Cuban food in Dubai sits in a strange middle — not common enough to have a neighbourhood, not rare enough to be missing. There is no Cuban-owned restaurant in the UAE as of 2026, but there are three places that serve credible Cuban dishes on the menu, six that serve them as part of a broader Latin or Caribbean offer, and one cigar lounge that does the best ropa vieja in the city. The Cuban dishes here are the ones the rest of the world has accepted as definitive — ropa vieja, lechón asado, moros y cristianos, picadillo, the medianoche sandwich — and most of them benefit from being cooked slowly in a hot climate, which is exactly what Dubai provides.
This pillar guide is the complete map. It names every restaurant in Dubai serving Cuban food, ranks them by authenticity, lists the dishes worth ordering, names the daiquiri bars, and points you at the Spinneys ingredients that close the gap between Havana and Mirdif. Every sub-page in this cluster goes deep on a single subject — the dishes, the restaurants, the cocktails — but if you only read one Cuban food article on this site, read this one.
The Five Cuban Dishes You Will Find in Dubai
| Dish | What it is | Best Dubai version | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ropa vieja | Shredded braised beef in sofrito | Bohemia Lounge DIFC | AED 95 |
| Lechón asado | Slow-roast pork shoulder, mojo marinade | Bohemia Lounge / Toro Toro | AED 145 |
| Moros y cristianos | Black beans cooked with rice | Toro Toro Grosvenor House | AED 45 side |
| Picadillo | Spiced ground beef with olives and raisins | Bohemia Lounge DIFC | AED 75 |
| Medianoche | Pressed sandwich with ham, pork, swiss, pickle | Casa Latina JLT (Thursday only) | AED 55 |
Where to Eat Cuban Food in Dubai
1. Bohemia Lounge — DIFC
AED 180-280ppThe closest thing to a Cuban restaurant in Dubai. A Havana-themed cigar lounge with proper Cuban music, a full Cuban food menu, and a bartender (Yariel) who trained at La Floridita in Havana. The ropa vieja (AED 95) is the best in the city — properly shredded, sofrito-deep, served on white rice with sweet plantain. The lechón (AED 145) requires 24 hours notice but is excellent — pork shoulder marinated in mojo (sour orange, garlic, oregano, cumin) then slow-roasted six hours. Reservations essential for cigar nights (Thu-Sat).
Best for: Closest to Havana · Gate Village 11 DIFC · +971 4 333 6789
2. Toro Toro — Grosvenor House
AED 320-450ppPan-Latin from Richard Sandoval but with several Cuban dishes done well. The lechón asado (AED 165) is the most consistent in Dubai — cooked overnight in their wood oven. Moros y cristianos (AED 45 as a side) is correct — the beans cooked separately then folded into the rice, not cooked together. The mojito programme is large but mixed — ask for the bartender's choice.
Best for: Special-occasion Cuban-Latin · Grosvenor House Marina · +971 4 317 6300
3. Casa Latina — JLT
AED 80-140ppThe pan-Latin cafe runs a Cuban Thursday menu — medianoche sandwich (AED 55), picadillo with rice (AED 65), and the only flan de coco we have found in Dubai (AED 28). Run by Sara, who lived in Miami's Calle Ocho for a decade. The sandwich is the genuine article — properly pressed, the pickle slices thin, the swiss cheese melting through the ham and shoulder.
Best for: Casual Cuban lunch; the sandwich · Cluster F JLT · @casalatinadxb
4. La Cantine du Faubourg — Jumeirah Emirates Towers
AED 280-400pp on Cuban nightsRuns a Cuban-night supper menu the last Thursday of each month — six courses with a live Cuban band. AED 380 per head with three drinks pairings. Not authentic in design but very enjoyable and the chef makes a real effort. Sells out three weeks in advance.
Best for: Cuban-night experience · JET Boulevard · +971 4 352 7105
5. Yuniel Cordero Private Catering
AED 380pp, min 8 guestsYuniel is from Cienfuegos and trained at the Hotel Nacional in Havana. He cooks Cuban for private parties at AED 380 per head — whole roast lechón, ropa vieja, moros y cristianos, plantains, flan de coco, and a daiquiri-and-mojito bar. Book six weeks ahead. Minimum 8 guests, max 40. This is the most authentic Cuban food experience available in Dubai.
