Cuban Seafood at Lenny’s Bar and Grill

 

 

Lenny’s Bar and Grill at Playa Prohibido, Cayo Coco, Cuba is a destination experience, it certainly was for us, having picked it to celebrate my 50th birthday.

 

From the 50’s Chevy in the parking lot, the rustic wooden bar to the makeshift kitchen, this is a piece of Cuba that I hope will be preserved. New resorts may start to sprout like mushrooms, but that is also dependant on how the, now symbolic, US  embargo pans out.

 

 

 

 

The distinguishing feature of Lenny’s is the dozens of Canadian car registration plates, which cannot be missed as you enter the place, and gaze up. Concentric rings of plates are mounted on the underside of the low hanging grass roof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is only one dish to order, hence no menu, plain yet delicious. Grilled lobster, fried fish and prawns, plain rice, slaw and a few slices of cucumber and tomato. Of course,  it was washed down with copious amounts of ice-cold beer and cheap white wine.

Sitting on rattan chairs at plastic covered wooden tables,  just a few metres from the turquoise sea, with a light breeze blowing and a bright sun.

The lobster was a little over grilled, the coleslaw under seasoned, but these become trivialities when you consider the big picture, the ambience that makes things taste a thousand times better. 

I almost forgot the rooster! Yes, the meal is accompanied by the  crowing of a rooster, coming from somewhere behind the restaurant. Just another incongruous feature to add to the ambience.

I left my Tilley hat there, but the entire adventure made me happy.

There is more to tell, but I’ll let you explore Lenny’s further on your own. There is an interesting story behind its name.