Calle Dao

Cute restaurant, had the tiger salad with shrimp. Very herby and yummy, but will give you the onion burps later. Worth it. The tres leches cake was waaaaaay better than the churros. Churros were very underwhelming, don’t let them sell it to you like they did to us. I would want to return to try more of their food.

Here for the first time, wish I had found out about this place sooner since I work nearby! Our server Justin was super friendly and funny, and made good recommendations.
Really like that the food is actually fusion, not like the places where half the items on the menu are really one cuisine, and the other half another.
We had the lamb (they were out of goat), the market fish (they were out of skate), and the chicken, and our favorites were the fish and the lamb. The veggies they came with them were especially delicious!
Cocktails: Opium++
Appetizers: oxtail and empanadas were fine
Free taro chips and fried plantains: REALLY good!

If you want a quick review note– the food is not even remotely Cuban and the dining experience is not noteworthy. The music playing in the restaurant was the only positive experience.
More elaboration… I typically avoid writing bad reviews since making it in the restaurant business is difficult enough and I don’t want to contribute to failures. However, I have never been more happy to write a review.
First off, don’t come here expecting to have authentic Cuban food by any means. Nothing about the food is latin (primarily referencing the brunch).
Secondly, expect to have the call the waiter to ask for anything you want. It was empty when we walked in and stayed that way for the hour proceeding (avoid empty restaurants, it’s that way for a reason).
Thirdly, the 4 of us all ordered meals then we got a hard time for getting 2 free desserts from the checkin since I ordered a sandwich which apparently isn’t a meal that qualifies for the dessert even though it’s more expensive than their other entrée options.
Fourthly, expect to get called out by the waiter if you tip based on the opinion of your dining experience. Which in this case was so poor so the lack of tip represented as such.

We have been here 4 times now, and I am looking forward to a 5^th visit. The only reason that I give a 4 star instead of 5 star rating is because of the sauces that go with the appetizers, and the fact that the happy hour drinks are sugary (but tasty) drinks that don’t have a lot of bang for your buck. They are also inconsistent, depending on your bartender. I recommend that all of the appetizers are eaten without the dipping sauces that are served with it.
The spring rolls are amazing, although likely nothing you have ever had before. Full of mushrooms and super tasty. Non-​traditional, but amazing. The shrimp empanadas are to die for. So flaky and delicious! The duck empanadas are solid, but lacking a little something. I am not sure what it needed, but if the dipping sauces were stronger, I imagine that it would have been better all around. The wings are tender and tasty. Oxtail croquettes were surprisingly meaty and incredible. The pork dumplings, both fried or steamed, are just pork dumplings, Nothing out of the ordinary, The goat sliders were good, but nothing special. They were fine. If I was in the mood for a goat burger, I might order again, but I would be more likely to order one of the items that I love, like the shrimp empanadas. The pork Cubano was everything I thought it would be, and the pork belly and duck egg soup was nothing like what I thought it would be, but I loved it and would order again.
The tres leches cake was exceptional, and this restaurant deserves a visit for that alone. And despite some inconsistency with service and quality of drinks, overall every person I have interacted with at Calle Dao has been lovely and wonderful. It’s a great place to eat or drink. Bring a friend!

Justin is great, thank you, Justin!
Very interesting fusion cuisine. The appetizers shine. Duck empanadas and spring rolls are a must. The sauce on the seafood paella is a bit strong, but the sausages in it are flavorful in their own right. Cocktails are well balanced and fun. Definitely worth a visit.

My husband and I stopped in for a light snack before a play. We were seated immediately and introduced to our waiter. He was super friendly and helpful. We ordered chino-​cubano tuna ceviche which was great. It was topped with a great guacamole. Very good! We also tried the ox tail croquettes with duck empanadas. Both appetizers were delicious. Finally some flan which did not disappoint. Highly recommended.

I walked by this place before and looked cool so I finally went. The atmosphere is perfect for a girls night out or a romantic dinner or catching up with friends.
We ordered beets and citrus salad, Calle dao dim sum and pan fried noodle with pork. My favorite was pork! So soft and well cooked.
I would like to come back and try other dishes.

Came here for dinner with a friend. I love fusion restaurants, and having been to Cuba in May 2015, I was eager to try a Cuban/​Asian fusion. It was done very well!
The restaurant itself is decorated beautifully — it’s really immersive without being kitschy. Even the music made me feel like I was back in Havana sitting out on the street having dinner.
We had the tuna ceviche, oxtail croquettes, and a few other things I can’t remember, but everything was delicious. I had to slow myself down from gobbling up the food! Had the 10 Years War cocktail, which was boozy and yummy, like I like!
Definitely come here if you’re in the area or thinking about trying something new.

