🏖️ A Foodie’s Guide to Varadero, Cuba

Eating & Drinking at Iberostar Selectum 😋 Amid Varadero’s sunshine, Iberostar Selectum feels like a fortress hidden in coconut groves—all-inclusive joy means waking up without worrying “what to eat,” but there’s a trick to knowing “what to rush for and what to avoid.” As a 5-star resort, its privacy is top-notch: standalone bungalows separated by palm trees echo with bird songs 🐦, though sea-view rooms are scarce. Regular rooms open to dense greenery—a different kind of “embraced by nature” warmth. 🍽️ Restaurant Breakdown: Buffet Reigns Supreme, Reserve Restaurants Proceed with Caution ⚠️ ✅ Buffet: 90% of Satisfaction Breakfast Carb Extravaganza: The omelet station always has a line—chefs make poached, soft-boiled, or Eggs Benedict (though the hollandaise is as thin as milk 🥛). Bacon is crispy enough to crunch, roasted pork carries cumin notes, and freshly baked Cuban bread (crusty outside, fluffy inside) shines with butter 🧈. The “hidden menu” gem: ask for “huevos fritos” for Chinese-style scrambled eggs with tomatoes, instantly awakening homesick taste buds 🇨🇳. Lunch & Dinner Hidden Highlights: The pizza station’s Margherita pizza surprises—cheese stretches half a meter 🧀. The grill’s pork chops are stars: crispy, oil-dripping exteriors with rum-kissed meat, paired with Cuban black bean rice (firm grains mixed with minced pork) for seconds 🍚. Don’t fear “weird dishes”: green plantain mash (savory, like tropical mashed potatoes 🥔) and fried fish balls (crispy outside, tender inside, though salted like it’s free 🧂) offer pleasant surprises. Drink Freedom Reality: Papaya juice at the juice bar is pure fresh-pressed (sweet! 🍹), but orange and pineapple juices taste watered down, like cup-rinsing water. Milk is room-temperature, yogurt tangy enough to wince—thankfully, coffee saves the day ☕. The buffet’s American coffee is weak but refillable. ❌ Reserve Restaurants: 80% Risk of Disappointment The resort has 4 reservation-required restaurants (French, Mediterranean, Japanese teppanyaki, Cuban), with rules French: Only redeeming feature is pumpkin soup—creamy with a hint of cinnamon. Steak was rubbery 🥩, crème caramel so sweet it felt like digging wax. Mediterranean: Grilled shrimp tasted fishy 🦐, pasta’s tomato sauce bitter, and the waiter spilled half the plate without apology 😐. Cuban: A friend tried it, calling black bean bean pork stew “unseasoned sludge” and fried plantains “rock-hard 🪨—worse than the buffet’s version.” 🥩 Ingredient Truths: Pork Shines, Seafood Sags As an island, seafood underwhelms: Fried fish chunks in the buffet often taste fishy; shrimp are frozen, rubbery when cooked 🦐. Chefs admit, “Local seafood is scarce—most is imported,” explaining the poor freshness. Pork, though, dazzles: ribs, braised belly, grilled tenderloin—all delicious. Crispy roasted pig skin makes a great snack, with a light smokiness beating many Chinese BBQ stalls 🍖. Chicken is a “permanent letdown”: grilled, braised, or fried, it’s tough as paper, pulling into strings—likely “bodybuilder chickens” 🏋️. Vegetables and fruits are “streamlined”: Veggies are always lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers “the big three” 🥬, occasionally boiled carrots (bland) or spinach (weirdly sugared). Among fruits, papaya is the “top student,” sweet and juicy 🍈; watermelon is watery, pineapple tart 🍍, starfruit and guava unripe—“edible but unnecessary.” 🥥 Drink Surprises: Coconut Freedom Beats Alcohol ✅ Free Joys Fresh-Picked Coconuts: Each morning, staff under coconut trees ask “coco?” with machetes, hacking open fresh ones with straws. Coconut water is sweet with milkiness; ask them to scoop the flesh (jelly-like, great with sugar 🍬). A $1 tip ensures they’ll remember you love “extra flesh” next day. Coffee Freedom: The resort café stays open till 10 PM. Cuban espresso (Café Cubano) is a must—small porcelain cups with bitter-roasty notes, perfect with 1 sugar packet. Daily desserts are overly sweet (e.g., chocolate cake like 🍰) but balance with black coffee. Alcohol Samplers: Piña Colada: Local but watered down, like “diluted cream”—skip ❌. Blue Hawaii: Pretty, light rum with pineapple, good for photos + mild buzz 📸. Mojito: Fresh mint, tangy lime, just-right sweetness—alcohol’s “undisputed champion” 🍹. 📝 Foodie Survival Tips Reservation Hack: If you can snag it, try Japanese teppanyaki (heard it’s fresh-grilled, better than others); skip French/Mediterranean 🚫. Buffet Secret Menu: Ask chefs for “churrasco” (grilled steak)—tenderer than listed options. Add “plátano frito” (fried plantains) to breakfast, dipped in condensed milk 🍌. Tip Etiquette: $1 for coconut/coffee staff gets you extra sugarcane (10x sweeter than the buffet’s) 🍭. 🌟 Honest Thoughts #VaraderoCubaFood #AllInclusiveResortGuide #IberostarSelectum #FoodieAvoidanceTips