Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar Restaurant Review:

Cuba Libre is part of a small restaurant group; the DC location’s flashy setting features a host of intoxicating rum and rum-free cocktails along with a menu of ceviches in delicate portions (you may wish for big bowls, but not here), skewered shrimp, house-cured smoked duck and an unusual guacamole with crab. Among tapas are Cuban meatballs and chicken croquettes. At lunchtime, you can go for the Cuban sandwich, a traditional offering of roast pork, salami and cheese, or the grilled pork tenderloin with cheese and veggies on flatbread. At dinner, entrées range from black rice paella with shrimp, rockfish and more to the famous ropa vieja. Brunch brings Latin bread, fajitas and assorted egg dishes, soups and sandwiches. Get the tres leches cake for dessert. Remember that much of the cooking is interpretive and modernized Cuban fare, but there’s enough here that is reminiscent of Cuba’s heyday in the food world.