• Submitted by: manso
• Travel and Tourism
• 04 / 22 / 2011

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Published: 21 April, 2011. by MATTHEW LEWIN. When it comes to authentic spicy salsa, the hips don’t lie! IT’S all in the hips. Dancing salsa, I mean, and I just can’t do it. But if you want to see lithe young things twirling and  spinning with fascinating grace, and even have a go yourself, this is the place for you.

Floridita describes itself as a “supper club” which emulates the style of the famous El Floridita fish restaurant and bar in Havana – a favourite haunt of Ernest Hemingway.

The night we were there the band was a group of musicians called Moneda Nacional who, we were told, had only arrived from Santiago de Cuba the day before.

The food? Oh yes, there is food, with lots of standard stuff like steaks and burgers but also many Latin American-inspired dishes such as frijoles negros (Cuban black bean soup), empanadas (filled pastry), Chilean beef picadillo (ground meat hash), churrasco (South American kebabs) and spicy chorizo sausage.

You will need a very fat wallet indeed if you venture into the realm of such dishes as a whole suckling pig for eight people (£30 per person) or chateaubriand (£27.95). We had the £27.50 mojito menu – which began with a mojito cocktail – and then pleasant starters like a wild mushroom and chestnut velouté with rock chives, and a roulade of spiced duck, foie gras and pistachio nuts with fig and port chutney.

For her main course, my Chief Culinary Adviser had poblano marinated salmon, attractively immersed in a shellfish paella with mussels and a lobster vinaigrette. It wasn’t at all bad, really, in a prod­uction line sort of way, although the fish was a little overcooked.

I had a charcoal grilled Argentinian sirloin steak with a béarnaise sauce. I have never quite understood why it is necessary to fly meat all the way from Argentina when we have just as good (and often much better) beef in the UK. But, having said that, this was a very nice steak, and the chips were good.

I continued my lifelong quest to find the perfect cheesecake. I did not find it here, but the one I had –  a white chocolate bourbon vanilla cheesecake with ginger cookies – was very nice. My Adviser dived into a chocolate pudding, and emerged satisfied.

We didn’t get a bill because we were there on behalf of the New Journal as guests of the establishment, so we went away very happy. But I estimate that we would have had to pay around £50 each for what we had, including a bottle of wine, the music charge and service.

SUMMARY:  A lively Latin American inspired “supper club” with live music and dancing until late. Open for dinner Tuesday and Wednesday until 2am, and until 3am Thursday to Saturday.  Expect to pay from around £37 for a three course meal à la carte

before drinks and service, but there is also a cheaper “Mojito menu” for £27.50 (including a mojito cocktail).

A discretionary charge of £6 per person may be added to your bill.

Rating: 3 Stars for food / 5 Stars for atmosphere
FLORIDITA
100 Wardour Street, Soho, W1
020 7314 4000

Source: www.floriditalondon.com