The Adventure of the Missing One-Quarter
Pro Tasty Cuban flavours
Con VFM
Pay
€
Per Person €12 incl main course, dessert and drink.
Find
Website Here
Access Two steps from street.
In Short
Hopes. Another decent Cuban option to make our decision-making harder.
Reality. Good food, important detail issues.
First Impressions. Old school decor. Chairs with rivets!
USP? Decades of experience in an area with a high restaurant turnover.
The offer in three words. Cuban home cooking.
Service! Efficient, but an omission
Friend friendly? Lunch menu is meaty.
Rating for dating. Atmosphere is lacking.
Tip? Small one, which we shouldn't have given.
Change one thing? Find the side dish that never came.
Revisitability. For the food, potentially, but other factors mean probably not.
Compare & Contrast
Just around the corner, Borax.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
There are tasty offerings at Zara, but important details stop us giving a recommendation.
In the mass of restaurants (we need a decent collective noun, there) around Calles Infantas/Barbieri/San Marcos, Zara's notable for being down-to-earth, Cuban and impressively long-lasting. Not common round this little corner of town, so it should have something going for it.
Set lunch is, predictably, a ticket-friendly €12, with a simple menu. Choose one of Ropa Vieja, Picadillo or roasted pork slices. Then add rice and a dish of beans. Then chose one from plantain, tostones or yucca as accompaniment. A pleasing mix-'n'-match scenario.
We tried roast pork with plantain and Ropa Vieja with yucca. The main courses rewarded in terms of flavours. Some proper richness on the RV, which was as good as any I've tried, Havana included. The well-cooked pork came with some nice acidic peppery business, too.
So, thumbs up for quality. But our issue is portion size. While the RV was a reasonable amount, the roasted pork, at four small slices, was 2/3 of a serving, at best. Critically, for reasons unknown, the advertised bowl of beans never appeared. This was never mentioned by the staff. In hindsight, I didn't notice it appear at other tables, and actually we'd forgotten they were on the menu, so we don't honestly know what happened. But we didn't get them. Problem? Aside from the fact you can't forget a side dish that's part of a set menu, it meant probably 25% of the meal was gone for a Burton. Add it back and €12 would have felt approaching reasonable. Without, the Ropa V's not worth the money and the pork, considering the portion size, was significantly overpriced.
This is a great shame, as the flavours of both main dishes were excellent, and the plantain and yucca were great accompaniments, the latter with its pot of dipping sauce was terrific, with nice attention to detail. The rice was well cooked, but overseasoned for my liking.
We know how dessert works on these menus. But things were asymmetrical, here. An excellent, and probably home-made, rice pudding was a pleasure to gobble down. Creamy, moreish and a generous size. On the other side, a ball of chocolate ice-cream. One. Ball. Nothing to write home about. Or write a review about.
Service was efficient enough but decor is verging on austere. Unusually, you'd not have a clue you were in a Cuban restaurant, looking around. Hefty glass mosaics on the walls, heavy furniture that'd not look out of place in a convent or Parador. Red-check table cloths only a Volare away from a classic trattoria. It's not a warm or welcoming ambience, though. The main room's short of colour, nooks and nick-nacks to create talking points.
Sans freebies, sans coffees, sans beans, sans details in the decor, sans anything special to give a sense of place. This is a missed opportunity from a restaurant that's treading water - at lunchtimes, at any rate, and not trying to impress the casual customer.
Result? Future custom lost and some excellent cooking not given its due. Sad to say.
Pro Tasty Cuban flavours
Con VFM
Pay
€
Per Person €12 incl main course, dessert and drink.
Find
Website Here
Access Two steps from street.
In Short
Hopes. Another decent Cuban option to make our decision-making harder.
Reality. Good food, important detail issues.
First Impressions. Old school decor. Chairs with rivets!
USP? Decades of experience in an area with a high restaurant turnover.
The offer in three words. Cuban home cooking.
Service! Efficient, but an omission
Friend friendly? Lunch menu is meaty.
Rating for dating. Atmosphere is lacking.
Tip? Small one, which we shouldn't have given.
Change one thing? Find the side dish that never came.
Revisitability. For the food, potentially, but other factors mean probably not.
Compare & Contrast
Just around the corner, Borax.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
There are tasty offerings at Zara, but important details stop us giving a recommendation.
In the mass of restaurants (we need a decent collective noun, there) around Calles Infantas/Barbieri/San Marcos, Zara's notable for being down-to-earth, Cuban and impressively long-lasting. Not common round this little corner of town, so it should have something going for it.
An order of restaurants? Hmmmm. Sounds a bit JK.
Set lunch is, predictably, a ticket-friendly €12, with a simple menu. Choose one of Ropa Vieja, Picadillo or roasted pork slices. Then add rice and a dish of beans. Then chose one from plantain, tostones or yucca as accompaniment. A pleasing mix-'n'-match scenario.
We tried roast pork with plantain and Ropa Vieja with yucca. The main courses rewarded in terms of flavours. Some proper richness on the RV, which was as good as any I've tried, Havana included. The well-cooked pork came with some nice acidic peppery business, too.
So, thumbs up for quality. But our issue is portion size. While the RV was a reasonable amount, the roasted pork, at four small slices, was 2/3 of a serving, at best. Critically, for reasons unknown, the advertised bowl of beans never appeared. This was never mentioned by the staff. In hindsight, I didn't notice it appear at other tables, and actually we'd forgotten they were on the menu, so we don't honestly know what happened. But we didn't get them. Problem? Aside from the fact you can't forget a side dish that's part of a set menu, it meant probably 25% of the meal was gone for a Burton. Add it back and €12 would have felt approaching reasonable. Without, the Ropa V's not worth the money and the pork, considering the portion size, was significantly overpriced.
A bevy of restaurants...? Getting better, perhaps.
This is a great shame, as the flavours of both main dishes were excellent, and the plantain and yucca were great accompaniments, the latter with its pot of dipping sauce was terrific, with nice attention to detail. The rice was well cooked, but overseasoned for my liking.
We know how dessert works on these menus. But things were asymmetrical, here. An excellent, and probably home-made, rice pudding was a pleasure to gobble down. Creamy, moreish and a generous size. On the other side, a ball of chocolate ice-cream. One. Ball. Nothing to write home about. Or write a review about.
A stew of restaurants? That's the one for us!
Service was efficient enough but decor is verging on austere. Unusually, you'd not have a clue you were in a Cuban restaurant, looking around. Hefty glass mosaics on the walls, heavy furniture that'd not look out of place in a convent or Parador. Red-check table cloths only a Volare away from a classic trattoria. It's not a warm or welcoming ambience, though. The main room's short of colour, nooks and nick-nacks to create talking points.
Sans freebies, sans coffees, sans beans, sans details in the decor, sans anything special to give a sense of place. This is a missed opportunity from a restaurant that's treading water - at lunchtimes, at any rate, and not trying to impress the casual customer.
Result? Future custom lost and some excellent cooking not given its due. Sad to say.
