El Siboney is a small restaurant tucked away in a residential neighborhood near the Waldorf Astoria. It’s filled with locals and a few tourists lucky enough to have gotten good advice from a bartender. (We were in the latter category.) if you want to sit at a table, arrive early. Wait time was nearly 2 hours when we were there, but they also have a counter and we managed to get two seats there right away. 

We sat next to an L.A. couple that has been coming to El Siboney for thirty years. Later that evening, our tour guide — a resident for 15 years — congratulated our choice and declared it the only authentic Cuban food on the island.