Lyla D.
Yelp
During our short 4 day mid-December 2024 visit to Las Vegas, I excitedly read about the then-upcoming late-December (December 26, 2024) Grand Opening of the Miami-based Cuban restaurant Havana 1957 in the Flamingo Hotel on The Strip and other new bars, cafés, and restaurants. Although our December vacation ended well before the opening of the Cuban restaurant, I kept it in mind because I knew we'd return to Las Vegas in late January to celebrate my husband's birthday/birth week and Lunar New Year. Just 2 weeks before our January return travel to Las Vegas, I checked online with the Open Table dining reservation app for availability and booked a reservation.
We had never wandered into the Flamingo Hotel before, so this dining experience would be the first time we'd been there, but it was certainly not the first time we'd enjoyed Cuban cuisine. After reminiscing over my Canadian-Chinese relatives who visited or stayed in Old Havana during the mid-20th Century, I was curious about the authenticity of the cuisine and the ambiance. The only memories of their travels were black-and-white photos of the living conditions, scenery, and food. However, my parents read us their letters, written in Hanzi 漢字, since we were too young to read the Hanzi fluently, but it seemed the letters were cheerful and showed my relatives enjoying their Cuban experiences. It was odd that my parents never saved the letters, but my mother managed to keep the envelopes and stamps. Hmm, I've often wondered if perhaps there was something in the letters that my parents didn't share with us.
I finally appreciated authentic Cuban cuisine and culture while on business in Philadelphia, New York, and Miami from the early 2000s to 2010. So, what can I say about our experience in Havana in 1957? We were greeted by two friendly hostesses who seated us immediately based on our reservation time. Within a few seconds, our server, German, energetically greeted us with a smile, asked if this was the first time we'd experienced Cuban cuisine, and informed us about their specialty items. As I looked over the menus, I noticed that this location in Havana, 1957, is geared toward Cuban-American tastes rather than at their Miami Beach location where I've eaten at. However, the Las Vegas menus still represented the Cuban cuisine which is the blending of native ingredients and cooking traditions with those of South America, Spain, Africa, Asia, and others, reflecting its colorful culture known as "Criollo or home style."
Since we were having to wake early for our return flight the following day, I chose to order the thirst-quenching, refreshing, and tropical-flavored Passion Fruit Virgen Mojito ($14) while my husband ordered a Michelada ($16) while deciding on our meals. Not to be missed are the authentic Cuban Croquettes aka croquetas de jamón (ground ham in béchamel croquettes) as appetizers. We're porkaholics so I chose the Roasted Pork and my husband chose the Crispy Pork entrées.
- Roasted Pork or Lechón Asado: I was excited to taste Cuban mojo seasoned slow-roasted pork and its sides of Moro rice (black beans w/white rice) and sweet plantains (maduros). The shredded, tender, and flavorful roasted pork reminded me of Hawaiian kālua pig but wasn't as smoky tasting. The shredded pork's richness was cut yet complimented by the savory Moro rice and fried sweet yet starchy maduros. $29
- Crispy Pork: the name of this entree made me think of the pork chunks or masitas de puerco fritas that I've eaten but interested my husband more because of he associated eating Filipino pata (crispy pork leg). The presentation of this entrée was interesting as German brought the fried pork chunks on a minature la caja China or pig roasting box. My husband opted for the white rice and silky and subtly flavored Cuban black beans (frijoles negros). German suggested to remove the pork chunks from the grill (la caja China) to avoid overcooking however, when my husband cut into the first pork chunks, he found it to be very dry, hard, and not as tender or flavorful as he expected. He only ate one chunk of pork but dove into my meal. $29
- Cuban Flan: the dessert was a pièce de résistance. This flan was firm, rich-tasting, and beautifully-yet-simply presented. The maraschino cherries were probably Luxardo-brand and were certainly not those overly sweetened and artificial maraschino cherries from the supermarket. Candied walnuts added a sweet crunchy texture to balance the silky smooth yet firm flan. The flan was probably made with either sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk instead of a whole milk combination which is typical to Spanish-made flan. We didn't experience lactose-intolerance from this flan like we would have from the use of whole milk or cream.
Service was friendly, if not a bit overly attentive and became somewhat annoying. German would frequently stop by to ask how we'r