This is so called Cuban Chinese cuisine
I come for lunch, and there are only two table of people eating including me. It is an almost empty restaurant
I ordered oxtail meat ball and mushroom sandwiches. Meat ball is so so. Mushroom sandwiches is terrible. The mushroom is bitter.
If you have been familiar with Chinese food or Cuban food, I would not recommend the restaurant to you. This is a restaurant that I would never come again.

My experience here was mixed. My friend and I were looking for a place to have dinner before going to a nearby jazz club and we found this place on Unilocal.I saw pan fried noodles on the menu and that convinced me to make a reservation here. Pan fried noodles are one of my favorite dishes. Instead of being boiled, the noodles are fried and come out crispy. When the sauce hits the noodles, you get a lot of different textures. Some of the noodles stay crunchy and some of them absorb the sauce and get softer. So, if the dish is properly prepared you not can not only get a lot of interesting flavors, you get interesting textures, too. Unfortunately, the pan fried noodles here were not fried at all, the just brought us regular lo mien with standard boiled noodles.
When I complained they said, «this is the way we make pan fried noodles, our cuisine is fusion». Well, why call them pan fried when they are not? Just because you mix different kinds of cuisine doesn’t make it right to put something on the menu and serve something else. I was very disappointed, I had been looking forward to having crunchy pan fried noodles the whole day.
Another negative was, even though we had reservations, they sat us in the noisy, crowded bar area, instead of the dinning room in the back. We asked to move but they said the dinning area was booked for a private party. There were plenty of available table in the dining area when we came in and they were still empty when we left. If they were going to seat us in the bar area, they might have told us when we made the reservation. It is hard to have a fine dinning experience when you are just a few inches from a rowdy bar crowd.
The second dish we had was a vegetarian dish, mostly sauteed kale and beans. It was tasty but it was overpriced and the portion was small.
What saves this restaurant from a one star rating is, the food was very tasty, even the lo mien. Based on the flavors of the food, I can give them two stars.

Calle Dao [Knife Street] really is an oasis in the heart of the perpetually uninspiring Midtown. The fun, Cuban-​inspired décor and Latin musica made me forget about the depressing, rainy, 35-​degree weather outside and the lack of vibrancy in the ‘hood this past Monday evening.
The restaurant is pretty big and was only about ¼ full. Still, there were enough patrons to make the place seem relatively lively.
My boyfriend and I wanted to do two entrees so we could get the Unilocal check-​in free dessert offer, but we also wanted to sample a number of menu items, so we settled on the dim sum, which was like an appetizer sampler. It consisted of 1 duck empanada, 1 oxtail croquette, and 2 spring rolls. While they were all really delicious, my favorite was the smoky duck empanada, which came with a sweet soy sauce for dipping. The spring roll was probably my second fave.
Now, for the entrees:
Pan fried noodles [mushrooms, chinese baby bok choy, soy sauce]: I got these sans protein, and they were a tasty complement to another entrée, but perhaps a little too bland for an entire main dish.
Goat neck [house spices, cilantro, baby bok choy, tostones]: Whatcha gonna do with all that neck, all that neck inside that goat? Make a tasty dinner, that’s what. The bf was in LOVE with this dish. I thought it was pretty darn tender, but maybe could’ve used a little more seasoning. Pro tip: Don’t think about how cute goats are while eating.
And, finally, the dessert:
Tres leches [five spices caramel sauce]: Probably my favorite dish of the entire evening. It was SO good. Appropriately milky (yep– definitely 3 milks in there), and the caramel sauce on the bottom was so rich and tasted slightly burnt, which I love. Perfection.
We also got a few drinks to wash everything down. My boyfriend had a Guiness, and he couldn’t stop raving about how good it was. Guiness is really dependent on the quality of the tap, and they apparently have a good tap here.
I had the house-​made sangria, which was good but intensely sweet, and the Cuban-​style ale Hatuey, which is super malty– not really for me.

