Review: Havana's Cuban Cuisine in Cooper City
By Judith Stocks, Dining Correspondent
Important: This article was last updated on September 16, 2010. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
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 8600 Griffin Road, Cooper City 954-530-1400 havanasrestaurants.com Cuisine: Latin American Cost: inexpensive Hours: lunch, dinner daily Reservations: suggested on weekends Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V Bar: beer, wine Sound level: moderate Outside smoking: no For kids: menu, high chairs, boosters Wheelchair accessible: yes  |
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First impression: The former Fried Green Tomatoes is now home to a hybrid Cuban/ Argentine/Mexican spot where you'll want to start with sangria. Refreshing oversized pitchers — red or white with tons of fruit muddled tableside — are $19.95.Ambience: Espresso colored wood, shiny tin wainscoting and bare tables set with linen napkins give Havana's a tidy, contemporary look.
Starters: For $12.95, the sabor Latino overflows with almost every appetizer on the menu: a husk-wrapped tamale topped with crisp onions is rich and custardy; fried yuca is remarkably grease free; links of meaty Argentine sausage are perfectly grilled; breaded ham croquettes are light as a cloud and flaky empanadas bulge with shredded chicken and green olive-spiked ground beef. Tostones rellenos de camaron ($8.95) are cupcake shaped fried green plantains with indentations holding bits of plump shrimp in a snappy Creole sauce. A big bowl of Cuban style chicken soup ($3.95) holds flavorful broth, carrots, potatoes, thin noodles, lots of chicken and a lime wedge.
Entree excellence: Point anywhere on the menu and you'll call up a winner thanks to a kitchen that aces every dish. Amazingly tender pork chunks laced with onions ($9.95) are easily the best I've ever eaten. They're made even better with the bed of velvety guacamole beneath them. Cherna en salsa verde ($16.95) is a thick filet of grouper lightly battered and sauteed with a delicious draping of parsley/cilantro cream sauce and a trio of plump shrimp on top. The churrasco ($14.95) is absolutely succulent; an upgraded knife is delivered alongside, but the skirt steak is so tender you barely need it. The accompanying garlicky chimichurri kicks it up to above average status.
Sides: Black beans taste of cumin, bay leaf and garlic for a taste to remember. Yuca poached with onions is deliciously sweet; the creamy potato has a $2.50 up charge but is as big as a kid's football.
Sweet!: Dense and luxurious, house flan ($3.95) is surrounded by a pool of textbook perfect caramel. Tres leches ($4.25) is a buttery delight of melt-in-your-mouth vanilla cake expertly moistened and surprisingly light.
Service: Caring and attentive.
Contact dining correspondent Judith Stocks at judithstocksreviews@yahoo.com.