The Menu: San Juan
When erstwhile guest Jetlag Hag Carly and I decided to plan a trip to Puerto Rico, the goal was maximum beach time. Imagine my delight to find out San Juan is QUITE the foodie city! Even when our meal reservations fell through because of janky websites (like how can you make a breakfast reservation for 9:30 when the restaurant doesn’t open until noon?), it was no big deal because there were three more excellent options on the same block.
Here’s a roundup of my favorite meals in San Juan!
Cayo Caribe
My first meal in San Juan was technically some not-bad-for-hotel-food fish tacos that I got at the pool bar while I waited for our room to become available and for Carly to arrive from her flight in from Atlanta. So my first REAL meal was the very casual dinner we had at Cayo Caribe, a few blocks down the street from our hotel. Billed as a local favorite, we picked it for its proximity to the hotel, casual atmosphere, and promises of seafood because we are Maryland seafood bitches. With no expectations of the deliciousness that awaited us in the rest of San Juan, Cayo Caribe was a fortuitous start. I got the seafood rellenos, pictured here, and while they had several different kinds of rellenos dishes on the menu, as far as I can tell, it was actually a mofongo, a Puerto Rican dish made by frying and mashing plantains and using them to create a tasty little dome for a filling, in this case, one made of seafood. Kind of like a starch and seafood volcano. Yes and please. So is it relleno or a mofongo? I’m not an expert, but my Google sleuthing (and ESL-teaching husband) tell me “relleno” as in “chile relleno” means “stuffed.” So I guess mofongos and rellenos are cousins? Regardless — DELICIOUS.
Café Marquesa
Café Marquesa is a cute hole-in-the-wall bistro in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan that serves breakfast and lunch. The staff was super friendly and helpful to Carly who has dairy restrictions (#JewishGirlThings), and the food was awesome. I loved my honey oat iced latte in particular.
You may not be able to tell because the lighting was a bit dim, less than ideal for foodtography, but the food at PROLE was delicious and gorgeous. By the time we headed for dinner at PROLE, I had had enough bites in San Juan to understand that it’s a city that knows good food. PROLE’s focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients made for an amazing meal. Truly, I don’t think I’ve ever had pita bread as good as the pita they served with our avocado hummus, and I am always a big fan of restaurants that have high-quality mocktails on the menu.
Mr. Kukis
Cookies from Mr. Kukis is a MUST if you’re in San Juan, and since they have vegan options that are JUST AS GOOD as the non-vegan options, your allergies are of no concern. These cookies are massive, freshly baked, and we snacked on them for multiple days. Mr. Kukis is clearly the Levain of San Juan except without the long wait and with more options. I opted for a cinnamon roll flavor and “kukis & kream.” So good, my mouth is watering just thinking about them.
Speaking of vegan options, because of Carly’s aforementioned #dairyproblems, she often looks for vegan or vegan-friendly restaurants. San Juan is VERY vegan-friendly (way more than most of the east coast mainland cities I’ve been to), and Carly found brunch at the Dreamcatcher, a gorgeous bed and breakfast with a patio and a bangin’ three-course vegan breakfast including an acaí bowl, a chickpea dish, and chocolate mousse. I had the non-vegan omelet with toast and homemade passionfruit jam.
Vianda is a James Beard-recognized, farm-to-table, seasonal restaurant opened by Blue Hill alums, and it did not disappoint. Again, they had vegan bread options for Carly, amazing cocktails, and I made a meal of three of their small plates — a tuna crudo seasoned al pastor-style, an open-face shrimp toast, and an amazing farro dish. My passionfruit cocktail was bright and fresh, and everything was perfectly cooked.
Vacation is no time to skip dessert, even if your meal included three dishes. And even if you…already had dessert. That’s right, I wanted to try the cheese and guava popsicle at Señor Paleta, but when we made it to Anita La Mamma Del Gelato so Carly could snag some vegan gelato, I couldn’t NOT get something. I mean LOOK at those piles of gelato. My chocolate and mixed berry combo was definitely worth the ensuing food coma. And hey NYC readers, there’s one of these in NYC. Find it.
Our last (good) meal in San Juan was brunch. We had made a reservation at La Mallorquina, San Juan’s oldest restaurant, but when we got there, we were told the restaurant didn’t open for another 2.5 hours, as mentioned above. I was grumpy at first because I really wanted to try Mallorquina, but I was easily appeased by my delicious Cafe Berlin benedict, the vegan pancakes we split, and my iced coffee. It was a great last meal in San Juan since I absolutely do not count the shitty prepackaged sandwich that looked like the best option at the airport (I didn’t have time for the sit-down restaurant that had hanging Iberico hams…could not imagine such a thing at BWI…).
Have you eaten your way through San Juan? Tell me your favorites for my inevitable return!
-Staci
