Havana Republic, Shrewsbury - food review
From highly-regarded restaurant to bar with cocktails as the main attraction, Andy Richardson discovers it's more than just delicious drinks being served...
It's been two years since the launch of Havana Republic. And during that time it seems to have morphed from a restaurant that serves drinks to a bar that serves food.
The team behind the restaurant had enjoyed a dizzyingly impressive epoch, acquiring and refurbishing The Buttermarket, creating the much-loved and popular Momo No Ki and bringing Cuban food to Shrewsbury with the launch of Havana Republic.
Executive Chef Chris Burt – a younger, better looking version of Seasick Steve who cooks, rather than strums – had overseen the food at all premises. Supported by an impressive team, including demon pastry chef and trusted lieutenant, Matt Parry, he also continued to cook at the group's flagship, The Peach Tree.
Across all of those venues, he was effectively cooking food from the four quarters of the globe. While The Peach Tree featured a range of British classics, Euro favourites and stuff from Africa and while Momo No Ki featured the food of South East Asia, Havana was all about Central America and The Deep South.
It remains popular with TripAdvisor's hoi polloi. Of 161 reviewers, only 15 have been nonplussed, while 106 of those have awarded it the top mark, finding it 'excellent'.
And yet the emphasis has subtly changed so that cocktails and other drinks are now a bigger attraction. Reviewers speak warmly of cheeky cocktails, the best margarita's in the middle of England and warm service. There are helpful tequila warnings – don't drink too much, seems to be the gist. Though there's never a time when you can drink too much tequila; especially when cool and dark January nights linger.
But there's more to Havana than just a great bar. Service is exceptional. Led by restaurant manager Kirstie Lewis, the bright, young things who man the bars are exuberant and alert. When I visited for a midweek supper – making sure I didn't drink too much tequila – service was exceptional. My receipt informed me that I was served by Joe; though I'm not sure Joe was a brunette with the best manners this side of Debrett's. I think her name was Jess. Polite, attentive and engaging, she added a little sparkle to what might otherwise have been a quieter evening.
The venue has a cool and stylish atmosphere, generated in no small part by the impressive interior. Venue boss Martin Monahan worked hard to replicate the essence of Cuba with plenty of hardwood furnishings allied to bright colours and purposefully ramshackle fittings. Vibrant and inspiring, his interior design continues to stand out. It's an example of someone having a great idea and executing it with the skill and panache that only comes from years of hard-earned experience in hospitality.
His idea was, presumably, to bring the essence of Cuba – all rum, vibrant party atmosphere, and finger lickin' food – to Shropshire's County Town. And after two years, it deserves the warmest review. The biggest rum range in town allied to flavours with a hint of Caribbean spice and the comfort of the Deep South have made it a firm favourite.
And so to dinner. Havana has a casual, informal menu. While the neighbouring Momo No Ki serves Japanese tapas, sushi and big, flavoursome bowls of ramen noodles and while The Peach Tree runs the gamut from decent Sunday roast to street food and profoundly off the cuff inventiveness, Havana is all about easy, finger-pickin', finger-lickin' flavours. Burgers, bowls, boards and breads cover most of its bases.
I started with the humorously-named 3 Little Pigs, a dish comprising crispy pork belly, chorizo and black pudding with paprika salt. The ingredients were good, the cooking was fine; it was a journey into the belly of the world's best meat. Pieces of pork belly were crisped up and puffed up, the chorizo offered a little heat inside its crunchy exterior while the black pudding was earthy, rich and wonderfully savoury. It lacked a little sauce, to be fair. Chris occasionally cooks a brilliant dish at The Peach Tree, Piggy Bits, comprising fried belly pork with Korean bulgogi sauce. It's brilliant. Soy, sugar, green onion, garlic, seasame and ground black pepper create flavours that explode like a Steamboat Springs firework. And while 3 Little Pigs was pretty good, it could have been improved by a soupcon of something saucy; like a mojo dip.
My main was a burger and fries. It was stonking. A bun the size of a fist had been filled with the juiciest, most succulent beef patty this side of New Yoik. Made with beef from the Great Berwick Organic herd, which grazes rich, sweet Shropshire pastures near to the River Severn, just outside Shrewsbury, it was a delight. A squirt of sweet, sharp and tangy BBQ sauce gave it body and flavour while the usual whistles and bells – crisp bacon, meltingly indulgent cheese and bitter-sweet salad – finished it off.
Shrewsbury is awash with burgers. And not all of them hit the mark. There are a few who cut corners, a handful of fly-by-nights who think that saving 20p on ingredients won't make a difference: and they're wrong. It does. Quality costs: not a lot, but the difference is in the eating.
The fries were good, too. It's a never-ending source of confusion that so many venues can fail to fry a humble potato so that it's crisp on the outside and fluffy within. It can't be that hard, surely? Happily, the fries at Havana were as golden as Cuban sand and as light as the customer's heads after a night on the tequila.
I skipped dessert, Havana is the place for quick-and-easy eating rather than a full-on blow out. Joe (but not Joe) brought my bill and I called it a night.
Havana has lasted the course after two years in business. A creative chef, exceptional front of house team, adherence to the maxim Quality Is King and delightfully styled interior makes it a perennial favourite.
With spring and summer months away, Havana is the sort of venue that adds warmth and sizzle to cold winter nights. Winner Winner Spicy Burger Dinner.
By Andy Richardson