Circuit Court New York
Café Habana
17 Spring Street/Elizabeth St.
New York, NY
Map
This Restaurant
 Today
was 97 degrees here in New York City, with a heat index of over 105. Had
flashbacks of my Thailand experience as I walked along the steaming street
— who knew that concrete had such a memory for odors? A tough day
to be walking around the city doing errands, but hey, even us magistrates
have to get off the bench for a little while.
I decided
to stop in Nolita, the nexus of cools past and future, to do a little
beautiful people watching, and see if they handle heat any cooler than
I do. For those unfamiliar, geographically, Nolita is the area just east
of SoHo and north of the lower east side. Psychographically, Nolita is
somewhere between "I just bought these sandals for $400," and
"I’ll just gouge gaping holes in my sneaks."
Café
Habana rests on the corner of Prince and Mott streets, its unglorious
aluminum facade framing model and actor types sitting at the counter along
the windows. This is (obviously) Cuban food. And while I can’t vouch
for authenticity, I can say that everything is served more neatly and
less greasily than at other Cuban joints I’ve experienced (most
of which are also named some permutation of the name Habana). Adjacent
to Café Habana is a smaller take-out restaurant. It serves the
exact same menu, but has only window counter seating and a small table
or two. I saw how crowded the main restaurant was, and decided that the
take-out side might be a more pleasant experience. I would soon prove
my intuition horribly wrong.
 The
small take-out room, while cute and sunny, was too sunny and not cute
enough to make up for a lack of air conditioning. I ordered a grilled
chicken torta from the menu (mainly a selection of tortas and burritos
with any mixtures of chicken, pork and beef) and a refreshing Jarritos
brand Mandarin soda. The sandwich came quickly off the grill. The bread
had a beautifully crisp texture and taste to it. Inside, the chicken was
fresh, and was complemented by lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and black
beans. The first bite was delicious, as was the second and third. But,
sitting at the window in the heat of the sun, this little magistrate couldn’t
think straight anymore. Looking around, I noticed that none of the beautiful
people had broken a sweat. Cool as cucumbers. Case closed.
Now,
I’ve been to Café Habana a number of times, and while this
particular meal was mostly a failure, I still recommend the place, with
a few reservations and recommendations. Namely:
•
If you like the scene and don’t mind substandard service, then by
all means, enjoy dinner there or brunch there. Yes, all of the waitstaff
are a pleasing eyeful, but this is also a cheap (sandwiches are filling
and hover around the $6 - $7 mark) and fast place, so they don’t
even have to pretend to treat you right. I’d rather be served by
Lurch, or Carrot Top.
•
If you’re into sandwiches, it’s hard to beat the standard
Cuban Sandwich -- a mixture of shredded chicken, ham, cheese and, I think,
mustard, on that tasty Cuban bread.
•
The single most reliable and raved about item on the menu is the grilled
corn. It’s an appetizer (and only $2), but I bet that after eating
one, you’ll just want to order more and skip the rest of the meal.
The recipe is simple: grill a corncob on a skewer, add some grated cheese,
and a dash of hot pepper on top, serve to small drooling magistrate. I
can’t tell you how many people walk out of there happily, with a
cheese-moustache souvenir. Both Che and Fidel would be proud to see it.
Contact
Magistrate Tavee at plangent1002@hotmail.com
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