Cubana (Waterloo)

Lovely little place and excellent food. Had cocktails Friday evening and also ordered a couple of steaks that not only seemed to be some of the freshest meat Ive tased for some time, but were superbly cooked.

OK the place isn't a 5 star Ramsay type restuarant - but it isn't claiming to be. Its good food, good drink, and with a distinctive Cuban theme - at a decent price.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, August 01, 2008

Went this saturday for a friends birthday,14 of us in the party.Booked a table that was not ready on arrival so had to be wedged in by the bar while we waited.

Our main course arrived before our starters then we asked why, they told us we was not having starters.They then arrived and by the time you had eaten our starter the main was cold. I asked for it to be heated up and half of my meal was, but not the other half as it was stone cold. Some of the party was not served their dinner until we had finished our meals. The staff were rude and unfriendly.

I was very dissapointed and will NOT recommend to anyone.
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Emma Carter
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 14, 2008

Castro may have gone - but the spirit of Cuba lives on in this little place in London. Went on a Friday night and have to say it was excellent. Mouth watering food, pretty good cocktails. A little loud at times, but I guess that was the day we chose. I guess if you are looking for something a little different to the usual Pizza Express or Zizzi's then this could be right up your alley.
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James Lowe
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, March 13, 2008

Completely disagree with the last review. My wife and I went to Cubana after work. We were intruiged by the decor - lots of old looking guns that must have come from Cuba, but they certainly added to the atmosphere!

I had what I can only describe as one of the best steaks I have eaten in a long time. It just melted in the mouth.

Service was fine - what you come to expect on a busy workday evening, and I thought the menu offered really good value. Given its proximity to Waterloo it is very convenient for me (and other commuters too I expect).

You have to remember this is a bar/restaurant - so that is something to consider, however my Cuba Libre was absolutely superb and I would advise people to go to Cubana just to try one! I will certainly be back
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Dave Jones
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 11, 2008

Unfortunately this restaurant has to rank as the worst I have ever been to. My friends and I had booked a table, planning a fun evening in what we thought was one of the funkyest looking restaurants around, as it happened a night that started badly, ended in disbelief.

Upon arriving, our booking was lost (despite having phoned up only two days before and booking). The waitress was not appologetic but we put this down to her just being in a bad mood. We had specifically booked our table for 6pm so we could take full advantage of the happy hour. Having ordered several jugs of happy hour cocktails we were looking forward to some good food in a relaxed atmosphere. Annoyingly only half of our drinks showed up so 30 minutes later we went to gently remind them, they eventually came.

The food came and was pretty tasty. All seemed ok until the bill came: When it arrived - we noticed that two of the happy-hour cocktails we had ordered were charged at full price (£32 vs £17) - when the waitress came over we mentioned this to her, she went to the bar and then came back and said that we had ordered them after happy hour so couldnt get the discount - it is now that we reminded her that it was the restaurant who had not written down are order originally - she went away again and then came back claiming that "it is on the computer...I cant change the computer" - this in itself was plainly insulting to us and she was not remotely appologetic. We said that was not good enough - she went away again - then came back claiming the drinks we had ordered were not on happy hour - despite clearly being next to the "Happy Hour" wording on the menu. At this point she went away again and brought several other members of staff back telling us that it was our mistake not theirs and we were trying to rip them off!

We said we werent happy at which point they continued to be rude and refused to take it off the menu and said they would take our drinks away. This continued for 20 minutes with staff being offensive and rude.

I cant explain the frustration and annoyance in words, the staff did not care (as several of them explicitly told us), they were insulting and I have never experienced this type of service before in my life. I write this review not to get back at them but because we explained the situation to the manager politely but she did not care - they finally took the drink off the menu and told us we were not welcome back.

I thought restaurants with service like this had died in the 80's all I can hope is that new management takes over this soon - it needs it!
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David V
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 03, 2008

Upon a recommendation, I booked a table at Cubana for 12 for 9:00pm on a Satruday. When we arrived there was no table; we put one together ourselves only to be told that the kitchen had closed. After explaining that we had been assured we would be in time for dinner, the waitress reluctantly took our orders and we then waited 45 minutes for our meals to arrrive.

The food arrived completely cold, obviously not home-made (deep-fried cheesey bread and crab cakes so hard they could barely be cut) and the portions were absolutely TINY! I wasn't expecting a feast as the prices seemed very reasonable, but this was a joke. The food was tasteless and really unpleasant - very dissapointing!

Finally, we were told on the website and over the phone that live music would be played from 11:00om onward, which is why we booked in the first place. Although the band was awesome, it wsa difficult to hear them unless you were pushed right up to the front and they didn't actually come on until an hour and half after they were meant to. Basically, a night at Cubana was a wasted evening.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, September 02, 2007

This restaurant had come recommended by some friends and I went anticipating good food and atmosphere. However, I was sorely disappointed as the food is less than authentic, the portions tiny and worst of all, the food arrived cold.

The service also leaves a lot to be desired, with drinks either forgotten or only arriving half an hour later, and it was impossible to get any attention from the staff. The drinks were good, but inconsistent - one daiquiri differed greatly from the next (and identical) order.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Thursday, June 14, 2007

Great food - interesting menu and good options, everything from small dishes to big meals. But terrible service and filthy floors! Am not normally bothered by a bit of muck, but this place is always really filthy, which is worrying!

You have to book or you can never get a table, but they often write names down wrong or not at all, which can be stressful.

Several times the drinks have failed to arrive for up to half an hour, and food can also be slow to arrive.

Don't go if you have to be somewhere on time afterwards or have anger management / hyper-cleanliness issues! But if you're relaxed you might like it.
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Helen 13 - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Have been there quiet a long time ago to celebrate my birthday and it was fantastic. Yesterday we made it again together with foreign friends. Even if I am a non smoker and that does not fit to the homeland of the world best cigars, the air wasn't too sticky. Food is reasonable priced (for London it's bargain) Mains are around £7 to £9 and drinks are ok. The Mojito bursts from the fresh mint and lacks a little bit on Rum. If you're really thursty have a go on the Czech beer with lime (what a treat). All food is fresh and tasty, even if my dish was missing the rice. Will come back soon.
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Hartwig
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 07, 2007

My friend and I went here on a thursday evening - despite booking, 9and they called me that day to change the time to suit them better) the waitress didn't seem over enthused to serve us/find us a table. the food was Ok but service was so slow, the toilets downstairs were revolting. Not very impressed.
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claire hillier
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Friday, December 01, 2006