El Gato Tuerto

[Freefallguy]

El Gato Tuerto

 

You can’t visit Havana and not experience El Gato Tuerto; you can’t go in and NOT come out with a story...

First time traveling with the doyen of Aussie wines and second with a purported Conveyance Lawyer, who once did time in Washington, DC, the three of us hit EGT our first night in Cuba. Fantastic musica Cubana in a small club setting. Evening wore on and as jet lag had us knackered, Sir Doyen and I seated at the bar turned to ConLaw, who had been hovering behind us throughout the evening, to suggest we head back to our casa particular. ConLaw not to be found. We each, separately, use/checked the facilities, no ConLaw. We waited thirty odd minutes, ConLaw remains AWOL, and decide we'd call it a night. 

Taxi ride back to the house and we’re greeted by the housekeeper, saying, “We were worried about you, your friend has been here for over an hour.” “Really?”, we asked. “Yes, and he brought someone with him, they’re in his room!” THAT was enough to set off the very proper Sir Doyen. Storming into the house he pounded his fist on the door shouting for the ConLaw to show himself. Not a peep; more pounding, still nothing. I’m in stitches over it all, but not about to laugh aloud.

Next morning ConLaw is all fresh and a giggle over the previous evening’s excitement, Sir Doyen’s ire abated, somewhat, but it was what I was to learn later that shed proper light on the soiree. I was advised by a third VERY esteemed Aussie mate that what better place than EGT for ConLaw to achieve his biannual rite of coitus. 

True story dat; names have beed changed purely to incite the offending party.

Sidebar: To this day I can neither confirm nor deny the gender of the mystery guest.

 

Pandora, out.

[Bartolomeo]

Good stuff!

most stories I have can't be printed, love that bar.....

[Guest]

Great read, RS!

i miss you brother.

[wabashcr]

This is the kind of thing I was hoping to find in Kenfessions.

[CanuckSARTech]

LOL.  So well put, Rob.  Well done.   

El Gato - hopefully opened and fully up and running for this November's shenanigans!!!!

Not to mention the plethora of other "musica Cubana" locales!!!!   

 

 

[luv2fly]

When ConLaw gets back from his "holiday"

I wish I could be a fly on the wall in Havana with you guys.......

Great stuff Rob.  Glad to see you back!

 

[Freefallguy]

Thanks amigos; it's been too long.

It wouldn't be Havana without Tuerto!

[Habana Mike]

55 minutes ago, Freefallguy said:

Thanks amigos; it's been too long.

It wouldn't be Havana without Tuerto!

Agreed. They were shuttered last fall for renovations. Missed visits to the Irish embassy. 

[cybermadhatter]

Great spot.   Was there in January.  Things get really going around 1 am

[Ryan]

The Gato Tuerto. There is no club in the world I have visited more often.

We've had some laughs there over the years. It closed down last year for renovations.

Stuart Fox, Glen and a few of us were over-served one morning on the Malecon last November and saw a friend of ours waving from his balcony just behind the Gato Tuerto. We were heading over to our friend's place for a "morning-cap" and saw Sylvio, one of the Gato Tuerto staff, waving us into the place. It was nearly completed then and I think they were having the re-opening night the following week. We opened a bottle of rum with him to re-christen the place.

There have been some changes, The bar counter is no longer against the wall leading to the stage. There is now a square bar, starting just inside the door. The wall where the counter used to be is now all seating from the front windows all the way to the stage. The layout makes more sense I suppose (apart from potential bottlenecks by having a bar just inside the door) but it's not the same as it was.

Ernesto, great bar-tender, has gone, his cousin is a bar manager at the Hotel Capri. Indira, gone I think. Yuli bottle washer/toilet attendant, married and living in Switzerland. Tamara is still there, some things never change.

I've had great nights in the place, just great fun. Yes, like every club frequented by tourists in every low-wage country in the world, there are people there offering services of questionable legality but it is not as obvious as many of the other places. The Irish crew have a rule in Cuba "What happens in Cuba goes on Facebook".

The music can be great, I was there one night with a guy from Gibraltar who was nearly in tears because he was hearing the songs his grandmother used to sing to him.

I'd still recommend the place but it has lost its shine a bit as the place to go, so many of the staff we knew have left and very few of us stay in or near the Nacional any more, we seem to have moved out towards Miramar and Santa Fe.

Having said that, I was there a couple of times back in February. I called in to see the place and of course Regla was there, still getting up on stage giving it socks.

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The next day a fiend from Chicago came down for a few days in Cuba and Juana Bacallao was on, so I had to bring her to see that show. Great as always. It's hard to see her, she's not tall, but just look where people are looking down and that's her.

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