The best bars and cafés Cuba

Timetable

Bakeries, cafeterias and ice-cream parlors are generally open all day, until 7, 8, 9 or even later. However, there are no hard and fast rules here, so it's best to make a quick phone call to avoid wasting time. As for bars, they generally open during the day, but tend to fill up when the sun goes down, i.e. around 6-7pm, and close around 1 or 2am, sometimes even later.

Budget & Tips

In the capital's cafeterias, the price of a coffee ranges from €1 to €2, while a cocktail generally costs €1.50 to €3, provided you go to bars where you pay in CUP (Cuban peso)! On the other hand, if you go to the rooftop bars of the capital's major hotels in particular, the price can be multiplied by 2.5 or even 3! In fact, some hotels only accept credit cards and use the official exchange rate, i.e. around 1/125, so that a cocktail priced at 1,000 CUP and paid for by credit card costs €8 (compared with just over €3 in cash)!

Age restrictions

Minors, i.e. people under the age of 18, are officially prohibited from consuming alcohol in Cuba.

What's very local

Coffee por favor! Cuban coffee, little known worldwide because it is produced in quantities too small to be exported, is particularly good! Mainly Arabica, it is grown in the semi-mountainous areas of the country and is renowned for its low acidity, full body, medium intensity and citrus flavours. Espresso (strong) or americano (long), café con leche (coffee with milk) or cortado (short coffee with a dash of milk), the choice is yours. Note that café con miel (honey coffee) is a specialty of southern Cuba. Locally-produced chocolate is also consumed in Cuba, more specifically in the extreme Oriente region around Baracoa.

A little elegance. When you go out in Cuba, whether to a restaurant, for a drink or, even more so, to dance, it's customary to dress appropriately, not to say elegantly! So if you're invited by Cubans to go out, put your casual attire to one side and dress to the nines!

Rum. Ron superior, double-distilled rum, conveys the warm image of Cuban culture through its light, shimmering cocktails. Havana Club owes its ron superior appellation to the quality of the sugar cane grown on Cuba's best land, in the province of Oriente, and to the expertise of its master distillers. But Havana Club isn't the only brand of Cuban rum! In Cuba, you can also taste other excellent rum brands such as Arecha, Santiago de Cuba, Edmundo Dantes, Varadero and Santero y Caney. Mulata rum, on the other hand, is of inferior quality and is often served in the bars of all-inclusive hotels.

Here are some of Cuba's most popularrum-based cocktails:

Cuba libre. In a tall glass, pour 1 measure of rum, 5 measures of coca, the juice of half a lime and 2 ice cubes.
Daïquiri. Juice of half a lime, half a spoonful of sugar, 1 measure of rum, a few ice cubes, shaken in a shaker. Serve over ice in a cocktail glass. Some even make it with strawberry juice!

Greta Garbo. In a shaker, pour half a spoonful of sugar, a teaspoonful of maraschino, the juice of a lime, one and a half measures of rum, 5 drops of Pernod and ice. Whisk and serve immediately.

Havana especial. In a shaker with a few ice cubes, 1 part rum, 1 part pineapple juice. Shake and serve strained.

Hemingway especial. In a blender with crushed ice, 2 measures rum (hence its other name: Papa Doble), 1 measure grapefruit juice and 1 half-squeezed lime. Beat well and serve chilled.
Mojito. Cubans' national drink, a legacy of buccaneering king Francis Drake, it's Creole as hell. Pour into a glass: half a spoonful of sugar, the juice of half a lime, 1 measure of rum, 2 or 3 ice cubes, crush a few fresh mint leaves with the sugar and lemon juice, top up with sparkling water and, before serving, dip in a sprig of mint.
Ron Collins. Pour into a tall glass 1 measure of rum, 1 half-spoonful of sugar, 1 half-squeezed lemon, 2 or 3 ice cubes, top up with sparkling water, add a slice of lemon and, if desired, a cherry.

Kids

Children are generally welcome just about everywhere in Cuba, except perhaps in certain adult-only clubs in seaside areas.

Smokers

In cafés and bars, as in restaurants, smoking is generally prohibited if the premises are enclosed and air-conditioned. In all other cases, please ask the staff.

Tourist traps

The most fashionable tourist trick on our visit was what you might call the "salsa festival" trick. In short, a random man accosts you, assuring you that it's your lucky day, that today is the last day of the salsa festival and that he has a ticket for you. The gullible tourist, amazed at his good fortune, will follow the man to a bar or other venue - where salsa is usually played - and pocket his commission for bringing in one more customer. Salsa, yes, but not THE salsa festival!