One of the first things my best friend, Kameko, and I did after
checking into our hotel was ask the bellhop for a lunch recommendation for authentic Puerto Rican food. He (Andy) suggested Metropol which was about a 7 minute walk from the InterContinental.
My dish was exactly what I needed--hearty and delicious. With the
waiter’s suggestion, I went with the rice and beans with chicken
cooked in a stew served with plantains. Kameko’s dish, Pechuga de
Pollo Deshuesada (boneless chicken breast), was actually too salty.
For desert, she ordered the papaya desert with cream cheese on the
side which was super sweet and my tres leches cake for desert was very good, although again, very sweet.
For dinner, we decided to go to KoCo (a restaurant in El San Juan
Hotel.) At the waiters recommendation, I had the Pan Seared Halibut
with curried coconut risotto.
I think the rice was a tad too sweet. It could also be that I was
drinking their signature coconut mojito along with the meal, so maybe it was just too much sweetness all around. I was also disappointed in the halibut as it did not seem to have been seasoned and was unfortunately tasteless.
Kameko had their seafood curry noodle dish. The noodles could have
been much hotter--they seemed just slightly above room temperature. Her seafood was also not tasty and lacked seasoning.
For desert, I had the crepes with mango ice cream which was good.
Kameko had fruit balls with some dipping.
Overall, I would say the food experience at KoCo was disappointing and did not live up to the flavors you associate with diverse Caribbean food. The decor was lovely, and the service good, but I would not recommend this restaurant.
For lunch one day we checked out Lupi’s Mexican Bar and Grill, about a 4 minute walk from the InterContinental. Rather than each order I
main dish, we decided to get several appetizers to have a nice mix and sample of the food. This place was cool because it had a nice patio outside where we sat on a high-top table and people-watched.
We tried the cheese fries, chicken wings, fried grouper, and guacamole with chips. Nothing totally spectacular or unique about these choices, but staff was friendly and helpful. It also seems to be the type of place that gets packed in the evenings during happy hour (they had a 60 oz drink on the menu for around $35 dollars.) Here is the progression of our meal as dishes were brought out to us:
Kintaro Steak & Sushi: Sort of an odd combination to have a
sushi/steak place but around 11pm one evening I had a craving for
sushi and it was recommended by the bartender in our hotel. The place is not fancy by any means, but it was surprisingly packed. I would say it was a bit overpriced, for example miso soup was $3.25 and “normal” rolls like Spicy Tuna and Spicy Salmon cost around
$8…(specialty rolls were about $18 at least.)
However, it was probably the cheapest Japanese restaurant in the area. Our hotel also had a Japanese restaurant, with the cheapest rolls starting at $18. But Kintaro was open late, busy, and a 5-minute walk from our hotel.
Prior to heading to Puerto Rico, some friends also suggested the
following restaurants in Old San Juan. I spoke to the guard at our
hotel for a bit and when restaurants came up, he confirmed that the
three places below were good to try:
Toro Salao: First impression of this place was that the food was going to be great and out of the box. (This impression was formed only because the outside looked classy and interesting, and there was a nice shaded area outdoors that had a homey & comfortable feel to it.)
We went with the Mussels with Green Pico De Gallo to start with. It
was delicious, colorful, and inviting. At this point, we were excited
that anything else we ordered would be equally great.
We decided to share the Arroz con Pollo y Grandules (rice with chicken and peas.) We thought everything was going to be mixed up in a more stewy mixture, but the dish seemed dry, there was no flavorful kick to it, and I asked the water for some hot sauce (which was actually quite good.)
For desert we tried the churros dipped in cinnamon with ice cream--it was good, but maybe a tad too much cinnamon.
Raices: I have to say that this was by far my best food experience in
Puerto Rico. I can't even speak on what the inside decor consisted of
because we sat outside since it was such a beautiful day and wanted to eat and people-watch at the same time.
After being in Puerto Rico for a few days, I still had not tried
mofongo, a signature fried plantain dish. I ordered mine with mahi
mahi and shrimp done in creole style. Kameko got the same but with
steak. The presentation of the dish was unique...they came in mortar bowl with the savory fried plantains at the bottom with the choice of our meat or seafood on top. My creole shrimp and mahi mahi was a ten out of ten...seasoned perfectly, succulent, fresh, and buttery.
After the pleasure of stuffing our tummies with yummy food, I decided to try their cheese flan at the recommendation of our waiter, Domingo. Again, the presentation of the flan was outstanding, they used condensed milk and coloring to create the lovely design shown here:
Tantra: This Indo-Latino restaurant had a nice secretive feel to it.
We actually only went here for their martinis after hearing reviews
that they offered a wide variety of unusual martinis. The waitress,
Lisa, was really great about answering questions and giving
recommendations based on what we felt like drinking. I typically have a chocolate martini, but she recommended I try the Midnight Beauty Martini because it wasn't as sweet as the chocolate martini, and included grey goose, kalhua, amaretto, a splash of cola (and perhaps a few other things I can't remember.) Their website has a full list of food & drinks and is worth checking out.
I recommend definitely sampling a bit of everything you can—that is the only way to discover those dishes that are truly outstanding!
Vitra
@VitraSin and @BeTheTeam
