Havana Central, Garden City

The hubby and I have been long overdue to get out for a bite and spend some time with our good friends. My girlfriend has been dying to have us join her and her husband at this restaurant where she had dined previously. She raved about the place and we could not wait to try it out for ourselves. Havana Central has four locations, one is on the outside of the Roosevelt Field Mall and decided to go to this location. I love the way it looked from the outside but it is when you walk through the doors of the restaurant that you feel you have walked into another region of the world. You automatically feel the electricity and the ambiance of feeling like you are in Cuba. The only thing I was hoping for is to see Al Pacino (from Scarface) to walk through the doors; that would have been the icing on the cake. The decor was done perfectly, they have these beautiful booths that have an enclosed canopy around them. I was so hoping that we would be seated at one of those but we where seated in the second part of the restaurant at a standard table. They also have a live band playing which only adds to the feel of the Cuban experience. The place was quite busy but the wait was not long at all. They have a wonderful menu along with some very interesting drinks.
We started with our choice of apps; which when we are with the hubby and his friends is not trying one or two but about four or five. After that I hardly have room for too much more but god bless hubby and his friend they can sure eat. We ordered the homemade Chicken Sofrito, Beef Picadillo Empanadas, Cuban Tamales, and the Caribbean Deviled Eggs. They also offered a dish of their sweet plantains which is one of hubby's favorite dishes. We all loved the Beef Empanadas, the chicken however were so-so at best. The Tamales were done well, but the Deviled Eggs were nothing and I mean nothing out of the ordinary as a matter of fact they really were not worth getting at all. Actually hubby makes the best deviled eggs by far. Bill ordered the Syrah Sangria and I the house sangria which was OK. As far as dinner I knew immediately what I was in the mood for which was the Oxtail Stew, hubby ordered a special which was a Braised Pork Shank that came with a mashed potato but hubby asked for Steak Fries instead. Our friends went with the Guava Glazed Havana Ribs and Roast Pork Mofongo. I could not get over my dish; it was done to perfection. Hubby was not that happy with his, he found it was too sweet of a sauce for his liking but thought the pork shank cooked perfectly and was exceptionally tender. The mofongo was a well executed dish as well as the ribs. For dessert we went with the Flan that I thought was just OK, I have had better. Surprisingly for a dish the Cubans often make.  The Chocolate Filled Empanadas were really yummy and hubby because he could not get over how incredible the plantains were had to order another dish of them for dessert. Did I not tell you he can eat. All in all we really enjoyed this restaurant and would highly recommend it.

For this visit they earned 4 out of 5 forks.

http://havanacentral.com/