For those who aren’t aware, Revolucion De Cuba is a newly opened restaurant/bar in Leeds, which has a well renowned, wide range of branches spreading across the UK. The bar itself takes on a classy Cuban theme, making it stand out from a lot of the more generic bars and restaurants in the area. As they say themselves: “ Whether you’re after the finest Cuban coffee, a full-on Latin feast, classic cocktails or great live music, we’ve got it all at Revolución de Cuba Leeds.”. So let’s begin! Upon entry, (after admittedly running a tad late), we were greeted by two welcoming, friendly and informative members of staff, who (making us feel like celebs) took our coats and pointed us to the exclusive cordoned off area upstairs. On our way up, we got to catch a glimpse at the busy and atmospheric restaurant area on the ground floor. *A quick note about the ground floor*, the main area of the restaurant really brings home the Cuban theme. With cool, summery white tables and chairs, mixed with a range of fresh, vibrant green plants and cushioned back sofas, the spacious ground floor screams relaxation, which is exactly what you would expect from a trip to Cuba! The bar area also brings the ground floor to life, with vibrant and colourful lights bouncing off their huge range of spirit glasses filling the room with sophisticated and stylish lighting. On to the event itself! When walking into the upstairs area of Revolucion De Cuba, you feel like you have entered a completely different, exclusive part of the restaurant and bar. The top room has a very authentic Cuban feel, with huge barrels used as small seating tables, a Cuban decorated staging area in the corner and the Havana Rum bar hidden away like a prized gem. The music was what you could only describe as “holiday music”; you know the kind of music that makes you reminisce about that holiday to spain when you went for the perfect, atmospheric meal, or when you danced the night away in a mexican bar, it did well in taking your mind off the fact you’re in England, and instead whisked you away for that short period of time. For us, it screamed authentic, backstreet cuban bar, yet with a twist of class and elegance. As cliche as it sounds, you could really be in Cuba. Once we’d settled in and mingled with the other guests, it was time to start our first activity. We chose to start off with the cocktail masterclass, headed up by Bartender John, whom, might we add, was one of the highlights of the night; he was extremely well informed, friendly, hilarious, and more to the point, knew how to make a good cocktail! Been the fun guys that we are, we volunteered first to head behind the bar and be taught how to make a mojito! John perfectly explained exactly what needs to go into a Mojito, and the method behind making it, (even down to the slapping of the mint leaves), whilst making it an extremely funny and enjoyable experience for us! Here’s the finished product, not bad ey? The cocktail masterclass continued, with others getting up and attempting berry Mojitos, Daiquiris and a range of other delicious cocktails! Here’s Tom making his Berry mojito, it wasn’t quite as nice as our social media exec James’ though (you’ll never guess who is writing this review) ;). On to the Tapas! After a good few ‘own made’ cocktails, we were about ready to eat! We weren’t quite sure what to expect, we like to eat big, therefore tapas to us didn’t sound all too filling, oh how we were wrong! After been seated in the stylish, leather corner tables, we were presented with a variety of dishes, including a range of authentic Cuban favourites, such as delicious chorizo, quesadillas, spanish meatball and our favorite, patatas bravas! Safe to say, we enjoyed every last bit! This was hands down the best tapas we had ever tasted, we would highly recommend to anyone that fancies taking a trip down! To add even more enjoyment to the eating segment of the night, our waiter, (who was extremely well knowledged on the history and method of cooking for each dish), brought over a beautiful pot of rum tea. Hands down one of the most exquisite things we have ever drank. The mixture of rum, coconut and tea created an amazing flavour concoction, my tastebuds were extremely pleased, even to the point where i suddenly found myself on my 5th glass! oops. Finally, Rum tasting! After letting our food settle a little, we then headed to the extremely elegant and classy Havana Rum bar.We can’t stress enough how much of a VIP you feel like from just literally walking through into this bar. The lighting is dim, furnishings a rich, dark brown, and the bar itself sparkles with a golden tinge from the vast range of rums and other alcoholic beverages available. Our group sat eagerly at the bar, snacking on nibbles such as dried banana, spicy coated peanuts and obviously, pork scratchings, and then the tastings began. Our bar man for the night started off by giving us a little bit of background into his life, his experience with rum as well as a little bit of history about Revolucion De Cuba. We were captivated, we can’t stress enough how much he knew about rum, his passion for it and how enthusiastic he was about the whole thing. You don’t often get to experience bar staff who love the product that much that you start to love it too, without even tasting it, it’s an extremely refreshing experience. We each received our own posh little glass and started going through the rums. Seven different styled rums were showcased to us, ranging from sweet to spicy, new to old, each having a magnificent flavour and leaving a tingle on our tastebuds, For each rum, the bar staff gave us a very in depth explanation on the history, method of making, style of rum, as well as what best compliments each one. Again, we were captivated by the sheer amount of knowledge he had about each specific rum! We even got to try Havana Club 15 (the most expensive rum)! Been the chocolate lovers that we are, our pick of the bunch was the Zacapa Ron! After a good chat with the group and bar staff, this concluded our activities for the night! We left Revolucion De Cuba extremely happy, our bellies full with delicious food, great spirits and a head full of knowledge about cocktails and Rum! This was by far one of the best events we have been to so far, and can’t recommend the place enough. All of the staff are extremely welcoming, knowledgeable and friendly, the atmosphere literally takes you out of Leeds and into Cuba, the drinks are hugely varied and the food is out of this world. We tweeted after the event saying we will definitely be back, and so far have actually been back twice, and plan to go this weekend. Thanks to everyone at Revolucion De Cuba for making it a night to remember!