La Cubanita

La Cubanita is tucked away in an alley near Nieuwmarkt. the overall vibe is pretty good and they have a good amount of seating.
We came on a Friday night because of the 1L Sangria for 12.50 special… of course, despite it being printed on the menu, they refused to give us the deal and told us it’s old, but they hadn’t ordered new menus. Seems to be that’s on them, not us and they should honor it. They also wouldn’t give us tap water, and when I tried to tell them we’re unhappy, the waitresses were pretty rude and bordering on yelling, just walked away. Nice service!
The food itself was ranging from EH to Niiice… some tapas I wanted more and more of, some were bland as bland can be. Way too many tapas came with mayo… how unimaginative! Throw some spice into a sauce or something… even the bread came with just mayo. not garlic aioli or what you normally find. just plain, flavorless mayo. The same mayo came with half the tapas. But there were some very nice ones among it and with the 22.50 all you can eat tapas deal, you can easily binge your way through the menu. My favorite was the grilled paprika with sea salt… amazing taste! Other table favorites were the bacon wrapped dates, stuffed paprika, chicken wings, and the «spicy» beef chunks.
The portions are quite small, so the 22.50 all you can eat deal is better than ordering individual tapas. I would come again for the food, but the staff should lose the attitude!

Hm, what should I say.
I think I went in with way too much enthusiasm. I love Latin food, and I also enjoy tapas. I looked at the menu, and already had some things picked up I would like to munch on.
I have never been to the place, so I was curious when I heard that’s where we were going to with our group.
I would like to point out that my experience here was with a group. Also, for clarification, we did not take the simple menu choice, but the ‘luxurious’ version. Little we knew that it meant nothing but dishes made out of cheap products than not always go together.
And this is where my issues truly started, and this is where it all went downhill. No one in the group was aware of the group deal from 8 people plus, and the limits it would bring with it. Fair enough, might have been a miscommunication within the group. However! I do not understand why there should be a pre-​set amount of courses and foods, if it is an all you can eat /​all food inclusive /​pick whichever tapas you want place. We did not pay less than other customers, we got no discount for a group. There was only a limitation of choice and food.
It was quite a disappointing experience, and what I remember food wise is:
The beef in spicy veggies was probably the only nice thing.
The cheese croquettes were straight up nasty. And I hate to say that about any kind of food.
And sorry, but I call bull crap on «This is a selection of the most ordered tapas»! No one around us had them. I am sure people would not go for the cheapest looking and weirdest combined things on the menu; over and over again, in order to make them the «most ordered» ones.
The service was also quite bad. The ladies who were serving us were not very pleasant, and when some issues with the menu came up, again, they tried to hide their confusion and disorganization by blaming us for it.
Also, my beer was taken away from me half full. I complained, got no excuse, only a weird look accompanied by an empty promise to get a new one. But as you might have guessed — I got a big fat nothing. So after waiting for 15 minutes, I was fed up and went to pay (including the beer I did not fully enjoy).
Overall: I think it’s a pity that if you come with more than 8 people you get a random selection of not so nice tapas and you cannot change them for anything else on the menu. I might come here again, but definitely not with a group again. I will try the things on the menu which I think might be nice, and then I will make a new review. But for now this is it.

Fabulous! Delicious hot food (and cold food too) with such great variety. Sure to please all taste buds. If you like Tapas then this your place. The staff were all friendly and informative. Went here because the night before we walked by and it was packed with people from everywhere. The bacon wrapped chicken was my favorite.