Tucked inside a small little mini-mall called The Lab is Habana. Cuban inspired cuisine with dim lights, a lot of charm, and rustic Latin features inside. I haven’t been back here in a years and noticed the restaurant itself was still doing well so I decided to give it a try again.

We came here on an extremely cold Tuesday night, the restaurant was fairly busy surprisingly. Our poor little hosts stand was outside as she greeted guests and walked them to their tables, poor thing was not even under a heat lamp. We were seated immediately and given our food and alcohol menu. A server came by to ask what type of beverages we wanted and immediately brought out bread and butter. The bread was delicious, very similar to brioche with a subtle hint of sweetness and a whipped sweet cream butter.

From there we decided to go with the Shrimp Ceviche & Vegetable empanadas for our appetizers. Our entrees we chose the El Churrasco which is their hanger steak, and the El Puerco Primo, which is their slow roasted osso buco pork. The first dishes to arrive were the appetizers of course, they placed a beautifully plated ceviche down which was served in a coconut shell on a bed of salt, as well as plantain chips.

Everything was fresh, the chips paired great together but the ceviche was nothing special, some blanched shrimp, light citrus, I don’t even remember tasting any ahi. Beautiful presentation but nothing special enough to mention.

The second dish arrived of three small vegetable empanadas served with a slaw and a banana habanero ketchup. This dish is fried so you can’t really go wrong with fried dough stuffed with goodies, I enjoyed this dish but once again nothing amazing. Finally, then the El Churrasco arrived, this was their hanger steak topped with a chimichurri sauce, served with rice, beans, sautéed onions, corn, and plantains.

The steak was good, however, we requested medium rare and the steak was probably a medium. The overall dish was good, plantains cooked perfectly, rice was nice and fluffy, beans flavorful, corn great with a kick. It was only the steak itself that set this dish back since it was overcooked.

The last dish of the night was their Puerco Primo which is the slow roasted osso buco style pork on a bone. The meat itself was cooked perfectly tender, with a nice slight crisp to it on some pieces as well. The greens were a bit too bitter for my friend, however, I did enjoy it. The garlic yucca mash was delicious, my friend who hates mashed potatoes really enjoyed this dish. The pork sat on the side of a pepper relish which did compliment the dish nicely, also served plantains on the side as well.

Overall the food was okay, I don’t really see myself going back any time soon with so many restaurants opening in Orange County, however, I will note that their ambiance itself is pretty amazing, and their wait staff was on point. Let me know your thoughts on Habana if you plan on giving it a try or if you’ve already been there as well.

Restaurant – Habana Restaurant
Location – 2930 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Contact – 714.556.0176
Website – restauranthabana.com
Cuisine – Cuban, Latin, Ba