La Guarida restaurant
La Guarida, a Paladar Fit for the Oscars in the Center of Havana
La Guarida and a handful of other private restaurants in Havana are the avant-garde of a new Cuban cuisine. Top-of-the-line chefs, some of which have taken international courses in the best schools all over the world, are experimenting with new Cuban recipes for your delight in your Havana holidays.
Welcome to La Guarida, arguably the best restaurant in Havana. It is a privately owned restaurant or Paladar, as they are called in Cuba. It is located in the neighbourhood of Centro Habana, on Concordia #418 between Gervasio and Escobar. To book in, call (537) 863 7351. It is five minutes in car from the Casa de la Música de Galiano.
Paladares are small establishments found in the houses of ordinary Cubans, some in fancy mansions, others, like La Guarida, in rickety early 20th century palacea where several families live today. It could be a museum for Cuban kitsch as well, with its over-furnished rooms, ancient books and religious imagery, including statues of Jesus Christ.
La Guarida was the setting for the film Fresa y Chocolate ("Strawberry and Chocolate"), the best known Cuban film outside the island. Nominated for an Oscar in 1995, it tells the story of an uncommon relationship between a sophisticated homosexual and a rather naïve member of the Cuban communist youth organization. When tourist started to track down the location where the film was shot, its owner saw an opportunity to set up shop. Nowadays, La Guarida is a cult place that nobody wants to miss in their Havana holidays. Celebrity patrons of the paladar include Benicio del Toro, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg and Uma Thurman.
La Guarida and a handful of other restaurants in Havana are the avant-garde of a new Cuban cuisine that is quickly doing away with the island’s reputation for poor food. Top-of-the-line chefs, some of which have taken international courses in the best schools all over the world, are experimenting with new recipes using Cuban ingredients, with plenty of fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, avocadoes and aubergine.
If you like fish - and considering the fact that while Cuba is surrounded by sea, there isn’t (oddly enough) much seafood or fish on the menus - you can find a cornucopia of them in La Guarida, including the tuna with sugar cane, the grouper with coconut and carrot sauce, the swordfish with black pepper sauce and the red snapper ceviche. Starters like aubergine and parmesan tartlets, mains like the popular lemon and honey glazed chicken with Lyonnaise potatoes, and for dessert, a delicious hot chocolate fondant pudding is a great combo. The wine cellar is very well stocked too.
