    « 4 of 14 pages »