I love tapas. The idea of having little bites of a wide variety of things has always appealed to me. So, when Tom and I found ourselves on the other side of the river yesterday (New Albany, Indiana), I was pretty excited to try Habana Blues, a Cuban restaurant known for its extensive tapas menu.
We ordered three different hot tapas. First was a plate of vegetable empanadas with a red pepper sour cream sauce. Next was a dish of cremini mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and crushed red pepper, served with grilled Cuban bread. Last but certainly not least was a plate of dates stuffed with goat cheese and chorizo sausage, wrapped in bacon and drizzled with smoked honey. Tom and I both agreed that everything tasted great, but our favorite dish by far was the stuffed dates, though I thought it could've withstood a little more chorizo and a little less goat cheese. (Those of you who've had goat cheese know that a little goes a long, long way.)
For dessert, our first choice was the banana bread pudding, but we were informed that the banana cream that's served with it wasn't quite ready yet. We didn't really feel like waiting around, so we ordered churros with chocolate ganache instead. I thought the ganache was closer to chocolate syrup than actual ganache, but it was still tasty, and the churros were cooked just right.
Prices are about what you might expect from a tapas restaurant. Every item we ordered was between $5 and $9. That probably doesn't sound so bad, but our most expensive item also happened to be the one with the smallest portions, which was a little disappointing.
Now, let's talk atmosphere. The restaurant is in an old building that looks like it was probably quite beautiful in its prime, but now shows some obvious signs of wear. The vaulted ceiling had some significant water damage, and overall we got the impression that the whole place just hadn't been maintained very well. Festive music is pumped throughout the building via satellite radio, but when we were there it sounded more like a CD that kept skipping. Maybe it was a bad connection? In any case, it was really distracting, so much so that we strongly considered leaving at one point. But once the food arrived, we barely noticed the music, plus our server was really friendly and helpful, which somewhat made up for the distractions...somewhat.
All told, not a terrible experience, but not a great one. I was fully prepared to give Habana Blues a 3-star rating, but later that night, I was sick to my stomach like I haven't been in years. Seriously, morning sickness couldn't even hold a candle to this. I don't think it was brought on entirely by what I'd had for dinner (Tom ate all the same things that I did, and he was fine), but unfortunately it further spoiled my overall impression of the place. The food was good, but I don't think we'll be back.
148 E. Market St.; New Albany, IN
Price tag: $$
My rating: 2 stars
Tom's rating: 3 stars
Combined rating: 2.5 out of 5
