May 6th Havana tour open for registration!

Would you like to see Havana like most tourists can't? Join us on an exclusive week long tour of Havana! We will visit the city's historical sites, cigar factories, best restaurants, and much more. We only have room for 12 people, as more book we will customize the tour for your specific needs.  We can arrange flights from major Canadian cities, or just hotel and tour.  May 6th is our next trip and we already have bookings.  The price will depend on your travel wants and needs, but we are confident we can book you from Canada for as little as $1200 including Hotel, flight, and your guide.  If you want guide only the prices are minimal.  Our tours are open to any english speaking tourist, Canadian, American, or European.  Contact us for more details. chuckinhavana@gmail.com

2011 restaurant and Havana guide update!

Every year the food just gets better.  Two new hits for me was Doctors Cafe, which has fantastic Ceviche, fresh bread, grilled veggies, and decent BBQ ribs.  I hit this place three times this trip.   Next I had the pleasure of dining twice at La Guarida.  Made famous by some old chocolate strawberry movie, this restaurant is real fine dining in Havana.  The service is exceptional, the meals were top notch! My first meal here I started with the snapper carpaccio, unreal thinly pounded snapper in with a lime and cracked pepper dressing. Then I had the orange sauce snapper for my entree, the fish was cooked perfectly, but the sauce was a little on the boring side.  The best part of this first meal was seeing Marvin Shanken waiting in the hallway with his grumpy bear face on.  The second trip the food just got better. I started with the lasagna appetizer, which was a dish of ham, papaya, herbs, and cheese made into a little lasagna.  The main course was the herb baked grouper, this dish is a must have. To finish the strawberry ice cream was awesome.    The walk up the stairs to the restaurant is quite the trip.  Two other places I feel ashamed of not mentioning before are the coffee shop and the micro brewery in Plaza Vieja.  The cafe has it's own roasted beans, and fantastic little sandwiches for really cheap.  I think the service is so bad at the cafe it's almost entertaining.   My suggestion is when you want your bill, just standing up and start leaving!

2011 Habanos Festival

Well, another festival has come and gone.  It started Monday and we arrived at the Copa Cabana mid afternoon.  The hotel was better than expected, great service and a very cool ocean swimming pool.  Monday night was the opening night at the Gran Teatro, with performance by Leo Brower the acclaimed Cuban guitarist.  Most reported the evening to be well put together but as usual boring as hell.  Released were the new Partagas Serie E No.2, and Serie D No.5 added to the popular Serie line.  Tuesday was a day for the plantation tours, so a whole pile of buses convoyed out to Pinar del Rio.  There the participants were treated to sorting and curing demos, walking around the plants, finished off by a fairly bad lunch and show. Wednesday was the H.Upmann  evening at the Salon de Laguitos.  This event was the best one we've seen so far, even better than other years Galas.  The new cigars were the Half Coronas (which are a great size, but will be a retarded size to price ratio when they arrive in Canada), and the La Casa Edition Royal Robusto.  The last cigar of the evening was the Cohiba 1966, another giant Vitola release.  Music was unbelievable, and the service was impeccable.  Thursday was the factory tours, which turned out to be the Partagas, and the new H.Upmann factory (old R&J factory).  The factory tours were much more proffessional this year, which means almost zero people buying cigars off the rolling tables.  Friday of course was the Gala dinner, which had a great turnout. The cigar focus was squarely on the new Montecristo #2 Grand Reserva.  The Humidor auction was a bit disapointing given one of the humidors did not even get it's reserve price.
Overall this years festival was one of the best! The best reason to go, is to meet tons of fellow Habanos lovers, and to enjoy your cigars in the best cigar city in the world.

Traveling to Havana Part 2

The most exciting part of Havana is of course, the cigars.   In my experience, Havana is the best and only place you want to buy cigars.  Varadero, Holguin, Cayo Coco, and other destinations will have some cigars, but many will be counterfeit. Even more will be poorly looked after.  Buying cigars in Havana has changed a lot over my time visiting there (7 years).  My last trip was February 2010, and I had to learn all over again where to go and what to look for.

            The First rule is never, ever, ever assume cigars are genuine just because they are in a government store, or they look and smell good.  I stayed at the Melia Cohiba this last trip and was surprised to see that almost every “single cigar” was a house rolled stick with an old band put on.  I can tell by color variation and the unmistakable smell of an under aged cigar.  This might smoke all right and taste ok, but you are definitely not getting what you’re paying for.  For the most part you need to focus on whole boxes, with the exception of one store.

            That store is the Club Havana store.  This is by far my favorite.  The atmosphere is quiet, calm, and very sophisticated.  The rollers, managed by Enrique Mons, are the best in Havana. The humidor is well kept, and is the exception when it comes to buying singles.  Yes Club Havana is far from everything, but if your reading this your probably not some lazy tourist, who buys Cohibas from some guy who knows a guy (please don’t be that guy). The selection is very good here, but probably not the best in Havana.  Since you made the trip out here you should also eat at El Chelo, and sit by the beach, so pack a bag and relax.

            The Partagas Factory store is the best in old Havana, very busy though.  You don’t go here for great service.  Next I would suggest the Nacional Hotel.  The store in the basement is very classy, and has a decent selection.  Also happens to be at the best place to smoke a cigar, go out back of the hotel in the courtyard.  I dare you not to relax.

            If you’re willing to head out to the neighborhood of Miramar, there are three shops to hit. The small cigar store at El Ajibe restaurant is amazing.  Leticia will show a small but very quality selection of aged cigars.  Then down the street is the large La Casa on 5^th. This was the flagship La Casa store in Havana, huge restaurant, live music, and ok selection of cigars.  Last in Miramar is the Melia Habana store, named after Don Alejandro Robaina.  This is a world gem for variety, and ambiance.  If you want to sit with a cigar and people watch, this is the best store.  One of the managers is Maximo, an extremely helpful man, with an uncommon grasp of English.

            If you have any questions please comment, and I’ll try to answer. I know I left out the new Casa store downtown at the Habana Libre. (I haven’t had chance to review it, check back after this February). 

Traveling to Havana Part 1 (food)

Havana, the Mecca for most cigar enthusiasts, can be a daunting place to enjoy.  Most first time visitors feel they are greeted by timeless architecture, free flowing music, and spirits.  You are also bombarded with a cultural difference that is hard to understand, this is because of Cuba’s unique history of semi-communism, and authoritarian rule.  

            Eating in Havana.  I know a lot of people think I should start with cigars, since that’s what we love, but trust me this advice is much more valuable.  Nowhere in the world have I traveled and experienced such a variety of terrible food.  It is safe to say Havana is one of the most difficult places to find good food.  That being said you will be able to find great cuisine with just a few tips. 

            The first rule for dining in Havana is if you don’t like overpriced garbage, do not eat in a hotel.  At one time the Cuban government had too many fingers in the hotel pockets, and this created an atmosphere of indifference towards service, and quality, and safety of food. The problem still exists largely due to the fact that the Cuban people struggle to learn the power of competition (communism).  To get an exceptional, or even basically good meal you’ll have to hunt for it, in places where it was once illegal and where real competition actually matters.  These are private restaurants called Paladars, some of them are where you will find what you’re looking for.  It is extremely important to take a little time to plan your meals so you don’t end up looking for something last minute.  

            If you have any other suggestions for traveling to Havana, leave them in the comments.

Warms Regards

Chuck Smokes