Reviews

On a warm Saturday night, the largest crowds can be found swirling about Birch Street promenade, which is to Brea what the Third Street Promenade is to Santa Monica, and  what Old Pasadena is to Pasadena. By contrast, a certain bucolic serenity settles over nearby satellite shopping center like the Brea Mall, and the Brea Market Place. Except, notably, for the corner of the Market Place that’s home to Havana Mania – which may be the single liveliest restaurant in all of Brea.
 Walking through the door on a Saturday night is to walk into a wall sound. Happy sound. Joyous sound.
The sound of people having such a good time, it’s hard to believe  it’s actually legal. At first, I thought I had walked into a private party. A feeling that come from the design of room which is more banquet hall that restaurant, with lots of long tables for many big groups who show up to sip (or inhale)  Mojitos, and to work their way through platters of paella and Picadillo, ropa vieja and Rabo Encendido. Havana Mania offer a selection of dishes from Cuba that’s almost certainly more extensive that what you’d find down in Old Havana, Where the best food ( I’ve been told) is served in people’s homes. It’s due in part to the wild and wacky cocktail menu, which goes on for a mile and a half, listing just about every tropical libation imaginable, including en encyclopedia selection of Mojitos.
 But the Havana Mania in Brea (the original is in Redondo Beach) is also packed on weekends because the restaurants
Offer live music on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Music that gets under your skin, and into your head. And which inspires various diners (no doubt inspired by a couple of Mojitos) to hit the floor and shake their thang. Last time, I was there, there was so much thang shaking’ going on, I thought the floor might collapse. It could happen.
 Despite its presence in a shopping mall (or perhaps because of it) Havana Mania is a serious destination for those who hunger for the cooking of the Caribbean. And with some 75 dishes to choose from, it’s a restaurant with something for everyone. Thought this is a protein –heavy cuisine, there’s even a decent selection of dishes for vegetarian. There are omelet’s, for those who need an omelets for dinner (made with tasty stuff like ham, shrimp, or potatoes and onions).
 But first and foremost, there’s rum lots of rum, and the many drinks made with rum. The basic beverage is the Mojito Cubano, a classic of rum, mint, lime and sugar cane juice. Served over ice in a tall glass with a zip of bubbly water. There are a dozen more regularly scheduled Mojitos variations ( like the Razberry Mojito and the Mango Mojito), and a whole raft of non-Mojito rum drinks with nutty names like the ’57 Chevy (with Cuban Plates”), the volcano and the Key Lime Martini. There’s even the Bacardi-made Cuban beer called Hatuey, which tastes a lot like malt liquor- like Guinness, it take a bit of muscle to get it down.
 There’s something about tropical clime that make you want to drink something tall, cool, fruity and full of rum. (Even if those tropical climes are in northern Orange County.) But unless you’re actually sitting by the pool, an evening spend doing nothing but drinking can seem to lack a sense of purpose (which may be the point), without heaping platters of food.
 Perhaps the best way to get a quick education in what make Havana Mania so manic is to order either of the Cuban samplers. The Havana Grande Platter cost $26.99 and feed two ( at least).  It consists of pork roasted long and slow. So that the meat is on the verge of collapsing in upon itself, along with a top sirloin, grilled chicken breast, garlic shrimp and inevitable black beans and white rice, sweet plantains and grilled onions. There’s also a sampler called The Classic that goes for $14.99 a person, and consists of pork, sautéed chicken, rice and beans tossed together, a ham croquette and yuca in garlic sauce. Basically, you can just close your eyes and chose; they’re both wonderful.
 If you don’t get the pork as part of a sampler, you should consider ordering it from the “Puerco” section of the menu, for pork is the food of Cuba what lamb is to the Middle East--- they’ve got it nailed. There’s a sublime Lechon Cubano, a classic that consists of wallet-sized chunks of pork, served along with wedges of skin so crisp they could probably be used to cut a diamond. The pork theme continues in a dish called masas de Puerco Fritas, essentially fried pork chunks flavored with lemon, garlic and sautéed onions. Though the lemon, garlic and onions help, this is not a moist dish- the meat tends to be stringy and dry. Which is not a criticism- I kind of like it stringy and dry? But you do want to have a beverage nearby to wash it down.
 Actually, thought they’re so good at pork, it’s still a little hard to say which protein defines Cuban cooking the best. (I suppose that’s true of most cuisines, is America a steak country or a fried chicken country?). Aside from the pork, the choices are evenly divided among chicken, beef, and seafood. The chicken dishes are good, and quite juicy, though the pollo Cubano (marinated in lemon and garlic) isn’t’ as assertive as the one served at Versailles. (It’s been argued that this isn’t so much a chicken dish as a dish of sauce flavored with chicken. Whatever – I like it.
Aside from the pollo Cubano, one of my favorite chicken dishes is the Filete de pollo con Camarones, one of the few creations I can think of (outside of the Chinese restaurants) that mixes chicken and shrimp. There’s a chicken and pork combination as well tasty stuff. When it come to beef, well Cuban-style steaks do tend to be chewy (this is not the world of Kobe or Wagyu. But since the options include long cooked recipes like ropa vieja- “old clothes” toughness tends not to be an issue. It’s a dish in which the beef is cooked until it falls apart into its component molecules, gedempte flesh at its most gedempte.
 The Picadillo a la Cubana is good too, though it always reminds me of one of those ground beef dishes I used to make over a hot plate in college, only better. (Even the menu acknowledges that it’s “compared in similarity to Sloppy Joe…”). There is also one lamb dish hidden on the menu. Called Chilindron de cordero, a very tasty pile of lamb chunks in a semi-spicy Creole sauce.
 In terms of seafood, there’s the multi-fish paella and zarzuela at the high end (the two most expensive dishes on the menu), along with lobster and lots of shrimp dishes (you can’t go wrong with the garlic shrimp).  There’s also a terrific fried whole red snapper- Pargo Frito – that’s so crisp it’s like a fish shaped (and flavored) potato chip. For dessert, there are several choices, thought flan always wins out. There’s always room for flan. Or at least mango sorbet. And one more Mojito, for the road