Having read the glorious reviews, we were truly looking forward to experiencing Cuba's Cooking. After successfully maneuvering through a maze of one-way streets, we managed to locate the place and entered, through a quaint, small entry door that evoked an era long past, into a very funky stuccoed space whose walls were covered in a variety of artworks (some interesting, others...ehr, not so much.) All our entrees were served with white rice; no black beans, no mashed potatoes, or any of the sides described on the menu. Our youngest ordered chicken (from the children's menu) which specifically said that it would be served with rice, and a choice of french fries or maduros (sweet plantains.) He was given french fries only. When we pointed out the various discrepancies, we were confronted with rudeness, arrogance, and utter lack of professionalism. In fact, we were told that if that's what the menu said, it was wrong and they would have to change it. The staff could certainly benefit from a stint in some NY restaurants where they can learn the value of patrons on an off-season, otherwise just-about-empty restaurant, Friday night. It's really very unfortunate, because one would think that getting the menu down would be the real challenge in an establishement; getting the staff to behave professionally would be a piece of cake by comparisson. Not at Cuba's Cooking. And it really is just too bad because, although the food was very good, it wasn't good enough to make dealing with the staff worth going back to the place. What was noteworthy, however, was the solo accoustic guitarist/singer performer. An accomplished musician in his mid to late 20's with a captivating voice, surpassed only by his repertoir. What ruined this for us was a local couple with two very young children, one of which was allowed to scream throughout the evening while the other one took a tambourine and just banged away at it for the better part of the evening. The musician was too kind and the staff was, unfortunately, too unprofessional to handle the situation. The upside is, this is one of the few places in Aruba where the gratuity is not automatically added onto the bill. That's a good thing because it afforded us a subtle way of letting the staff know what we thought of their service by leaving...none. Other than this, our stay in Aruba so far (five days plus)has been fantastic; lots of terrific experiences all around. Too bad we can't count Cuba's Cooking among them!
