Orange County Register

Had a pre-show dinner at Habana in Costa Mesa a few weeks ago before an evening of Flamenco at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. At the very back of the Lab, this Cuban restaurant is dark and gothic, full of medieval sparseness: tall, untreated walls, dozens of small candles and iron chandeliers.

I love this place both during the day and in the black of night. At night, the room is so very dark you might have trouble reading the menu.

I started with a grilled romaine and escalavida salad ($6.95), which tasted more bitter than it should have. The grilling didn’t seem to sweeten the lettuce and the escalavida - a tossing of red pepper, onion and eggplant - seemed out of place. I suspect the creamy caper dressing was meant to pull everything together, but its presence was too sparse to have much affect.

During our dinner, I was distracted by a priest and his dining companion. The white of his clerical collar stood out in the dimness of the room. I wanted to know which red wine he ordered and how he felt in this room that seemed like so many European cathedrals.

But then my next course arrived: tuna tartare on tostones ($10.95). Uncooked, diced tuna had been tossed with chilies and a bit of mango and mounded in the center of a plate. It was surrounded by sliced and fried plantains. The tuna tasted ordinary and the plaintains were sturdy, more starchy than crispy. Sadly, the evening would be a culinary dud. But the mashed potatoes that I scooped off my dining companion’s plate (served alongside the plantain coated chicken) was creamy and hinted of garlic.

I noticed the priest ordered better than I did. He went with a sure bet off the Habana menu, Manilla clams and black and green mussels in a broth of sauteed annatto seeds, garlic, leeks, fennel and onion.

Habana, 2930 Bristol, Costa Mesa. (714) 556-0176.

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