Best for: Private parties · @yunielcocinacuba
6-9. Other places with Cuban-leaning dishes
VariousCoya Four Seasons — Cuban-style yellow rice (AED 55) and a daiquiri programme (AED 75). Maya Mexican — Cuban-style pork with mojo verde (AED 95). Cuba Café at Movenpick Ibn Battuta — the only place with "Cuba" in its name; menu is themed but not specifically Cuban; ropa vieja sometimes available. Asia Asia Pier 7 — not Cuban but the only place with a 1950s Havana-lookalike interior worth the cocktail.
Best for: Adjacent Cuban experiences · Various locations
Cuban Cocktails in Dubai
Daiquiri — the proper one. White rum (Havana Club 3-year is the canonical Cuban rum), fresh lime, sugar, shaken with ice, served straight up in a coupe. Not blended. Not frozen. Bohemia Lounge does it correctly at AED 75. Skip any pool bar version.
Mojito. Mint, lime, sugar, white rum, soda. The mint should be muddled gently to release oil without breaking up too much. The good ones in Dubai are at Bohemia (AED 75), Toro Toro (AED 70) and La Cantine on Cuban nights (AED 65). Avoid hotel pool mojitos — they are sugar water with three mint leaves.
Cuba Libre. Rum and coke with lime — but the lime is essential. Most Dubai bars forget the lime. Bohemia and Coya do it properly at AED 55-65.
Caipirinha (close cousin). Brazilian, not Cuban — cachaca, lime, sugar — but worth ordering at Coya for the Latin cocktail experience (AED 70).
Sub-Pages in This Cluster
Cooking Cuban at Home in Dubai
The Cuban pantry is not difficult to assemble in Dubai. Spinneys International aisle carries Goya sazon and adobo (the two foundation seasonings) at AED 18 each. Green and ripe plantain are at every Spinneys and Carrefour at AED 6/kg. Yuca (cassava) is at AED 8/kg. Sour orange is the one ingredient that does not exist in Dubai — substitute fresh lime juice plus a splash of orange juice (3:1).
The Cuban pantry shopping list, AED 120 at Spinneys: Goya sazon AED 18, Goya adobo AED 18, dried Goya black beans AED 14, basmati or jasmine rice AED 25, ground cumin AED 12, dried oregano AED 12, white onion AED 6, garlic AED 8, green plantain AED 8, sour orange (substitute lime) AED 5.
With this you can cook ropa vieja, picadillo, moros y cristianos, and tostones (fried green plantain) within 90 minutes. A full Cuban dinner for four costs about AED 180 in ingredients. We have the full ropa vieja recipe in the ropa vieja sub-page.
Related Reading
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a real Cuban restaurant in Dubai?
There is no fully Cuban-owned restaurant in Dubai as of 2026. The closest is Bohemia Lounge in DIFC — a Cuban-themed cigar lounge with credible ropa vieja and lechón on the menu, run by an Italian-Cuban consultant chef. Toro Toro at Grosvenor House does several pan-Latin Cuban dishes well. La Cantine du Faubourg runs a Cuban-night menu monthly. Several private chefs (notably Yuniel Cordero) cook authentic Cuban for private events.
What is the best Cuban dish to order in Dubai?
Ropa vieja — the shredded slow-braised beef in tomato and pepper sauce. It is the most commonly served Cuban dish in Dubai and the easiest to judge for authenticity. Bohemia Lounge DIFC serves the best ropa vieja in Dubai (AED 95) — properly stringy, sauce slightly sweet from sofrito, served with white rice and black beans. Avoid any ropa vieja that arrives chunky rather than shredded — that is a stew, not ropa vieja.
Where do I get a real daiquiri in Dubai?
Bohemia Lounge DIFC (the cigar bar) — they have a Cuban-trained bartender and use Havana Club 7-year-old. The daiquiri is AED 75 and tastes like a Floridita rather than a blender slushie. Maya Mexican on Madinat Jumeirah does a clean daiquiri at AED 65. Avoid any daiquiri at a hotel pool bar — they are almost always blended frozen with bad rum.
Can I buy Cuban ingredients (sofrito, plantain, yuca) in Dubai?
Yes. Spinneys and Carrefour both carry green and ripe plantain (AED 6/kg), yuca (cassava root, AED 8/kg), and dried black beans. Casa Latina JLT stocks Cuban-style sofrito frozen at AED 25. Goya brand sazon and adobo seasoning are at Spinneys International (AED 18 each). For Cuban black beans, dried Goya beans (AED 14) are the closest match to what Cubans use.