Cafe Cuba — Restaurant in Palmerston North

Came here for dinner on Friday night, and the meals were a joke. The so-called Thai beef salad was just a garden salad, but with some pieces of beef that had been cooked with sweet chilli sauce and a handful of pre-cooked crispy noodles on top - the kind you get from the supermarket. The salad even had feta and a balsamic dressing, with nothing to make it even close to the flavours if this classic dish.

The beetroot and caramelised onion burger featured tinned beetroot, despite beetroot being a featured ingredient. It tasted mostly of burnt oil, and the 'caramelised onion' was actually warmed oily mixed vegetables. The onions weren't caramelised at all. All the flavours were overwhelmed by the burnt taste, and the burger leaked oil.

The pork belly sliders featured well cooked meat, but were served on cheap supermarket buns with bought in coleslaw and heaps of mayonnaise. They looked cheap, like something you would make at home rather than a well presented restaurant meal. They were also difficult to eat, as a roughly 4cm cube of pork belly was skewered into a bun. It would have been easy enough to slice these in half, or serve a piece of meat cut to the shape of the bun.

The chips were fine, the service is good, the chocolate caramel slice and passionfruit cheesecake came in generous portions and were tasty. The hot chocolate and iced chocolate were good.

The kitchen here has some serious problems to address. For the seriously poor food, we had to wait far too long, and the waitstaff even seemed to expect the poor quality. We did complain, and nothing was done to even attempt to make up for the bad meals. It's really not good enough to charge nearly $20 for a main dish that falls so far short of expectations. Cafe Cuba needs to either close for dinner, or dramatically raise the standards in the kitchen. I've had breakfast here that was pretty good (even if they serve muesli on a rectangular plate rather than in a bowl), some decent coffee in the past, but I would be more than happy if I never...

Cafe Cuba offers a wide variety of hot/cold drinks and food, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options. The cabinet food looks brilliant and their new cabinet slice, cheekily named "2am in Wangas" is likely to cause a rarkus with the straight edge liberals amongst us. If you have a sweet tooth, their silk cake is famous in Palmerston North, though I prefer the Banoffee Pie. Seating options are good, inside can be a touch crowded during busy periods, though their outdoor seating is brilliant on a sunny day - If you are a taller individual target an outdoor seat with metal legs as opposed to the black plastic variety as the latter seem to be about an inch too high for the height of their tables. Cafe Cuba is one of my absolute favourites for atmosphere, perfect for an informal gathering with friends, the Cuban Marxist Revolutionary vibe is evident in the Art, Decor and in the names of some food items (Marx Slice). One can imagine Fidel or Guevara sitting comfortably in a corner plotting revolution over a Vege Bene. Unfortunately for Cafe Cuba there is absolutely no consistency in the quality of their coffee, sometimes it is great, other times it is truely terrible. Today was one of those terrible occasions, the Long Black was so damn bitter it had to be replaced and the replacement was equally bitter - It truely is a shame given how simple it is to purge a coffee machine in order to extract a decent Long Black with the full bodied flavour one craves (which I tend to tip for). Hopefully Cafe Cuba can rectify this Cafinated travesty in future, as one bad experience will not put me off a cafe but unfortunately today I can only award a very generous 3 stars for this visit - see you...

Very disappointed.I paid $22 for a breakfast and when it arrived the sausages were over cooked(like rubber)

I called the waitress and drew her attention to the fact that I was not happy with the way the sausages were cooked.She took plate away and she told me that she would talk with the Supervisor.

Well, the waitress returned a couple of minutes later and told me that she spoke with the Chef and he said that's the way it's cooked and if he was to cook me 2 fresh ones that it would come out the same and she left and I did not hear from the Supervisor.

With regard to the the chef's response, I thought that it was arrogant and perhaps he /she should switch to fixing roads or building work but definitely leave the hospitality trade.

So,to me the message was shut up and eat the sausages.My issue was not that much the sausages but the manner in which the dissatisfaction with my meal was addressed

That was in poor taste Management Cuba restaurant . The difference between a hum- drum ordinary business and a good business is firstly,to have highly satisfied customers that would by word of mouth spread the restaurants good service culture hence listening to a customer's dissatisfaction and correcting it immediately is crucial. After all you need to understand that customer's are the lifeblood of your business and without them you will not have a business.

Won't go...