Cafe Cuba – restaurant review

Newly opened on Stokes Croft directly opposite Middle-Eastern specialists Biblos, and just a stone’s throw from Indian street food pedlars Chai Walla, Cafe Cuba is the latest spot to open on a stretch with rich pickings for anyone looking for a bit of flavour to their food.

The door of the little shop, the last building before scrubby Turbo Island, is invitingly open on this warm lunchtime, and inside it smells delicious as chef cooks up dishes in the tiny open kitchen behind the bar. A greeting of beaming smiles comes from the front-of-house manager behind the bar, who explains how to get to the nearest cashpoint when I’m temporarily thwarted by the ‘cash only’ sign by the fruit bowl. Another diner takes her headphones off to help with the directions: community spirit already feels rife in this friendly little place.

With money in my wallet, I return and take a seat at one of the half-dozen mismatching tables that fill the front of the restaurant, with a breakfast bar in the bay window and a couple of white plastic stools at the bar that you could sit up at if your Spanish was good enough. The tables are wobbly and the only decoration is the big blue menu tacked up on the wall, along with a couple of maps of Cuba and a string of international flags, but the service is supremely friendly. There’s an intermittent rumble of bass from music playing from the back of the shop, and the two staff members keep up a rapid-fire conversation in Spanish, until the manager brings over a menu and recommends the Caribbean lemonade (£2.50) – “like mojito but no alcohol,” he explains.

He returns with a drink in hand, and points out his recommendations of the traditional Cuban dishes on the menu offering big Caribbean flavours – ropa vieja (£9.95), lomo de cerdo (£7.95) and chilli con carne (£7.95) – “but everything is good!” he laughs with a big toothy grin. I order the ropa vieja, pulled beef in a vegetable stew with rice and peas and some plantain on the side, and then take a sip of the lemonade. It’s full of mouth-puckeringly tart fresh lemon juice, the pith and spent rinds filling the bottom of the glass, but is expertly balanced with a bit of sugar and some fresh mint to give it a lift.

A pair of Spanish speakers come in and are greeted by both members of staff like old friends. They are shown to a seat in the window by the manager and chat together as they look over the menu. Meanwhile, chef has been cooking up a storm and delivers a huge plate of food to my table, with a set of cutlery and a big smile.

Everything is steaming hot and tastes fresh. The pulled beef is brilliantly tender and despite the thinness of the stew, somehow it manages to pack an intensely rich, meaty flavour, punctuated by the bitter edge of green olives and the sweetness of the vegetables – tomato, pepper, onion and a whole roasted clove of garlic.

The rice and peas is moist and comes with a sprig of fresh rosemary and coriander in the top of its perfect little dome. It’s a little saltier than needed, but the vegetables in the stew help to tamp that down as it absorbs the flavours of the liquid.

Also on the plate are several generous mouthfuls of fried plantain. It’s so crisp around the edges that it tastes caramelised, while the soft centre has had a generous sprinkling of salt. It’s only just emerged from its bath of boiling oil and I have to take a swig of lemonade to prevent the roof of my mouth catching fire, but perhaps it’s designed that way as the sharpness of the lemons slices through the salty-sweetness and tastes amazing.

More Spanish-speakers enter the restaurant as I’m mopping up the last of the stew with the last of the rice, creating a delicious jumble of flavours on the plate. Chef sharpens his knives, ready for the next supremely chilled service, and the manager puts on some music with a soft salsa rhythm and a hefty bass. It feels like Stokes Croft couldn’t be a better home for an unpretentious restaurant serving brilliant authentic food as Cafe Cuba is.

Cafe Cuba
69 Stokes Croft
Bristol
BS1 3QU
0117 329 4722