Havana @ Changkat Bukit Bintang, KL

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When I heard from Sean of EatdrinkKL that they served Alligator meat at Havana, I wasted no time dragging Paranoid Android (PA) to the joint. Seeing as rich man PA lives just a stone’s throw from this upmarket part of town, I knew he would have no qualms joining me for lunch.

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“Say ah… !”

Gator on a stick – it tastes like chicken.. an extremely rubberized form of chicken. The waiter says that it is from Australia and we were wondering how long this gator had been frozen for. Anyway, good if you like some fight in your meat. Taste wise nothing to shout about.

DSC00019The newly revamped Havana .. stylish and bright. We love the bold play on colors. The inner court is extremely pretty not to mention the cool upper deck. Check it out if you are in the area.

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The name of the place might be Cuban but the food they serve is a mixture of Louisianan, Creole, Cajun etc.. Take for example the Crawfish Boulettes – Boulettes (“little balls”) are little breaded and fried balls of meat or seafood dressing, that make a scrumptious snack, appetizer or side dish. The ones I ate before were heated in brown roux-based or tomato gravy and served with rice but the ones at Havana were just tasty deep fried balls of well, Craw fish, potato and minced vegetables. We were hard pressed to locate/taste the Craw fish, but as with anything breaded and fried it tasted good!

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Jambalaya!

Jambalaya is traditionally made with meats and vegetables, and is completed by adding stock and rice. It is also a close cousin to the saffron colored paella found in Spain. The one we had at Havana was Red Jambalaya with breaded chicken meat and prawn, and also smoked lamb sausage in the rice. PA was not impressed with this dish.. he swept the rice to the side and declared that the sausage tasted like..

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.. that the sausage tasted like.. Dog’s p***s ! Which begs the question.. PA, how do you know what DP’s tastes like:P

(censored for the sake of young readers).

DSC00050Jambalaya – what I did like about it was the bread crusted chicken bits and the prawns. The rice was good too but it could have done without the gamy lamb sausage.

DSC00049Alligator meat, much like venison or ostrich meat, is considered to be an exotic meat, which means it may not appear next to the hamburgers and hot dogs at your local grocery store.. surprise, surprise! By the time the gator meat reaches the shops they are normally in the form of frozen, great big bags of meat. Almost all alligator meat sold today is produced in commercial alligator farms along the southern coast of the United States or in other countries with large alligator populations, such as Australia.

DSC00052Alligator meat is considered to be healthier than domestic chicken, especially when it comes to cholesterol and fat content. The most common alligator meat product  is the tail section. Alligator tail meat is very similar to veal in texture, but is said to taste like chicken!

So, rubberised chicken due to the high muscle and low  cholesterol/fat content. Eat Gator meat.. it’s good for you!

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See you later, alligator.

Add:
Havana,
No. 2 & 4, Lorong Sahabat,
Off Changkat Bukit Bintang,
50200 KL.
Tel: 603 2142 7170

26 Comments

  • let me go taste some alligator meat nxt month down under n i will tell u if it is indeed a glorious version of rubberised chicken

  • J2Kfm says:

    !!! Exotic meat in such a setting? Ask them for snake soups, terrapins and fruit foxes. Hehehe … like another Lawan Kuda in Perak.

  • Wah. What an exotic satay! 🙂

  • Dog penis eh? Is P.A keeping something from us?

  • cya later alligator nom nom nom. :mrgreen:

  • eiling says:

    I also wanna try alligator meat! Yums

  • Carmen says:

    i never know that even alligator can be eaten nowadays…

    i was surprised when i saw people blogging about horse satay..

    guess now, alligator wins… 🙄 😛

  • Sean says:

    i always forget what’s the difference between alligator and crocodile! i assume crocodiles are the ones in asia and australia (ie. crocodile dundee) and gators are the ones in american swamps, but i dunno…

  • ai wei says:

    alligator meat… hoho, any ‘kaki’-s want a try too? 😛

  • Leo (thule) says:

    good la… at least the meat is not controversial which is against your principle 🙂

  • Paprika says:

    I haven’t decided whether to blog about this place as I have nothing nice to say. I don’t really want to risk another wasted meal either. I think I will just let a few more months pass before heading over for another bite.

  • taste like chic n rubbery?? think i’ll pass ;p

  • Min Chow says:

    Am inclined to trust PA’s dismissal – the sausage does not look the least fit for human consumption! Though that’s not really saying much in these exotic times… Whatever happened to tomyam???

  • jason says:

    Alligator meat! O_O Er… I thought it ws supposed to be dark in colour

  • Huai Bin says:

    Alligator meat is awesome! I’ve had crocodile, it’s cousin but not gator. Gotta check it out sometime. Cheers! 🙂

  • Ming says:

    I am amazed this place still exists! I used to hang out there in my early working days..but there was no alligator satay then. great photos by the way.

  • fatboybakes says:

    wow, your blogging suddenly taken on a new dimension la…. so classy, so arty…bow bow bow….i feel so pedestrian now. i think i shall just give up blogging.

  • Aiyoh! With one blog post you have exposed the true me… A foul mouthed foodie with a fetish for animal genitalia. 👿

    Did you know that DPs are an exotic delicacy for the Fakarwi tribe found at the Jolokjolok Mountains in Kalimantan? :mrgreen:

  • fatboybakes says:

    i always thought the fakarwi tribe were pygmies in the kalahari.

  • FBB: I got confused. Thanks for the correction. It must be their distant cousin, HOODAFARKAWI Tribe. Thanks for the correction. 😛

  • Jason Wong says:

    If you are in Penang, we can bring you guys to try the steam crocodile tail that we had last year. It was very smooth and it didn’t taste like chicken!

  • Miguel says:

    Just a few nights ago, a very good friend had been assaulted by a medium built Indian bouncer with a goatee here. He was merely waiting in line at the stairway to the upper floor, when the above mentioned brute aggressively dragged him aside for allegedly blocking the way. When my friend resisted in self defense, the bouncer retaliated by brutally smashing his face in with his large heavy fist. Complaints will be made against this individual. This misfortunate event was quite a huge blow to us, as we were regular patrons to this high ranking establishment. We are deeply disappointed and hope the appropriate action will be taken.

  • MO says:

    Worst entry staff ever
    so I went to Havana a few weeks ago with a bunch of girls, I was supposed to meet them there because
    I had to use the ATM, the guy didn’t let me in saying that there is a guest list and he told me to
    make you girl group come down for you, so as I was trying to get in touch with them he let in 3 European guus
    without checking any list, two other “girl friends” came and tried to get me in with them. and he was still
    like no you can’t come in, “even though I got 2 girls with me”, so I was like trying to text my friends that
    I am leaving and I will meet them somewhere else, and he started punching me even though I said I am
    leaving and dropped my phone, so I started swearing and wanted to leave, so he punched me and started a fight !!!!
    So Today I was dropping off a friend there, saw the guy and I thought I would try to clear the air, I told
    him ” I am leaving I wanna say I am sorry I shouldn’t swear, -even though it was his fault in the beginning-
    so he didn’t even listen and punched me agian and started again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I am the nicest guy ever but the staff there are just jerks, I tried to be nice and they are like raciest
    indians, you know it is not the best place in KL, many more famous places have much more nice staff

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