Lilac Tinted Views: Revolucion de Cuba: Tapas and Latin Music

So it's been a while since I did a foodie post! Actually I don't think I've done one this year! *insert horrified face*. As a self-proclaimed foodie, this needed to be rectified immediately! Lucky for me (and you!) I've been to a couple of new places this year and remembered to take pictures. This post is on Revolucion de Cuba in Manchester, I went with A on a random night last month. Initially I wasn't too keen on it because I really wanted to have a world famous "Almost Famous" burger but as usual their waiting time for a table was phenomenal! Probably over an hour long, as much as I like Almost Famous there's just something about waiting an hour for a table that really annoys me. At least they've removed their pretentious bouncer from the door since they relocated to Deasngate I believe.

We were seated and promptly ordered drinks, I can't even lie, at this point I was a bit disappointed because the menu said my drink came in a real pineapple and instead it came in this...

I mean... the cheek of it. The thought of drinking from a real pineapple was more than half the reason I picked that drink instead of a yummy margarita! After that let down I was feeling a little more than disappointed with the place already. I hate being tricked! Turns out I had nothing to fear, you see.. at Revolucion de Cuba there's a very entertaining live band that comes to play in the evenings and seeing as we were completely unaware of this at the time, it came as a pleasant and very welcome surprise. The band of two men and one woman sang all sorts of Latin American/Spanish hit songs that I know by tune only. I just tried to type out the tune but it just looked a bit spastic! They did perform "Konga" though! Which was my favourite part of the night and the song promptly got stuck in my head! Saying all this though, if you're looking for a quiet place to eat in peace this is not for you. The "after-work" crowd in there is huge, making it a little noisy at certain times.

By the time our tapas came I was more than happy again and ready to get into it. Oh I apologise, all these pictures were taken on my phone camera, however I don't think they look half bad! We ordered six small plates to share, (going clockwise from the top left corner); Gambas Pil Pil, Pork belly Skewers, Pulled Pork Taquito, Sweet Potato and Chorizo Croquettes, Chicken Rumba Skewers and Chicken and Roasted Peppers Quesadillas. Oh and some crusty bread on the side for dipping!

By the time we were done with the tapas and the crusty bread I was pretty full but A insisted on getting our favourite ones again! Out of the six, the winners were...

Gambas Pil Pil: My own personal favourite. I love seafood tbh, nothing more can be said. Any form of seafood is most likely to win with me and the garlic and butter sauce was just divine!

The Chicken Quesadillas: A joint favourite! The tortilla and the cheese alongside the chicken just melt in your mouth. Best eaten very warm! My belly is rumbling just thinking about it.

Chicken Rumba Skewers: These yummy skewers were marinated in lime, soy and pineapple and grilled to succulent perfection!

To be perfectly honest, by the time we were done with the three extra plates we were both waaaay too full to move! But what's some extra tapas without a margarita to accompany it?? They do a lot of rum based cocktails and their margarita was really nice! The right blend of sweetness with the kick of alcohol just noticeable enough but not too strong.

By the end of the whole ordeal, we were presented with this lovely box of "Cuban cigars". We "smoked" our cigars, closed the box and salsa'd out of Revolucion de Cuba. I'd definitely be going back there again in a hurry.