Fillet of veal with coconut sauce lying on a bed of roasted potatoes in curry butter and balsamic reduction. - photos by Nashauna Drummond/Lifestyle Coordinator

If while dining in Cuba, you realise that the native cuisine is not quite to your liking, don't sweat it, there are options. If the buffet offerings of grilled pork, beef, fried chicken and Ajiaco (Cuba's national dish, which is a thick stew of black beans, pork and other roots and vegetables), don't agree with your palate, most hotels have an a la carte restaurant specialising in other cuisine such as Asian or Italian.

El Romantico in the Melia Las Antillas Hotel in the coastal province of Varadero offers a very fine fare in Italian cuisine. Bypassing the hotel's buffet and having a meal in this cosy spot is like taking a trip to Venice. The restaurant offers a delectable four-course meal which is sure to leave you salivating for more. The savoury adventure begins with an appetiser of dried fruits and home-made assorted cheeses. Then an invigorating serving of roasted vegetables with confit of duck on honey vinaigrette. The honey really brings out the flavour of the duck.

Soup time! The lobster cream soup is smooth and spicy. Just right, with all the flavours well balanced, nothing overwhelming.

Main course: The fillet of veal in a coconut sauce, lying on bed of roasted potatoes in curry butter is fabulous. However, if you like your meat well done, be sure to point this out to your server. These courses are paired with the perfect red or white wine to really enhance the taste making your meal a gastronomically enjoyable event.

Mille-Feuille of roasted vegetables with confit of duck on a honey vinaigrette.

Left: Dry fruits and assorted home-made cheeses Right: Jardine del Rey's lobster cream soup.

nashauna.drummond@gleanerjm.com