Nazdarovie

Havana

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Cuba's 31-year dalliance with bolshevism is relived in this popular restaurant in prime digs overlooking the Malecón. Upstairs, the decor is awash with old Soviet propaganda posters, brotherly photos of Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev, and slightly less bombastic Russian dolls. The menu is in three languages (to get into the real spirit, try ordering in Russian).

Choices are simple but classic: beef stroganoff, chicken Kiev and borscht are all listed and they're all good. For a cocktail, try the James Bond option: a vodka martini (shaken, not stirred). From Russia with love.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Old graveyard, Havana; Shutterstock ID 19926790; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; GL account no.: 56530; Netsuite department name: Online Design; Full Product or Project name including edition: Digital Content/Sights

    Necrópolis Cristóbal Colón

    2.93 MILES

    Havana's main cemetery (a national monument), one of the largest in the Americas, is renowned for its striking religious iconography and elaborate marble…

  • Vintage car passing modern bar nestled between dilapidated Art Nouveau buildings along the Av de Malecon.

    Malecón

    0.14 MILES

    The Malecón, Havana's evocative 7km-long sea drive, is one of the city's most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and long a favored meeting…

  • Capitolio Nacional

    Capitolio Nacional

    0.66 MILES

    The incomparable Capitolio Nacional is Havana's most ambitious and grandiose building, constructed after the post-WWI boom ('Dance of the Millions')…

  • Plaza de la Catedral

    Plaza de la Catedral

    0.56 MILES

    Habana Vieja's most uniform square is a museum to Cuban baroque, with all the surrounding buildings, including the city's beguiling asymmetrical cathedral…

  • Fusterlandia

    Fusterlandia

    8.73 MILES

    Where does art go after Antoni Gaudí? For a hint, head west from central Havana to the seemingly low-key district of Jaimanitas, where artist José Fuster…

  • Plaza Vieja, bustling with restaurants and cafes in evening.

    Plaza Vieja

    0.85 MILES

    Laid out in 1559, Plaza Vieja is Havana's most architecturally eclectic square, where Cuban baroque nestles seamlessly next to Gaudí-inspired art nouveau…

  • Courtyard in National Museum of Fine Art (El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes).

    Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

    0.35 MILES

    Spread over two campuses, the Bellas Artes is arguably the finest art gallery in the Caribbean. The Arte Cubano building contains the most comprehensive…

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Nearby Havana attractions

1. Cárcel

0.1 MILES

Preserved in Parque de los Enamorados (Lovers' Park), surrounded by streams of speeding traffic, is a surviving section of the colonial Cárcel (Tacón…

2. Memorial a los Estudiantes de Medicina

0.12 MILES

A fragment of wall encased in marble at the end of Paseo de Martí marks the spot where, in 1871, eight Cuban medical students were shot by the Spanish in…

3. Parque de los Enamorados

0.12 MILES

In Parque de los Enamorados (Lovers' Park), surrounded by speeding traffic, lies a section of the colonial Cárcel (aka Tacón Prison), built in 1838. Many…

4. Malecón

0.14 MILES

The Malecón, Havana's evocative 7km-long sea drive, is one of the city's most soulful and quintessentially Cuban thoroughfares, and long a favored meeting…

5. Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta

0.16 MILES

One in a quartet of forts defending Havana harbor, La Punta was designed by Italian military engineer Bautista Antonelli and built between 1589 and 1600…

6. Palacio Velasco

0.17 MILES

Now the Spanish embassy, this beautiful wedding-cake-like building was constructed in the art nouveau style in 1912. It's the only embassy in this part of…

7. Statue of General Máximo Gómez

0.2 MILES

On a large traffic island overlooking the mouth of the harbor is a rather grand depiction of Máximo Gómez, a war hero from the Dominican Republic who…

8. Arte Corte

0.27 MILES

The brainchild of Gilberto Valladares, aka 'Papito,' this novel hairdressing salon is also a school and a small museum to the barber's art. Even better,…