Café Havana – Mall of the Emirates

In a nutshell: Extensive menu, tasty food but lacking in service
Score: 4/5

Café Havana (near Zara in Mall of the Emirates) used to look out on the jumping fountains but with the current refurb of the outside area going on, it has left Café Havana quite literally in the dark. The hoardings completely shut off the windows so no natural light gets in. Fingers crossed it will all come down soon to help brighten the atmosphere!

I went to Café Havana specifically to have their prawn and pineapple skewers. After ordering this from the waitress, she came back to tell me that the menu had actually changed recently and that item wasn’t available any more. A bit more training on the menu with the staff wouldn’t go amiss! Although this isn’t a 5 star establishment you would still expect the staff to know the menu – even if it is a very comprehensive one.

I settled on a caprese salad which was very good; the balsamic vinegar had been mixed with, I think, honey to give it a sweet flavour that was great. The salads don’t come under the starter section of the menu so I had expected something fairly substantial, but it was a definite starter size and since I didn’t have time to order anything else I left the restaurant still quite hungry. So a slightly more generous portion wouldn’t go wrong – or a choice of starter / main size dishes perhaps?

In terms of the menu selection they offer breakfast (eggs benedict at Dhs 28), appetizers at Dhs 25-50 (calamari, coconut prawns, spring rolls), salads (the Havana salad includes all sorts of Far Eastern fruits and sounded very tempting) at Dhs 40-50, sandwiches and burgers at Dhs 40-50, main courses (including fajitas, fish & chips, lamb rack) at Dhs 40-70 and pastas / pizzas at Dhs 30-50. All very reasonably priced. There is a dedicated children’s menu at Dhs 25 per dish and a selection of ice-cream specialities, banana split any one?