07.20.10
Review of Café Habana, Sunday February 2010
17 Prince & Elizabeth Sts., 212-625-2001
Great for: corn, fish tacos, Cuban sandwich
I walk by this place on the way home from the gym and I always think about their corn. If they didn’t have such ridiculously long waits, I’d be eating it most of those times. So I guess I should be thankful they haven’t expanded and made me even more of a piglet with their divine, spicy, cheesy, crunchy, creamy ears of corn.
The Baja fish tacos are also wonderful. The fish is good and flaky, the batter light and crispy, and I love the tomatillo salsa so much I even ate some rice with it (I rarely eat rice). The white sauce is delicious too. It’s a toss-up which is better, the tacos or the terrific Cuban sandwich. Nothing wrong with crunchy fresh Parisi bread, thin-sliced ham, lots of pork and nice slender pickles.
The waitstaff are very nice even when they’re run off their feet. They’ve got a full bar with wine and a frozen margarita machine. It’s been a haven of consistently yummy good as long as I’ve lived in NYC and I hope it stays one for many years.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $35
Noise level: it’s a party
Chance of walking in: not good at all, and they close at 12am. Try their handy-dandy takeout counter around the corner.
On another trip, the huevos rancheros and grilled skirt steak were fine, nothing great, but a really good value for $12.50. The bacon cheeseburger is pretty good, though you can tell it’s not their specialty.
