Havana Central @ Broadway between 113th and 114th

Havana Central opens to a spacious room, half old-fashioned wooden bar, half tables and chairs. The floor is tiled. TVs silenced broadcast sports. A friendly hostess welcomes you.

The best was dessert, Tres Leches or three milks cake. It was moist and spongy, with a very sweet, almost marshmellowy frosting. I bypassed the frosting (as I tend to do) and dipped the drenched cake in the accompanying dollop of whipped cream. I always believe dessert should come first -- when you're really hungry for it. Alas, we waited through our meals before we could taste this confection.

We started with the Cuban Tasting Sampler that arrived on three tiered plates -- as if this were an English tea. The sampler came with our choice of empanadas; we chose the spinach goat cheese empanada -- a flakey envelope stuffed with chopped spinach and a thin layer of goat cheese. However, the best of the samples were the tostones -- fried mashed plaintain that came with salsa chimichurri -- a wonderful, green, aromatic dipping sauce tasting of chopped dill, cilantro, and parsley. The tostones were laid out beside slices of tasty chorizo. There was also an inch long chunk of "zesty" corn on the cob rolled in Parmesan cheese, two pieces of chicken (so dry the bite I took stuck in my throat), and wonderfully sweet and scrumptious fried plantains.

For our main course we shared the Paella de Mariscos -- the shrimp were crunchy and succulent, tasting of the sea, teeny-tiny scallops, little chunks of white fish, mussels, and clams. The dish came also with callamari -- which I cannot eat and which, at our request, the chef left out. The rice was a tad overcooked -- smothered in a tomato sauce with peas and pimentos.

We ordered two glasses of Yuengling beer ($5 a glass). Our bill came to $60.15.