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Barbara Tasch Ezratty
Need advice about dining in Puerto Rico? I'm here to answer
your questions about Puerto Rican cuisine and restaurants. E
mail me at
info@prcb.org.
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Is Puerto Rico just
Caribbean flavor or do you have restaurants of other ethnic
groups?
Oh, good: I can give my speech again! This
is the short version:
There’s a reason Puerto Rico is called the
Culinary Capital of the Caribbean… we’ve got restaurants
covering the cuisines of a multitude of kitchens, much more than
any other island.
We’ve got (are you ready?) Argentinean,
Brazilian, Caribbean, Chinese, Cuban, French, German, Greek,
Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, North
American (including California Rim, steak houses and Tex-Mex),
Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Rumanian, Spanish, Swiss, Thai and
Vegetarian. We’ve got a host of fusion foods: Asian Latino;
Indo-Latino; Caribbean Rim…what did I forget? Oh yes: You can
even get good bagels!
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We’re coming to Puerto Rico with our
12-year old son (it’s his birthday) and his best friend. We’ll
be staying at ESJ Towers in Isla Verde. What nearby restaurant
would be kid-friendly enough to hold his birthday dinner?
At The Ranch, the Tex-Mex haven in Wyndham
El San Juan Hotel (right next door to ESJ Towers) kids can watch
videos of rodeos, play horseshoes on the patio, ride a bucking
bronco, and imitate the waitstaff’s line dance. Plus dig into a
heap of fries and onion rings with their Western-style meal.
It’s a kid’s paradise!
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We’ll be staying in a hotel in Condado
while we’re in Puerto Rico, but have heard so much about the old
city. It’s our anniversary and we’d like to have a romantic
dinner there. Where do you recommend?
Romance
fills much of Old San Juan, especially in the evening. For an
elegant meal, try Chef Marisol Contemporary Cuisine, at 202
Cristo Street. The dining room is lovely, and you can have pre
or post dinner drinks on the secluded patio.
For a more
casual meal, El Café Nispero at El Convento Hotel (on the same
street) has its dining room in the courtyard of a 16th
century convent… your table under the stars might be next to an
ancient huge nispero tree.
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Editor Barbara Tasch has been a
restaurant reviewer since 1992; is publisher of the magazine
Tables: Puerto Rico's Guide to
Great Dining; and has a weekly radio show (AM 1030)
interviewing chefs and talking about the island's restaurants.
She will tell everyone who listens that Puerto Rico is the
Culinary Capital of the Caribbean.
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