Cubana

I was proper pleased with Cubana. We ventured out for a work lunch and it was nice to see multiple veggie options on the lunch menu. I even had trouble deciding! Crikey!!! Is that even how you spell it?

I chose the Quimbombo because it was fun to say but also an okra casserole sounded interesting. The flavours were very nice and I was happy with how nomtastic it tasted with the rice and plantains. They also have this crazy bright orange chili sauce which is delicious.

£7 for an entree and £10 for an entree and starter. I had the sweet potato falafel as a starter which was also yummy.

Not bad Cubana I'll come back to try your massive pitchers that everyone drinks after work.

Everything in our order was wrong. Ordered fried plantains they gave us sweet fried plantains (Not the same). We ordered a Cuban sandwich WITHOUT mustard and there was plenty of mustard in the sandwich. Ordered extra, extra, extra crispy wings and they were not even cooked enough.

Overpriced, weak drinks, and bland food are the only ways I could really describe Cubana. They've tried to establish a party vibe, but when you're sitting outside in a plastic tent, that's pretty hard. Our server, Jaime, was the only redeeming factor for Cubana.
We had a group of 5, so decided to order a pitcher of mojito as they claim to have been the ones to bring it to the UK - this was one of the most watered down mojitos I have ever had in my life. At £23 for a jug, I would have expected much better, and also much bigger. This jug served 5 very small cups, and no more. After our disappointment there, we decided to order a jug of the Cuba Libre, which was also a very weak drink that tasted flat and watered down.
To eat, I had the plantain chili rice (so bland - tasted like nothing) and the chicken wings. The wings were pretty good, but weren't as cooked inside as they were charred on the outside.
Overall, this was a major miss for me that I really wanted to love. They are open pretty late, which is rare to the area.

Save your coins for another spot! Sadly, This is definitely not authentic or good cuban food... Also, the piña colada was warm and the sangria was disgusting. These are the facts.

If I can give a -5 star, Cubana would take it.

First of all the place looked filthy.

Second each hostess I spoke to treated me like I was unworthy to exist. I asked the first hostess where I can order drinks for outdoors she said, talk to my colleagues without telling me where to find her colleagues

I ran over to the colleague asking for a menu and she points at a table 10ft away expecting me to get it.

Yelpers of London- don't come here.

CUBANA...DO BETTER

I have eaten in many good Cuban restaurants around the world and this is not one of them. A good restaurant experience is based the quality and presentation of the food, the ambiance and the service. Unfortunately Cubans was lacking in all areas.
From the moment we arrived for our reservation, the host acted as if he was doing us a favor and "warned" us we only had 90 minutes to finish our meal. That would have been laughable except the service was so slow the food arrived with twenty minutes left on the timer.
The tapas appetizers were good with nice flavors. The main dishes were less than acceptable. The Ropas Viejas was so salty as to be inedible and served in a manner that reminded of a school cafeteria.

The atmosphere has so much potential but it is ruined by first impressions and mediocre food.

Great tasting food, I was definitely amazed by how good it was, great service by Ms. Jessica. All around great atmosphere.

The service from Sudanese, Mateus and Ida was great. Loved the mood and environment. All the good vibes :)

As a person from a Cuban bloodline I was curious to see how close this restaurant came to being authentic. It failed. That failure was compounded by the rudeness of the sullen faced host, who snarkily warned that we would be timed during our meal. Who does that? The only saving grace was that the remainder of the wait staff were fairly pleasant. The meat was overly salty, limited seasoning, which is a must for Cuban food and the rice and beans paled in comparison to true Cuban black beans and rice. I will not even talk about the fact that rather than serve platanos maduros (ripe plantains), what was served was more like tostones, without the flavor. A disappointing experience, made worse by the behavior of that host.

Cubana is a colourful Cuban restaurant near Waterloo offering both dine-in, as well as lunchtime street takeaway. I got the pulled pork box for takeaway, and it was quite scrumptious. Make sure you get the dipping sauces, since they add extra flavour and let you customise your heat level. Overall one of the better Latin options in London!