Restaurant Review: Havana Tapas Bar, Dublin 2

ANY business that manages to keep its head above water for 15 years must have something good going for it, and so it proves with Havana Tapas Bar, a cosy place bang in the centre of Dublin’s Restaurant Row.

Havana hasn’t always been in this location, however. Back in the innocent days of 2000, it was located in Camden Market, and pitched as a cheap and cheerful tapas joint (Dublin’s first, apparently). At that time, it proactively hustled for attention, and it slowly built up a reputation for a style of food that Dublin had previously been unaccustomed to. Come 2005, with its character confirmed and with the roar of the Celtic Tiger drying the collective hair of a nation of estate agents, Havana moved to its current location.

We have been here a few times before, so unlike some previous restaurant adventures we know what to expect. We also know from experience that tapas is food for sharing, and so the more people at the table the better you’re able to reach out for this, steal that, and eat the other. Which we do.