An absolutely adorable and charming restaurant with a fun Cuban/​Asian fusion menu and an excellent happy hour deal for food and drinks!
DRINK MENU
Mon-​Sat: 11:00 am — 7:00 pm
Sun: ALL DAY
SNACK MENU
4:00 pm — 7:00 pm everyday
$ 1 Oysters /​Clams
For drinks, my friend had the sangria, which was delicious and fruity and had a slight kick. I was feeling adventurous and went for the Caipirinha, which is a cocktail made with sugarcane hard liquor, lime, and sugar; very strong and sweet!
As for the food, I couldn’t resist the $ 1 bluepoint oysters. They were fresh and well cleaned, but tiny and not too satisfying. I’ve had better $ 1 oysters elsewhere. We also had the…
Duck Empanada $ 8 — a bit on the dry side and the sauce was too sweet, it would have tasted better with a sauce that’s both sweet and savory!
Oxtail Croquettes $ 8 — yummy and crunchy outside, with juicy oxtail meat in the center
Goat Sliders $ 8 — I would have liked more spice seasoning and slight kick for this one, but the sliders were flavorful with the hoisin sauce. couldn’t really taste the leeks.
Although I would say food is average, service was outstanding though! Very attentive and friendly, and the waiters were charming! It was a rainy and rough Monday so our server got approval from the manager to let us enjoy the full happy hour menu at a table, which I really appreciated. I would definitely come back here for happy hour and they had a pretty good brunch menu that I’d like to check out as well!

We popped in here around 8pm on a Thursday evening and found this place about half full. It was comfortable, welcoming and created a good atmosphere for conversation. The servers were all attentive and friendly throughout our dining experience and I was intrigued by the Cuban/​Asian cuisine play.
Getting to the food, we started with the pork dumpling that was good as well as the duck empanada that was flavorful. For my main, I tried the lechon asada with fried quinoa that was incredibly tender and had some good flavors and the fried quinoa added some good texture. Overall, the food here was good and I would recommend the lechon (pig).
After a couple of drinks each, tax and tip, it came out to about $ 60/​person which I thought was a bit on the higher end for what we got. In the end, the atmosphere and good food was worth it.
Buon appetito.

I came in here last night for drinks and appetizers. The ambiance is very cool nice lighting Cuban music in the background really fun atmosphere.
I would definitely recommend this place for drinks and appetizers as really fun vibe. We had the oxtail croquettes and the duck and empananas both were amazing.
We decided to skip entrees and go somewhere else because everything sounded super heavy. The happy hour is ok but the drinks aren’t very cheap and the mixed drinks are very sugary /​deluded. Aka stick to beer.
Overall we had an awesome time ;) I would definitely recommend checking this place out. Cuban Asian fusion is definitely something to try. Perfect to take out of towners.

I’ve been here twice now. I had no idea what to expect from Cuban-​Asian fusion, the food and drinks are fantastic.
They’ve got a decent happy hour, and I’m obsessed with their caipirinhas – very refreshing, perfect for warm weather.
They also give you complimentary homemade taro chips – or at least I think they’re homemade – they come out hot and crispy along with a sweet citrus dipping sauce.
The first time I came, I got the pork which came on top of a bed of the best quinoa I’ve ever had in my life. The second time I got the Cornish game hen because why not? Both dishes were solid, but I’m not sure I’d do the game hen a second time.
The service has always been friendly and attentive. The décor is great – lots of atmosphere and it doesn’t feel like every other joint in the neighborhood – but neither does it look over decorated. Their designer did a really nice job.
This has become one of my favorite places in Midtown and I’ll definitely be back.

I’ll start with the good… they had happy hour specials (margaritas, mojitos, etc) from 5−7pm.
Now the bad… the food was not good. I got the pig ears and the sauce was really sweet. The menu said chili sauce so I was expecting something spicy not sweet. I also thought the pig ears would not be fried but they were… maybe I just had different expectations. I tried my friends’s dishes in hopes I just got a bad one… nope it was not ok either. The prices are high too so I think we expected something better…
paella– had no flavor and was pretty disappointing
chicken– flavorless… it kind of tasted like cardboard
angus steak– probably the only good thing on the menu that had flavor
Not a fan of this place or maybe I’m just not into cuban asian fusion food… won’t be back either way. Gave it two stars and not one because the waiter was really nice/​friendly.

I really want to give a 4 but I will just give a 3.
The place is really nice and I like that they opened the windows when it’s warm outside.
My friend and I shared 3 appetizers and had 1 drink.
We were very disappointing with the cocktails menu especially for a Cuban place. My cuba libre was nothing amazing.
The food was really good! I liked the tuna ceviche and the dumplings were also very tasty. I was suprise with the vegetable spring rolls. Everything was really good. the best thing was the tres leches desert! AMAZING!!!
However, they are loosing points with the cocktail menu but also the service. They were not bad but it was really slow. I did not like it. Even the table next to us was saying the same thing. Might come back for the food :)

