A Little Taste of Cuba in Irvine

Habana

708 Spectrum Center Dr. 

Irvine, CA 92618

If you have been to the Irvine Spectrum Center recently you have probably noticed all of the construction going on in the former Macy's area of this large South OC shopping and entertainment complex. The Macy's has been demolished, there are quite a few parking spots being taken away by the construction, and the Irvine Company has just announced 14 of the eventual 30 new businesses that will be opening over the next year.

These include an 85 Degrees Bakery and Cafe, a Hello Kitty Cafe, an Afters Ice Cream, a BLK Coffee, and a Falasophy, which is a modern Lebanese street kitchen. It's not all food places of course, as there's also going to be a Sephora and the always trendy H&M. This roster of new stores and restaurants is sure to make the Spectrum busier, but there's also going to be a new 1,500 space parking structure built to help alleviate the troublesome parking situation here.

For now, Habana is kind of on an island off by itself. If you are coming from the mall side, Habana is situated right behind the Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, and Tilly's. If you are coming from the parking lot, look for Dave and Buster's and it will be to your left. Complicating things a bit, Habana has no sign on its building. I'm not sure if this is a temporary thing or not, but it does make it a little harder to find this isolated (for now) restaurant.

Habana is not new of course. The location at the LAB in Costa Mesa has been open for over twenty years now and has been the scene for some wild late nights when I was in my 20's and early 30's. I've also had some pretty good Cuban dinners at Habana, including this one that I reviewed seven years ago. Has it really been that long? Geez, it was definitely time to visit Habana's new spot at The Spectrum.

Entering Habana is done on the mall side of the restaurant. If you enter from the parking lot you will be entering their small coffee shop and bakery. The inside of Habana transports you to a bygone era that most of us have just seen in the movies or on TV. There's a patio which we hear is nice and serene, but we were seated in their glorious dining room, with its arched, high ceilings, which lends to the grand ballroom feel you get when dining here. Adding to the ambiance is the table setting, with its small lamps providing not enough lighting to the darker than I would like restaurant, the glass chalices used for water glasses, and the china that looks like it's right from the 50's, and only used for special occasions. All of this ambiance was great, but it's all for naught if the food is not good, so let's see how that turned out for us.

Mexican restaurants traditionally start you off with chips and salsa, while at Habana they start your meal with a trio of cassava, taro, and sweet potato chips and then pair it with a trio of sauces; chimichurri, a red pepper and garlic salsa, and the best of the bunch, a black bean dip which I could not get enough of. Addictive, and they were not shy about refilling this.

It had been almost two days since my last Caesar salad, and I was intrigued by the Habana Caesar Salad ($7), so I had to give it a try. Not only was this a very generous portion size for a Caesar, it could have easily fed two people, but I liked the slight twist they made to make this their own. It came with some very good garlic croutons, some parmesan crisps which added some nice texture, and a very well done papaya seed Caesar dressing. The key to the success of this salad was plenty of parmesan and the just right amount of dressing used on this. The papaya tinge was just enough but did not overpower. A delicious salad which I would get again without hesitation.

Ozker must have been a little jealous that I was enjoying my salad so much because he hastily ordered this Mariscos Fritos ($14). This fried fish platter contained some calamari, shrimp, and conch fritters. That's at least what the menu said, but I only saw one or two shrimp and no conch. Maybe Ozker snagged them before I got a chance to try them, but he's not that fast. The buttermilk fried calamari was nicely done, without the heaviness that usually accompanies fried fish. I really enjoyed the jalapeno crema that came as a dipping sauce with this.

Sorry for the poor picture quality of Martin's entree, it was really dark in the dining room on this evening. He had the El Churrasco ($28). This plate included an 8-ounce skirt steak, corn on the cob with a chile lime butter and cotija cheese, white rice, plantains, and black beans. Martin thought the steak was a little under-seasoned, but it was helped out with a good chimichurri sauce included and was just tender enough. As for the sides, he was not really a big fan of the corn but liked the rice and the black beans well enough. He'd get something else the next time he was at Habana.

