Description
To get a table, simply pop in Cienfuegos's sister establishment, Carteles, a sunny, blue-and-yellow-tiled Cuban sandwich shop and bar, and ask for a spot upstairs in Cienfuegos. Then it's up the steps and into another world--Alice in Wonderland meets Hemingway-era Cuba, all turquoise walls, wrought iron--work, glass tchotchkes, brass candlesticks, giant white-leather banquettes, and worn shutters over the windows. The female servers wear colorful aprons and A-line skirts, '50s-housewife-style, like Betty Draper in a better mood. The wonderful rum cocktails are the main draw, served by the single, double, or punch bowl. Some of the Cuban food offered is perfectly adequate. Among the better options are glazed pork ribs and drunken shrimp--fat crustaceans in a cilantro-flecked sauce that's tart and zippy with rum, sliced jalapeños, and a huge amount of garlic.
