August 31, 2014

Crown: Colours of Cuba

Agnes southbank, suburb

Disclosure: I attended Colours of Cuba courtesy of Crown.

I’m currently in Canada, but a couple of Mondays ago I was in Cuba.

Actually, that is a total and blatant untruth. I was actually at Crown for the kick off for their Colours of Cuba fiesta.

Colours of Cuba is running over four weeks (so there’s a couple of weeks left) and all venues within Crown are interpreting the theme in their own way with special drinks and food.

We started the night at Nobu, where we had the opportunity to sample some of the cocktails and tapas available there as part of the Colours of Cuba menu.

Nobu are offering six Cuban inspired cocktails, and drinkers who enjoy rum are in for a treat as they’re mostly rum based:

Fidel Castro: containing Havana dark rum, house made ginger syrup, fresh lime, vanilla, and topped with a dash of dry ginger

Hemingway Daiquiri: containing 3 year old Cuban rum, fresh grapefruit, maraschino, lemon and lime juice

White Mariposa (National Flower of Cuba): containing white Cuban rum, coconut and luxardo maraschino

Cuba Colada: containing pineapple puree, coconut, cointreau, fresh mint (this one is for coconut lovers)

Beach Comber (the Nobu version of a Mai Tai): containing dark rum, white rum, cointreau, fresh lemon and lime juice, and a dash of orgeat

Sanchez: containing aged Cuban rum, coconut, yuzu liquor, and pineapple

There’s also a special tapas menu, with the food being a twist on the dishes that Nobu is already known for, such as these sticky sushi rice pops served with spicy tuna tartare.

I’ve had the beef rib at Nobu before, and just like on previous occasions it was very tender and flavoursome.

Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno. The sashimi was particularly delicious – I loved the freshness and the jalapeno.

I also enjoyed the beef tataki with ponzu and garlic chips. There’s more on the menu, this is just a sample.

After Nobu, our next stop was the Waiting Room for more cocktails and food.

You can’t have a Cuban inspired cocktail list without the inclusion of a mojito, so that’s what we started with at The Waiting Room, though they are offering a deconstructed version during the four weeks made with house-made lime sorbet, mint infused rum, and champagne air.

Along with the deconstructed mojito, there’s also a Mary Pickford, made with rosemary infused white rum, house-made strawberry spiced grenadine, pineapple juice, maraschino liqueur. It tasted very pink and floral.

I particularly enjoyed this Cine Cuba Libre.

Traditionally a Cuba Libre is made with rum, lime and cola, but this version used white rum that had been infused with popcorn to evoke memories of being at a cinema. The popcorn flavour and fragrance definitely came through in the cocktail and it was interesting and fantastic.

Foodwise, the Colours of Cuba menu ranges from small treats like fried plantains, that come served with a great spicy salsa.

To little pulled pork sliders and beef croquettes.

And black bean and corn tacos.

I must admit that I found the tacos a little strange as they had those salted black beans commonly used in Chinese cooking.

The Colours of Cuba is on for a couple more weeks and other restaurants have different things on offer, and there’s also an photo exhibition and a projection lightshow outside. Next Wednesday (3 September) you can even learn how to dance salsa if there’s anyone who wants to get their dancing shoes on.

For more, check out Colours of Cuba at Crown.