Ozker probably got the most famous of all Cuban dishes, the Ropa Vieja ($20). He made quick work of this shredded beef which was studded with sweet peppers, onions, garlic, and tomatoes, and then served over rice. A very comforting dish, the beef was flavorful and tender, and the sides of black beans and plantains did not last too long either. A very good rendition of Cuba's national dish.

I always steer towards pork at Cuban restaurants, and that was the case when I stepped up and had this El Puerco Primo ($23). This homey meal had a great balance to it. A very large pork shank was plopped in the middle of some creamy and delicious garlic mashed potatoes, greens, and sweet plantains to finish it off. I loved the savory pork, it did not have a bad bite in the bunch. The greens worked well with the potatoes, and the plate was rounded out nicely with the sweet plantains, which I'm not usually too fond of, but they went well here. A winning dish for sure.

No dessert for Martin, as he'd rather drink his dessert apparently. When you are at Habana you will no doubt hear the bartenders chopping coconuts to make this Al Centro Pa Dentro ($10). Looking around the dining room on this evening, this might be the signature drink at Habana. It's a mixture of coconut water, mint and Bacardi served in a freshly chopped coconut. I liked the refreshing taste of this, with the little kick you get from the rum after each sip. Be advised that these tip over rather easily, as both Martin and Ozker, spilled theirs at different parts of the evening. Amatures.

There were many desserts which sounded good to finish off my evening, but when I saw these Banana Fritters ($8) on the menu, I knew my quest for dessert was over. These bananas were wrapped in pastry dough and then fried and drizzled with a rich caramel rum sauce, and served with ice cream. I liked these, but they were a little difficult to eat. The pastry dough was not as light as I was hoping for. It was difficult to cut through, and once I did get through it, all the fried dough came off in one fell swoop. The caramel sauce was magical though.

This visit to Habana reaffirmed their position as top of the Cuban restaurant throne in OC. Not only is this one of the most beautiful restaurants in Orange County, but they have the food to back it up. I do wish they had their Cuban sandwich on the dinner menu, but that just gives me a reason to go back for lunch very soon. There's also a brunch that we have heard some good things about. Service on this evening was very professional, and our server kept things moving along nicely with some good pacing. I'm looking forward to the other new restaurants opening up at The Spectrum, but having Habana there is a great way to start things off.

Out of five bags of sugar, (because most people probably don't know this, but there's a Habana in Queensland, Australia named after a now-shuttered sugar mill), five being best to zero being worst, Habana gets 3.5 bags of sugar.


For more information about Habana, head to their website here: https://www.restauranthabana.com/#home-section

Soaking Up the Atmosphere at Habana

Habana

2930 Bristol Street

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Oh, the memories I have had at Habana. In my twenties, when I lived mere blocks away from this place, I was here maybe three nights a week. My roommates and I were friends with a lot of employees here. We hung out mostly at the bar, were served stiff drinks, and tried unsuccessfully to pick up on women, (okay maybe I was unsuccessful, while they did have some luck). Anyways, there were some good times had here.

Now as I enter my fourth decade, I find I do not hang out in bars as often, and I tend to focus more on food than drinks. I still do enjoy alcohol but in much more moderation. Plus, those hangovers now last a lot longer than they used to. Back to my point though, this was going to be one of my first experiences eating dinner here. I have had appetizers here before, but I can not recall eating dinner here, so I was excited to see if the food would match my fond memories.

Habana is located at the Lab Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa. This outdoor alternative mall was opened in 1993 on the remains of a vacant military night goggle factory.  Habana has been at this mall for as long as I can remember. The restaurant, like this shopping center, has a cool vibe to it. Candles all over the place, hip music playing over the speakers, and servers that look like they are right out an indie music magazine. Let's see if all of this hipness translates to the food.

