Havana Spoon

Looks amazing in there, food was spot on as well. If I was richer, I’d eat eat there a lot more.

Some good aspects: nice wines, fun décor, some good tasting food.
BUT: haphazard service (even on a lunchtime that was far from hectic), small portions, awkward tables and well over-​priced for what it is.

This is a strange place to review. I so wanted to love it, and at the start I did. So much so I thought this was going to be a five star review. Unfortunately, as the evening progressed, this dropped to a four, and after some pondering I’ve settled on a three.
That’s a shame really as the food was fantastic. The menu is a little confusing as it gives the impression that the restaurant doesn’t really know what it’s aiming for — burgers-​check, pasta and risotto-​check, sushi-​check, modern European at high end prices-​check. It seemed like a bit of a mish-​mash menu.
I decided to go for tuna sashimi for starter which was served on seaweed wrapped rolls of soba noodles. Unfortunately, the noodles were grey-​brown in colour, resembling lots of little worms. Fortunately, they tasted better than they looked. This was served with wasabi like I have never tasted before — oh my God, it really blew my head off! And I was cautious with it. Apparently, all the staff have been told to warn people about the wasabi but unfortunately they forgot to do this with us. Myself and my friend were soon left with bright red faces and panda eyes, however it was strangely addictive, I think we got a natural high from the mighty green paste!
For main, I moved away from Japan and went for a more British dish — pork belly wrapped in filo pastry with apricot and sage stuffing, roasted apple and Parmesan gnocchi — absolutely delicious, it was at this point I was ready to hand over a five star rating.
Unfortunately, the dessert menu felt like it was written in a foreign language. I’m a bit of a foodie and have eaten out more times than can possibly be good for one person, but I really didn’t know what half these things are. Vacherin? Merveilles? Moelleux? I decided on the lime merveilles with deep fried lyon biscuits, and chocolate sauce. What was presented to me was some indegestion-​inducing heavy donuts/​biscuits, one small dollop of flavourless ice cream and a pot of chocolate sauce. Hello — first word on the menu is lime, where is the lime??? I pointed this out to the waitress but she just shrugged her shoulders. OK, it was only feedback.
I have since googled the word merveilles and can find nothing that even remotely resembles what was on my plate. Are they just making words up to make themselves sound posh? I really hate this whole pompous attitude in restaurants.
The restaurant itself is decorated purely in white and feels a little clinical. The toilet (the only one in the restaurant for men, women and disabled use) had a button operated electric door that took ages to open and close. The staff were a little distant and didn’t return our change (you’ve already taken 12.5%, don’t presume we are going to give you any more).
The whole place felt like it was trying too hard and really didn’t have a great vibe about it.
And then we moved to the bar… what the hell happened, are we still in Brighton or have we been transported to Essex while consuming dinner?! I don’t watch TOWIE but my friends assured me we might as well have been there. Way too much fake hair, fake nails and fake personality. Please don’t let Brighton and Hove take this slippery path to destruction. On top of that it was impossibly crowded with these cloned people, needless to say we left in a hurry.
…and there ends my rant!
PS I may try coming back for dinner in the week when there are less chavs around!

the décor and design is nice, its a shame they didnt put much effort in finding a good chef, i am not impressed by the food,