18 Things to Eat, Buy, and Do in Puerto Rico
Quick—name an idyllic Caribbean island with mouthwatering cuisine. Jamaica? Sure. Cuba? Of course. Puerto Rico? [Silence]
Okay, so the U.S. commonwealth probably isn’t the first place that springs to mind when dreaming of culinary destinations. As one local told me, “Our food is basically fried starch on top of meat on top of more fried starch.” Another described the diet as “99 percent cholesterol.” A colleague back home cut deeper still, likening even Puerto Rico’s high-end cuisine to “Midwestern buffet food.”
While not entirely false, those generalizations don’t give credit to the people who are doing interesting things, taking risks, and defying stereotypes—as well as those who just do a bang-up job trading in the traditional. Though it is admittedly a challenge producing innovative food in a place that relies so heavily on starch and protein, to write off the territory as a depressing cruise port catering to bland American palates is shortsighted.
I traveled to Puerto Rico for its seventh annual Saborea food festival in early April. From the blue cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan to the graffiti-splashed back alleys of Tras Talleres, I discovered no shortage of delicious things to eat, buy, and do. Here, a look at my tastiest finds.
Ashlea Halpern1/22Mallorca at Patio del Nispero
Rise and shine! One of the best breakfasts in Old San Juan is served beneath a century-old loquat tree in the courtyard restaurant Patio del Nispero, located inside El Convento hotel. Don’t waste this meal ordering eggs Benedict; breakfast here is all about the *mallorca—*a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich with a sweet roll that is buttered, griddled, and generously dusted with confectioner’s sugar.
Ashlea Halpern2/22Finca Cialitos Coffee
Coffee is serious business in Puerto Rico. San Juan has its share of stellar shops (Caficultura near Plaza Colon, Hacienda San Pedro in Santurce), but one of my favorites was Finca Cialitos. Owner/head roaster Joaquin Pastor runs a plantation—handed down to him by his grandfather—in the island’s mountainous interior. Pastor is involved in every stage of coffee making, from picking and sun-drying seven varieties of Arabica beans to weeding out the bad ones by hand (and, he likes to joke, selling them to his competitors). Unlike said competitors though, he’s not in this for world domination; if you want a souvenir bag, you’ll have to buy the beans in person at his shop. Ask for the special C-class reserve.
Ashlea Halpern3/22Casa Cortés ChocoBar
Cortés Chocolate is the Godiva of the Caribbean, with a particularly huge presence in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Last fall, the fourth-generation, family-run company opened a chocolate-themed restaurant in Old San Juan. The walls at Casa Cortés ChocoBar are plastered with vintage chocolate molds and advertisements from the brand’s 85-year history; a new upstairs gallery features art from the family’s private collection. In looking at the menu, ignore the Sex & the City-ish chocolate martinis; you’re here for the grilled cheese sandwich (Cheddar and spreadable dark chocolate on buttery brioche) and hot chocolate. As for drinks, the Puertorriqueno has a hint of vanilla; the Vienna, pictured, is topped with whipped cream; and all are served with a hunk of Cheddar cheese. (It is tradition in Puerto Rico to serve chocolate and Cheddar any time people are holed up in one place, be it for hurricanes, funerals, baptisms, whatever.)
Ashlea Halpern4/22Savory Ice Cream at Santaella
One of the more inventive desserts I sampled in Puerto Rico: cherry tomatoes in syrup with fresh cheese and basil ice cream at revered Criollo restaurant Santaella in Santurce. The chef, José Santaella, trained with Ferran Adriá and Eric Ripert.
Ashlea Halpern5/22La Casita Blanca
For down-and-dirty Criollo, chef Jesús Pérez Ruiz’s homey La Casita Blanca in Santurce is rock solid. From the plantains swinging in the doorway to the vines creeping along the staircase, the 80-year-old restaurant feels more in touch with nature than many of its fluorescent-lit, linoleum-floored brethren. If you go, ask to see the organic rooftop garden; jardinero Alejandro Morales is working some serious green-thumb magic up there.