It was my buddy Richard's birthday, and what did the birthday boy want to drink? A Mojito of course. The mojito's at Habana are pretty well known. The cocktail is made of white rum, limes, mint, sugar syrup, and soda water. Richard must have liked this cocktail because he sucked down five of them while we were here. They did make him more enjoyable to be around though. Kidding big guy!

Before dinner, we started with two appetizers. The first of which was the Seasoned-Fried Avocado Slices. This was served with a smoked chipotle dipping sauce. Really, how could fried avocados be bad?  These were very creamy inside to contrast with the crunchy shell. The sauce was very mellow, but these would have been better with some ranch dressing. These really got me in the mood to have the fried food at the fair.

We next went with the Stuffed Pork Croquettas. These were filled with pork and manchego cheese. The bartender brought us two dinner rolls and suggested we made the croquettes into sliders. The cheese and pork were well done on these, but the sauce lacked a kick.

We were seated outside on the patio for dinner and were given the breadbasket above. The bread was the same as we used to make our sliders. The bread smelled like sweet bread, but the flavor was not as sweet as the aroma given off by bread.

I guess we will start off with the birthday boy's entree first. Richard had the Ropa Vieja, which combined shredded beef, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic served with black beans and white rice. Richard considered this dish to be average. He felt the meat was tender, but the dish was over salted. He liked the rice but felt it was not as good as Chipotle. It always comes back to Chipotle with this guy. Why am I even friends with him?

Richard's Mom went the seafood route when she chose the In-House Smoked Halibut. Here the fish is wrapped in a corn husk and seasoned with achiote seasoning, then topped with a citrus-papaya shrimp sauce. She loved the smokiness of the halibut and felt the fruitiness of the sauce complimented the fish nicely. She liked the white rice and black beans that came with this dish as sides.

This colorful dish is the Puerco Primo. The last Cuban restaurant I went to I made the mistake of getting a beef dish. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, so I went with this pork entree. The pork is slow-roasted, and then flash-fried to give it a kind of crispness. The pork is served on the bone, which I am generally not a big fan of, but it works here. Good flavor for the meat, and decent serving size. This was served with bacon braised collard greens, which were as delicious as they sound. A very well balanced plate.

Lastly, we have Katie's choice for the evening, the Skirt Steak. Unfortunately, she ordered this steak well done, (she has a thing about seeing pink on her steaks). This steak is smoked and then grilled, then topped with chimichurri and red onion. She really liked the sauce on this but found the steak to be stringy. That is probably due to the way she ordered this, so they get a pass on that. I tried a bite and found the flavor to be good, but I would have liked to have tried this medium rare. This steak was also served with Spanish rice and corn on the cob with cotija cheese. The Spanish rice was much better than white rice. Really bold flavor with this. The corn on the cob was good and was not what she expected.

A birthday dinner would not be complete without dessert, and here we have the Banana Fritters. I liked the outer fried skin of this, but the bananas were a little tough to cut through. The fritters were drizzled with a chocolate caramel sauce, which they could have used more of. The ice cream was a really nice compliment to this dessert. A decent dessert dish.

Habana is a very busy restaurant. They really pack the people in. The service on the night we were here was sub-par. Glasses were empty a good majority of the night, and the waiter was AWOL for a lot of the meal. The prices at Habana are a little on the high side. Main dishes will run you in the $16 to $24 range. Mojitos are way overpriced for the amount you get at $8 each, or $10 for blueberry or blackberry mojito.

The food at Habana is good, but we were not blown away. The atmosphere here is what really makes this place. The chill vibe, and as the night went on, the strung up lights and candles took effect, and then this restaurant became even hipper. It has the feel of a great date night restaurant spot.

So out of five pirates, (because the city of Havana suffered regular attacks from pirates in the 16th century), five being best to zero being worst, Habana gets 3 pirates.

For more information about Habana, head to their website here: https://www.restauranthabana.com/#home-section