I won't be there for long, but where should I eat? Is there credible street food in or near the city?
San Juan, Puerto Rico bleg
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Tyler , there’s only one place to eat in San Juan. La Bonbonera – the best food on the island. The place has been around for what 70 – 80 years or more? It’s in Old San Juan which is a great place to stroll around after your meal. Have fun.
JR
Most of the food is not anything to write home about. There is one exception that I am aware of. The restaurant Dragonfly in Old San Juan is phenomenal. Cool setting and great food. I highly recommend it.
Tyler, there’s plenty of delicious and cheap street food in San Juan. You should definitely eat puertorriqueño pene. It’s delish, cheap, readily available, and has plenty of cream filling.
Penis jokes? Really?!?
http://www.fiu.edu/~chisikr/Trouble%20on%20Welfare%20Island.pdf
Good recommendations, I my try one or two. I’ll be there in a few weeks on the 28th and the 1st.
Make sure to eat some Mofongo while you’re there. I had some at the convento in old san juan just this weekend and it was delicious (if perhaps not the most authentic).
I third – LaBonbonbera
Cafe Puerto Rico in Old San Juan:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/cafe-puerto-rico-old-san-juan
The cassava mofongo is excellent.
http://www.wilobenet.com/restaurants/varita.htm
This restaurant is going to open next week. The Chef is a local star and the menu looks promising.
Another vote for La Bombonera… but with the caveat that it’s where we expats run to when we get back to the island. It may not necessarily be to American tastes. That said, do try one or more buttered mallorcas: those will delight anyone. Try tostones, too (a form of fried plantain).
If you’re talking Old San Juan, the only street food I can recommend is a piragüa (pee-RAH-gwah), shaved ice with syrup in a cone. I suspect you’d want the tamarind (pronounced tah-mah-REEN-doe): it’s a local flavor and hard to get in the US.
If you’ll have a car and can drive east, it’s hard to over-recommend the Luquillo kiosks. There’s a long row of them, just pick out what you think looks interesting. If you can find any guarapo (gwah-RAH-poe), fresh squeezed sugar cane juice, that’s as close to ambrosia as you can get on earth. There’s a stand on the old Caguas road near La Muda; if you think you’ll have a chance to try it, let me know and I’ll try to find useful GPS coords.
I second El Jibarito in Old San Juan.
http://www.eljibaritopr.com/
If you get out to Fajardo you can find some great seafood in local restaurants. There is also a Metropole in Fajardo. All 5-6 Metropoles are EXCELLENT! Best thing on the menu is the black bean soup. Fish is great as is churrasco steak.
In Juncos visit El Tenedor which is in an old distillery. In Humacao Playa it is Paradise seafood right on highway 3.
I have lived in Fajardo for 35 years now. Best place in the world. If you get out this way, call me at 787-550-9650 and I’ll buy dinner.
I second all the recommendations above. All excellent choices, though Metropole has been my fave for 20-25 years now.
John Henry
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