____________________________

Favela Chic
91-93 Great Eastern Street
EC2A 3HZ
020 7613 4228

favelalondon.wordpress.com

Fiesta Havana originally had something of a sports bar atmosphere but these days concentrate on the latin-caribbean front and to attract a client-base interested in more than just drinks and football, and the establishment now has a mouth-watering tapas menu with 19 varieties of tapas and main dishes.

You can wash the food down with a selection of special beers such as the Peruvian Cusqueña, or an ice-cold
Mojito. Keep an eye on promotions such as the Sagatiba Sundays, where £5 will buy you two caipirinhas all night.

Worried about the calories? Then shake your hips at the dance lessons, which are on offer seven days a week. Fiesta Havana also has some great DJs on hand – and the bar is the last in the area to close its doors each night, at 2am.

_____________________

Fiesta Havana
490 Fulham Road,
SW6 5NH
Tube: Fulham Broadway
020 7381 5891
HAVANAFULHAM.CO.UK

Canecão is the recently opened Brazilian pub which brings the idea of the Brazilian boteco (corner street bar) with appetisers and ice cold beer to London. Live music, with a space set aside for those who like to play snooker and a huge screen which broadcasts live the Brazilian Championship and Brazil International games to fans. These are just some of the examples of what this place has to offer. On the menu, among all the tasty items, aside from the portion of chicken hearts (a typical Brazilian dish), what really caught my attention was the “CaipiBeer”.

It’s a caipirinha made with beer, created exclusively by Canecão.

The pub is really close to King’s Cross and is open every day of the week from 11am and on Sundays you can enjoy a full feijoada accompanied by samba.

by Bruna Pennacchiotti

_____________________

Canecão
17 York Way Rd
N7 9QG
Tube: Camden Town
020 7485 4738
canecaolondon.com

The bar’s intimate atmosphere evokes the great names of Brazilian music; the walls are lined with images of Elis Regina, Vinícius de Moraes, Tom Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal and Pixinguinha, amongst others.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday, the bar offers an array of live performances, ranging from jazz and blues to
electronica, forró, samba and bossa-nova. DJ Barry commands the decks playing 80s hits on Thursdays.

There’s a wide range of Brazilian food on offer, and the best seller is, of course, traditional Brazilian feijoada
accompanied by a good, old fashioned caipirinha. Open everyday from 7pm onwards, and on Saturdays and
Sundays from mid-day, the restaurant serves an array of dishes, juices and tropical drinks.

by Bruna Pennacchiotti

_____________________

Caipirinha Jazz Bar
177, Archway Rd
Highgate,
N6 5BL
Tube: Highgate
020 8342 8146
caipirinha-london.com

According to Pablo their intention, “was always to use the space as a mixture between a café, bar and art gallery, not only promoting Latin American food, but also art from the region”. In October, the Macondo will exhibit works by Hilary Simon (paintings inspired by the colours the artist encountered in Guatemala and Mexico). “We try as much as possible to promote Latin American art”, says Casas.

Apart from the art, Macondo serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and cake. By night it turns into a bar with Latin American beers, wines and classic cocktails like Margaritas, Daiquiris and Sours. Shortly Casas will be opening a second Macondo in Camden Passage, Islington.

_____________________

Macondo Café
Bar Gallery
20 Camden Passage,
Islington
N1 8

http://www.macondo.co.uk/

In charge of the kitchen is Pietro Rocha, former chef at Guanabara and previously at the famous Copacabana Palace in Rio. He’s the one to blame for the prime cuts of South American steak (£11 or £12, depending on the cut) with luscious garlic mushrooms and roasted sweet potatoes (£1.50 each). Here’s how his dinner system works: customers choose from aubergine, grilled salmon or sirloin steaks, among others, then mix and match with the sides, if and as many as they want. Quite democratic.

If you’re not up to a whole meal, there’s also the option of nibbles, like the melting beef pot (with gravy, onions and bread, perfect to share, £7), which are great for the ground floor, with lounge music during the week and DJs on Fridays and Saturdays (check the full calendar of events on their website).

And saving the best for last, the stars of the house: the delicious caipirinhas made with real fruit, such as lemon, berries and passion fruit will make you a complete and devoted fan of Spiritual, not least of all because from 5pm to 7pm, Mon-Fri, they only cost £3.

Now, that’s what we call a happy hour!

4 Ferdinand St, NW1 8ER
Chalk Farm
0207 485 6791
SPIRITUALBAR.CO.UK

Once you’ve been in, you’ll understand that the name of the establishment is instrinsically linked with the atmosphere of the place – and the décor, which is full of props, flags and pictures hailing from the island of Cuba, which give it a fun feel.

To get the full Cubana experience, try a mojito (£4.95), made with fresh mint and freshly-squeezed lime juice mixed with organic raw cane sugar. If you get there for Happy hour (Mon – Sat, 5pm-6:30pm), you can get two for one on cocktails or sangria.

As a starter, croquetas de boniato y chorizo con salsa are pretty damn tasty and, as we were delighted to discover, they aren’t really fatty: organic chorizo and sweet potato croquettes with fresh, home-made tomato salsa. Cubana also has a range of vegetarian food, like vegetarian tapas (£7.95 to share).

You won’t be dissapointed by Pollo Criolo, a Cubana favourite, free-range chicken, casseroled in fresh orange, sherry, onions and garlic, served with fried plantain and black bean rice, for only £9.95.

If you want it all to yourself, Cubana is up for hire with a a private mojito bar and live music. Check the website for music schedules and menus and more. Happy Hour Mojitos – 2 for £6.95

48 Lower Marsh SE1 7RG
Waterloo
0207 928 8778
CUBANA.CO.UK