The Polynesia Restaurant on the main square in Ceinfuegos had lobster in sauce over rice for 35 pesos. (h)

Havana
Good for dinner was the Restaurante Bon Appetit at $15 for two, with beer. The stewed chicken was great. (a)

Restaurante Los Amigos was very good, but a bit expensive ($23 for two with beer). (a)

For lunch, the Bar Monseratte was good ($10 for two with beer). (a)

The Cafeteria Bateria del Sol in the El Morro fortress was good ($12 for two with beer). (a)

I wouldn’t recommend Don Agamemnon. The waiter tried to sell us $25 lobster that was not on the menu. When we opted for $5 meals from the menu, the service slowed down drastically. The meal itself was acceptable. (a)

The Cafe del Oriente, at Calle de los Oficios #112, corner of Amargura, Plaza de San Francisco de Asisi, Tel: 66-6686, is a new and sophisticated place in Havana Vieja with air conditioning. The first floor is bar/cafe open 24 hours. Second floor is a French restaurant open noon to 2 am. When we went there, they had a live piano at the bar, which was very good. (g)

Restaurant Hanoi- corner of Brazil and Bernaza-good meal for under $3. Check out Hotel menus-yes there is expensive stuff, but also $5 items. The dining room in the Florida Hotel on Obispo is great. (h)

The Hanoi is inexpensive, has a very nice patio, food is very good and has live music. It is located at Teniente Rey (Brasil) and Bernaza. The "combinaciones" cost between 2 and 2.80 USD and they include black beans, white rice and vianda which is basically boiled potatoes. (i)

Pinar del Rio
The restaurant at Cabinas Aguas Claras was satisfactory for dinner ($14 for two without beer), but there were no eggs or bread for breakfast, which is pretty astonishing as the place is over-run with chickens. (a)

Casa Don Miguel was very busy with tourists. We spoke to Don Miguel, who gave us the impression that he was a pretty big wheel in local business circles, having more than one restaurant. We were on a second floor patio. The meal was very good ($19 for two with beer), but too much for two people. I think he might price according to how much he thinks you can pay. (a)

Restaurante El Meson has a menu priced in dollars. Our lunch there was very good, but a loafer outside tried to get us to pay him for watching our car. A local told us to ignore him, so we did. (a)

Punta Gorda
The restaurant in the Villa Playa Larga Hotel was pretty grim. Chicken and a leathery minute steak cost $16 with beer for two, but the breakfast was okay. There was also an outdoor bar where a dreadful variety spectacle took place in the evening. It comprised a perfectly good band, smothered by an obnoxious M.C. and recorded disco music. (a)

San Diego de los Baños
We had an okay meal ($17 for two with beer) at the restaurant at the Hotel Mirador. (a)

Trinidad
Had a very nice, huge lunch at La Coruna, on Calle Marti ($20 for two with beer). (a)

We had a buffet breakfast at Hotel Ancon for $4 a head. The food was okay, but the environment awful. The restaurant was full of package tourists with plastic wristbands. I was glad we hadn’t stayed there. (a)

Veradero
We ate one satisfactory meal at Dante ($26 for two with beer) in Parque Josone. It was no different than a standard Italian restaurant in Vancouver or anywhere else, except more expensive! (a)

Viñales
We had a very good dinner at Restaurant Valle-Var. We ate on the patio, and there was a trio of musicians playing inside. (a)

For breakfast, the patio at Hotel La Ermita, a Horizontes hotel was unbeatable for $5 a head. The morning view of the mountains was superb. (a)

Thanks to sources:
(a) john@bishop-co.com, 1/98
(b) jon.anders@oocities.com, 1/98
(c) dcalabrigo@hotmail.com, 3/98
(d) subartley@hotmail.com, 3/98
(e) belangerp@cnwl.igs.net, 3/98
(f) colarowl@chlsnr.nestrd.ch, 6/98
(g) mandanose@email.msn.com 8/98

(h) bhughes@sprint.ca 1/00

(i) miwadare@orb.org.mx 2/00


Return to Budget Guide