The Best Restaurant in Havana, Cuba

Background Illustration for Restaurants

Shortages of raw materials and a bureaucratized approach to food preparation in state-owned restaurants have produced many a mediocre meal, but with the privateer restaurants leading the way, Cuban cuisine is coming back. For the best cooking in Havana, seek out the paladares (privately owned establishments; the name, which literally means "palates," was cribbed from a popular Brazilian soap opera in which the heroine makes her fortune with a roadside restaurant named "El Paladar de Raquel"). Call ahead to reserve a table if you go to a paladar, and never believe a taxi driver who swears to you that the place is closed; he gets a commission for taking you to the place he is flacking for.

Le Chansonnier

$$ | Vedado
Once a private French restaurant, Le Chansonnier has now emerged into one of Havana's hottest paladares under the direction of Hector Higueras. In its modern chic interior, dine on fusion specialities such as seafood gazpacho, aubergine au gratin, roast chicken with mushroom cream, and their signature duck terrine. Make a visit the bathrooms to see the amazing artwork created by Damián Alquiles.