I feel our experience would have been better had we opted to dine at a proper table rather than at the bar. Or if we had sat at the opposite end, and been served by the bartender who was giving excellent service not only to all bar patrons, but also to the tables to whom he delivered drinks. The cold, brusque, inattentive «service» we received from our bartender made for a trying experience, rather than one that left us feeling valued and eager to return. This was exacerbated by the fact that he gave amazing service to a few select groups of women and presumably monied executives.
This is especially disappointing as the Happy Pricing in relation to the strength and quality of the drinks and portioning of the apps is wonderful. Tons of variety, and fair to generous portioning. The Cuba Libre was the strongest of the drinks we tried. The Peking Wings offered the most bang for our buck, and the best flavor profile (though they were a bit over sauced).
The Sangria and Mojito were good. The Duck Empanadas were good, though better when dipped in the glaze. The Oxtail Croquettes were fine, though nowhere near as glorious as I was hoping they would be. Goat Sliders were enjoyable, though I wondered if they are using a blend with beef, as the goat flavor wasn’t strong for me.
Entrees looked good and sizable.
Ultimate favorite of the night was the masterful craft beverage we ordered! 10 Year War tantalized upon sight, and completely followed through with every layer of flavor.
This mastery, plus the manager who stepped behind the bar to take over our service (and did so beautifully), are the things keeping us on the fence about returning. At this point, I’d list them as a place to consider when in the area, if that same bartender is not working, and there is sitting space at the bar. With some food seeming a bit bland (considering all the amazing components) and none of it wowing, I can’t list it as destination spot, or go out of my way to recommend anyone else do. While they are offering one of the better Happy Hours in the city, I’d probably try other area options first before returning, in hopes of finding a better first experience.
There is good service, food, drink, and ambiance to be had at Calle Dao. But, with all the other phenomenal Cuban and fusion options throughout the city, all components have to be firing on all cylinders to make for a first experience worthy of return business. When considering the number of things in need of revving up, and the completely broken transmission approach of our bartender, I’m still on the fence as to whether Calle Dao has enough potential to give it another shot…

I wanted by this place after an elite event and was intrigued buy the Cuban/​Asian fusion happening. Do these flavor a really work together? The 2 — 1 mojitos and the fact that I’d probably never try this type of fusion again convinced me.
The food here is very good. I ordered the steak which was cooked perfectly. We also enjoyed the lamb croquettes and the tres leches. My friends weren’t terribly impressed by the paella but I suppose the fusion aspect of this dish is subject to taste.
I did have to remove a star for a few reasons. One, that the churros were off. When I picked one up, the churro crumbled into nothing. It was hard to eat and dip them into the sauces. The second being that our food took forever on my second visit. The wait staff did recognize this issue and gave us a glass of wine on the house; after a few mojitos this gesture was certainly appreciated.
Overall, a nice gem in midtown. I definitely recommend this restaurant if you are in the area.

I chose this restaurant to surprise my mom and celebrate a huge birthday milestone. Given her Cuban Chinese heritage, I thought this place was perfect to take her back and remind her of home. The Unilocal pictures were spot on — great décor and love the little details throughout the restaurant that reflect Cuban culture. We were greeted by the hostess and immediately taken to our table. The manager, Jessica, was so helpful and kind and she read my requests to have a great table to celebrate my mom’s birthday.
We jumped on the happy hour because it’s great that it’s not restricted to just the bar. Beer was $ 5, cocktails $ 7 and $ 1 raw oysters. I’m not a big oyster fan but after trying these — they were super fresh and good, and large oysters! The mojito definitely lives up to the hype — probably one of the best I’ve had.
Here’s what we ordered for dinner:
Oxtail croquettes — Love the crunchy outside and the meaty oxtail on the inside. The oxtail could use a bit more seasoning but the texture was great. I really liked the sauce topping with cilantro. Great combo and the garlic-​like drizzle that the croquette sits on top is nice.
Braised Skirt Steak in Chinese Herbs — this was my favorite dish. The onions sit on top of the steak which sit on top of the rice and beans. The steak was cooked the way we wanted it and it was so tender! Tons of flavor and you could taste the nice charcoal grilled flavor. The rice and beans were delicious! I scooped up every last bit. The onions were interesting and you can certainly taste the star anise in it. It’s an acquired taste. Highly recommend this dish.
Seafood Paella — I love that this paella was so infused with Cuban and Chinese culture. The Chinese sausage was such a unique add and the noodles were different. Plenty of seafood mixed into the dish. I think the dish would have been great if it was less saucy.
Special — pan-​seared yellowtail on top of all these cucumbers and herbs. I really enjoyed the fish. It was crispy on the outside and I love crispy skin!
The staff knew it was my mom’s birthday and Jessica had brought out complimentary champagne for us. They also surprised her with a tres leches cake. She’s a happy camper and thoroughly enjoyed her experience at Calle Dao. Many thanks to the staff at Calle Dao and a big shoutout to Justin who made the meal enjoyable and funny, and many thanks to Jessica who made sure we were well taken care of. Overall food, service and experience gives this place a big five stars!