Ashlea Halpern6/22El Departamento de la Comida
I was warned by more than one local to steer clear of Tras Talleres in Santurce—that the neighborhood was seedy and dangerous, and that there was “nothing to see.” They couldn’t have been more wrong. Aside from photographing its wall-to-wall street art (all of it stunning—seriously: check this out), I wanted to visit El Departamento de La Comida, a progressive mini-grocer/café/juice bar/CSA founded about four years ago by food activist Tara Rodríguez. The name translates to the Department of Food and is a nod to Rodríguez's sentiment that the local government isn't doing enough to promote and protect its farmers. (Puerto Rico continues to struggle with issues of sustainability and agricultural decline, a situation no doubt exacerbated by the ongoing recession. It’s cheaper, for example, to buy eggs at the supermarket than it is to buy them from a local farmer.) Here, the menu changes daily and the selection leans hard on organic fruit and veg treated in creative, affordable ways.
Ashlea Halpern7/22El Departamento de la Comida
El Departamento’s backyard is home to more street art, draping passion fruit vines, and picnic tables; it may just be the hippest lunch spot in all of Puerto Rico. And Rodríguez, a P.R. native who spent seven years living in Brooklyn, is full of good advice—from the best place to day trip (Playa Sucia at Cabo Rojo) to the coolest T-shirt shop (Executive Manolo in Santurce) to an unbeatable salsa experience (Thursday nights at the Nuyorican Café). Her enthusiasm for Puerto Rico is infectious; I spent an hour picking her brain and browsing shelves stocked with heirloom seeds, handmade cheese, and artisanal breads. My final purchases: activated carbon from local farmer José Ricardo Cruz Ortiz’s coconut trees (good for filtering water) and Montemar ginger jam, a piquant spread made in small batches in Aguadilla.
Ashlea Halpern8/22Plaza del Mercado in Santurce
This is less an “eat that” than a “do this.” You can visit the Plaza del Mercado farmers' market during the day, but you won’t find much; sadly, many of the stands have closed in the tough economy. But go there anytime between 6 p.m. and well after midnight, and you’ll be treated to some of the best people-watching in San Juan. Grab a beer from any of the surrounding bars, park yourself on a bench out front, and take in the scene: (mostly) locals drinking, carousing, dancing, and otherwise having a hell of a time.
Ashlea Halpern9/22Wild Culantro
Keep your eyes peeled at local markets, in backyards, and even on the cracks between sidewalks for culantro, a.k.a. recao, a.k.a. Mexican coriander, a.k.a. spiky cilantro. The pungent herb frequently turns up in Puerto Rican stews, soups, beans, and sofrito, a kicky, sometimes lard-laced purée of onions, tomatoes, chile peppers, and garlic. You can even eat it straight, like I did with this piece I found growing in the parking lot outside El Yunque national rainforest.
Ashlea Halpern10/22Pan El Checo Croissants
El Mercado Urbano takes place in Condado’s La Ventana al Mar on the first Sunday of every month. Farmers, bakers, sausage-makers, and more travel from across the island to sell their goods under tents pitched by the ocean. Though the market is on the smaller side, you’d have to be a real crank to leave hungry. On my visit, I tried homemade yogurt, fresh bee pollen, and these—rohlik, a.k.a. Puerto Rican-style croissants from Pan El Checo.
Ashlea Halpern11/22KieroCoco Coconut Water
Fresh coconut juice is one of the great, unsung pleasures in life, and I’m not ashamed to say I marched around El Mercado cradling a giant coconut pierced with a frilly cocktail umbrella. At the KieroCoco stand, from whence it came, you select your coconut (rounder ones are juicier; browner ones are sweeter), and then drill into it with the help of a hand-cranked doohickey attached to a mobile cart.
Ashlea Halpern12/22Adri Dulce Cookies
From-scratch cookies may not seem like a big whoop, but in Puerto Rico, the handmade economy is harder to come by. Adriana Vega, the baking brains behind Adri Dulce, also sells her choice galletas at El Mercado Urbano. My favorite flavors—coconut-guava and cranberry-oat—were soft, chewy, and nearly as big as Frisbees.
