"Cafe La Trova is like a museum to Cuban cocktail culture. Except you can drink the exhibits, so it’s more fun. They’re deeply committed to the bit at this Calle Ocho spot, which can be a restaurant or a bar, depending on where you sit. The bartenders (they go by cantineros here) wear shiny black vests and occasionally whip out instruments to play along with the house band. The front bar is always a scene, but there’s a bit more personal space in the heavily mirrored back bar. The best thing here is the fairly straightforward daiquiri: white rum, fresh lime juice, and a couple of eyeballed spoonfuls of sugar, all shaken so hard there are little fragments of chipped ice floating at the surface." - ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo