Reviews Havana Grill

Thanks Havana Grill for a pleasant evening in honour of my mother’s birthday!

Food & Drinks: The salmon with the dill sauce was a hit for me, especially with that bomb mash😋! Also had a little bit of my brother’s gnocchi, which was delish! The Mojito & Mango Martini were really good!
Desert: The crème brûlée was a bit of a miss but the brownie with ice cream was amazing!
Ambience: Love the setup - looks inviting. Lovely easy going music; very clean space (and bathroom).
Service: A special thanks to our songbird waitress, Londiwe, for her patience and joyful serving. You made the evening extra special!

I enjoyed the service and the food. The service not so quick but this was easy overlooked when the food arrived. The place is clean the staff friendly . Dee Miss-Understood Thusi

What a great find! Staff were all great but thank you Stephen for looking after us! Great steaks all round too! Was a lovely experience all round!

Spent Valentine's day here, the staff are very friendly and attentive. The chef is constantly walking around to ensure all is well. It was a set menu but was Devine. It was a great evening starters mains and dessert was superb!

Once again we were a table of 10. It was after the Ironman so everyone was hungry and hoe delicious was the Havana Grill. Really great service and what an experience it was to have a choice between grass fed and grain beef. A must visit!

What an awesome experience. Havanna Grill is a snazzy restaurant tucked in sun coast casino, overlooking suncoast beach. What a great place to go to for good luxury dining. The service is impeccable, the setting is romantic, and most importantly, the menu and food is so dam good! I had a great time!

Havana Grill has a perfect setting with the view of the beach. The dining experience was a bit strange. Fillet steak made medium to perfection with lovely mash.
However the blue cheese sauce came 10 minutes after the steak...when I questioned the waiter, I was told that the sauce was upstairs in the fridge and needed to be warmed...here I thought it was made fresh ;-)
My mum's prawn & chicken curry was ok...spices were a bit raw to the taste.
Will go back for the steak and hope I get better service when it comes to the accompaniments:-)

Rated for the best steaks in SA, although we only had the fish, was really nice. Felt a bit like a retirement village as most of the patrons were my grandparents age. While the restaurant was completely full upon arrival, by 11pm we were the last table and had to leave when they turned the lights bright. Service was good and staff attentive.

Absolutely fantastic
Great service too
The quality of meat , red meat to be specific is of extreme high quality!! You will be seeing me again that goes without say

Really great food. I've always had good meals at Havana Grill and it still beats a lot of places in Durban for a great steak.
Plus the view is lovely.

Just joined the family for my brother in law's 70 the birthday, never been to Havana Grill before. We were seated in the private room at the top of the stairs, a bit awkward for some of the older in the party,perhaps better sited on the ground floor and let other diners have the upstairs window view.
The service was spot on. Drink order's taken and served quickly. I ordered a delicious chicken livers hors d'oeuvre, really mmmmmm. Well seasoned and a nice chilli bite, tingley not too hot
My main was beautifully two tender chicken breasts on a bed of tagetelli and crisp green beans with succulent little prawns in a cream sauce and freshly grated parmesan. Little Jenni had fresh Dorado and was perfectly flaky not over done with crispy al dente veggies and very satisfying meal. The steaks that where ordered before them rump or fillet where all done to the family's choice of tendernessand seasoned perfectly , no mistakes and yes we all sample each other's... so plenty of oohs and aahs and I wish I'd gone for that. No space left for dessert oh well a truly magic meal with family. I recommend.

Ever since we tried a Havana Grill taster plate at the first Taste of Durban, we have been dying to try them out. They always presented themselves at The Taste as edgy and original and it was with great anticipation that we put them on our list of reviews this month.

I love Cuban music and with such a colorful history, am interested in the Cuban culture as well. So there I was, all prepped and ready to be educated about Cuban Cuisine. Unfortunately I discovered that Havana Grill doesn’t actually serve authentic Cuban cuisine at all. So all my research into what to expect fell flat when we arrived at the di moda eatery on the upper level of the Suncoast Casino complex in Durban.

Now don’t get me wrong, Havana Grill may not serve authentic Cuban dishes, but let me tell you that their beef really is pretty good. They pride themselves on using only local South African grain fed super beef, aged for a minimum of 21 days so it’s little wonder that our table ordered only various beef main dishes; mine was particularly impressive: 600g sirloin on the bone, topped with deep fried bone marrow (which seems to be a really trendy addition on Durban menus lately by the way), oxtail marmalade and fresh rocket.

Inventive flavors there as well as a variety of textures. The only thing I would have preferred is if more of the sinew was removed, but hey, for a hunk of meat standing about 4cm thick on my plate, I’ll put up with a little sinew and under seasoning, particularly since it was done exactly to my taste: bleu.

The menu can best be described as a modern fusion of South African and international flavors. Prime example would be the specials starter, Gravadlax (traditionally a Scandinavian dish) done the Havana grill way – instead of marinated in Aquavit, it was prepped in beetroot and served with wasabi icecream. How lovely is that?

The décor at Havana Grill matches their attitude. Neat, up market and marchoso. Slightly rustic island feel in the dining room, with the white bleached wood branch wall paneling mixed with crisp white linen and table settings. Social area at the bar, Cuban Cigar humidor and the famous sterile looking meat cupboard with glass panels that allow you to catch a glimpse of their famous aging meat.

The music selection was appropriate but perhaps a tad on the loud side, but if you’re into the very vibey feel, then the volume would suite you perfectly.

The menu, although famous for their beef, also include seafood, poultry, pork, lamb and venison. Prices range from R46 - R701. A word of advice though: come hungry.

The grill also boasts an extensive Wine List made up of a really nice selection of South African wines. The beverages list includes not only the fully licensed section but soft drinks for those who do not imbibe.

Service at Havana grill was professional and attentive from our first telephone booking to our request to take a glass of wine onto the balcony outside after our meal. Our server made an effort to make us feel welcome and heard. The team of servers, hosts and managers all pitched in to assist each other which was really such a cool thing to see. Knowledge of the dishes and some preparation information was a little lacking but honestly the fact that everyone at Havana Grill went out of their way to make our evening an enjoyable one more than made up for that.

So here we go on to our meal journey:

Fish cakes with a dipping sauce. Filling, tasty and beautifully presented.

Smoked Salmon with avocado guacamole and salsa from the specials menu. Incredibly tasty, with good highlights thanks to the salsa.

Gravid lax done with beetroot and served with wasabi ice-cream, fresh rocket and toasted melba style toast. The Salmon had very delicate flavors and when paired with the cheeky wasabi ice-cream, made mad passionate flavour causing the taste buds to go wild.

Also from their very creative and mouthwatering specials menu: Sirloin on the bone 600g with oxtail marmalade, deep fried marrow and fresh rocket. I loved the presentation. The deep fried marrow was lovely and the oxtail marmalade complimented the steak perfectly. Found the steak itself to be under seasoned all the other steaks at the table were seasoned well.

Rump with extra mushroom sauce on the side. The quality of the steak is undisputed. Beautiful ingredients and perfectly prepared. The sauce also complimented well.

The Fillet stuffed with feta and jalapeño may have lost some of it’s “pretty” on the way from the kitchen to our table, but as far as delicious factor goes, all I heard from that side of the table were grunts of delight.

Risotto rump went down a treat. My guest informs me that his KPI for a good restaurant is their ability to produce good risotto. The thumbs went up on this one. As though there would be doubt!

Pecan nut bread and butter pudding butterscotch vanilla Ice cream. The desserts were all a tad on the boring side. The bread and butter pudding came across more like a pecan nut muffin, which as a muffin is lovely, but unimpressive as a bread and butter dessert. The presentation was also a tad on the uninspired side. Artists day off perhaps?

The Espresso mousse was the only dessert that came close to being interesting, but lost that early on too.

Creme brûlée was crème brûlée, what can I say. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing fabulous about it, nothing to “write home about”. Presentation was nonexistent and I felt a bit like the kitchen had lost interest by the time the desserts were up.

So what’s the verdict then?

Havana Grill aims to be all about “Food, Wine, Cigars and Vibe”. I have to hand it to them, they succeed on those points.

The food is generally good, but there are places where a little more care can be taken in presentation in particular. I’d recommend Havana Grill for the fly, young, hip business types. Probably not the place I’d take my dad unless they had an onsite first aider with a current CPR certificate as the prices are a bit “up there”.

This restaurant is usually very busy so if you are planning on going on the weekend then you must book!

The seafood is very good and fresh, fresh, fresh!! We went here for a birthday function. There were about 7 of us. The ambience is good. The service isn't so great. The night we went it was a bit slow.

I had the calamari and the mussels. They were very tasty! I recommend!

The location of this place is so divine!

Great customer service! Lovely food, what an awesome celebration it was!! Thank you, management, for your speedy resolution and awesome service.

Clean, Friendly staff members and peaceful when we went. A good place to come and have a peaceful time and a good meal. My only critique was the drink, could have tasted better and could have had a better straw, mine gave in 2 minutes into drinking the cocktail. The food was delicious and filling and made it out quickly. would definetly go again and recommend!

The food was great and service was excellent. It is a bit pricey but you get what you pay for. We all enjoyed the food and the experience of dining at Havana.

Food is not only tasteful but well presented, staff is articulated and dinning is a breeze, I would like to see more smiles though ...1st experience The food is amazing, seated overlooking the sea, what an amazing view. The table next to me was so loud , I guess each to their own, staff well presented and welcoming...

Visited the Havana Grill at Suncoast after some time. Their meals were absolutely divine and the service was 1st class. Mbali served us like royalty. The experience was amazing. Highly recommended spending a special occasion with the team at Havana grill.

First time at the Havana Grill and we were not disappointed! Booking via WhatsApp is definitely a much easier method. Staff were incredible. Steaks were cooked to perfection. The live music is super entertaining. Will be back for sure!

The menu is diverse and the waiters very well informed and polite. Ambience is excellent. There is a parking flat rate of R10 regardless of how long you stay which is very good. You can also book it for a private function like a birthday or office year end party.