Ashlea Halpern13/22Terra Mia Pique del País
They say every home in Puerto Rico keeps a bottle of pique on their kitchen counter. This one, from the Terra Mia stand at El Mercado Urbano, is packed with long hots and fat cloves of garlic. Snap one up—along with some of the proprietress’s garlicky criollo chimichurri—for all your chileheads back home.
Ashlea Halpern14/227 Deadly Zings Hot Sauce
7 Deadly Zings’ small-batch hot sauces err on the fruitier, sweeter side, as evidenced by names like Mango Gluttony and Guava Greed. But for heat fanatics, Mercedes Oliveras’ Fierce Bitch is the way to go. She won’t reveal what kind of peppers she uses, but rest assured you’ll feel them going both in and out. (Like every one else, Oliveras sells at El Mercado Urbano.)
Ashlea Halpern15/22Concalma Bags
Speaking of markets, if you’re doing any amount of shopping, stop by Concalma in Old San Juan. The boutique sells cute, roomy totes, many of them sewn by hand at Cooperativa Industrial Creación de la Montana, a women’s cooperative in the mountainous region of Utuado.
Ashlea Halpern16/22Guavate Day Trip
The lechoneras of Guavate, about an hour outside San Jaun, are legendary. The roadside eateries line PR-184 from the bottom of the mountain to the top, each restaurant slow roasting its own seasoned whole pigs till their skin turns blisteringly crispy and the meat is juicy and tender. Here, a 140-pound pig from Guayaba takes some heat at El Rancho Original.
Ashlea Halpern17/22Chop Shop at El Rancho Original
When the pig comes off the fire, it gets hacked to bits via machete. It’s a beautifully choreographed (if disturbing) spectacle.
Ashlea Halpern18/22All the Fixins'
At El Rancho Original and other lechoneras, the sides are almost as important as the pork. Popular fixins include arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), cassava, breadfruit, plantains, alcapurrias, empanadillas, and blood sausage—all washed down with local beer Medalla.
Ashlea Halpern19/22Roadside Limbers
A limber is an icy Puerto Rican dessert, commonly sold at ramshackle markets and stands, and available in a host of flavors: tamarind, coconut, papaya, mango, soursop, avocado, even Snickers and Oreo. This one is queso and came from the Columbus Fruit Market (Bo. Beatriz Carr. #1, KM 50.6) near Guavate. The trick to eating it is to warm the plastic disposable cup it comes in with your hands, and then wiggle the limber up till it pops out. Flip it over, place it back in the cup, and lick it like a Popsicle. Delicioso.
Ashlea Halpern20/22Destillería Serrallés
When it comes to Puerto Rican rum, four brands reign supreme: Bacardi, DonQ, Ron del Barralito, and Trigo Reserve Añeja. Craft cocktail bars like La Factoria in Old San Juan are Barralito worshippers, while the rest of the island’s eating and drinking establishments seem to align themselves with either Bacardi or DonQ. (It’s like Pepsi v. Coke; you have to choose.) DonQ’s parent company, Destillería Serrallés, does not offer organized tours, but they invited me to visit their operation in Ponce on the southwestern side of the island. The facility here dates back to 1935 and is now run by fifth-generation president and CEO Don Felix Serrallés. In order to be called Puerto Rican rum (as opposed to just “Caribbean” rum, like Captain Morgan), the rum be aged locally at least one year in American white oak barrels. That’s what you see here.
Ashlea Halpern21/22On the Bottling Line at Destillería Serrallés
DonQ Cristal is Destillería Serrallés’s flagship spirit. Made from a blend of rums aged 1.5 to four years, it goes through a five-column distillation process. These newly capped bottles, shot on the factory line, are just about to get slapped with labels. Though Destillería Serrallés employs 352 workers, a state-of-the-art computer system means fewer hands are needed on the actual factory floor.
Ashlea Halpern22/22A Snack for the Plane Ride Home...
Pick up a bag of Mildred’s Natural batata con sal at Mundo Taino (Calle San Jose #151) in Old San Juan. These crunchy, chewy, just-salty-enough chips made from sweet potato beat the pants off any lame bag of pretzels a flight attendant might hand you.
For even more eating and drinking picks in San Juan, see “Where to Eat and Drink in San Juan, Puerto Rico.”
