Cuban suffers disastrous gastronomic experience at a restaurant in Havana.

The Cuban Rafael Lázaro Rodríguez Macías had a disappointing experience at the Castillo de Jagua Restaurant in Havana, a place he decided to visit hoping for an improvement in the service that never came.

Rafael recounted, in the Facebook group Gastrocuba, that upon arriving at the well-known restaurant on Avenida de los Presidentes and Calle 23, in El Vedado, he found an outdoor chalkboard offering a limited menu, but decided to go in and try his luck.

A draft beer, a tamale, a smoked loin, and congri were ordered, as the loin did not come with a side dish. Here is where the problems began.

The beer was available, but it wasn't served because the bartender hadn't shown up to work. It was also not possible to order any cocktails while waiting for the food. The alternative offered for drinking was canned beer, priced at over twice the usual cost, which was not advertised on the menu board.

The tamale received was clearly of low quality, dry and without meat or fat, more characteristic of a street tamale vendor than a restaurant.

The smoked loin was the worst. The dish came with four tiny slices, each three inches long and two millimeters thick, all for 850 pesos, a price that Rafael considered excessive for the quantity and quality of the product.

The congrí, which should be a tasty and freshly made side dish, arrived cold, without fat or cumin, "as if it had been prepared at seven in the morning" and left to rest until serving time.

The situation did not improve at the end of the meal. Although eventually the beer barrel was set up and Rafael was able to enjoy a dispensed drink, the bill was another cause for discontent. They handed it to him on a piece of paper, without breaking down the individual prices and with a total that did not correspond to what appeared on the board.

To make matters worse, some products had a higher price than advertised and they added an additional 10%, as a tip, without a clear justification. Rafael concluded his gastronomic critique by stating that he does not plan to return to Castillo de Jagua Restaurant, ever.

His experience serves as a warning to other diners about the importance of quality service and honesty in the offering of products in any gastronomic establishment, whether state-run or private.

This story highlights the need to improve standards in Cuban restaurants, a country where inflation not only leaves thousands of families without access to basic food, but also takes away people's desire to try a dining experience outside of their homes.