Puerto Rico SXM-Info | SXM features

Puerto Rico is about 200 miles west of SXM, 1000 miles east of Miami, and 1700 miles south of New York City. There are several flights a day to San Juan, the capital, from SXM and they take about an hour. The island is about 110 miles east to west and 35 miles north to south, making it about 100 times larger than SXM. The population is about 4 million, half of them in the San Juan area, making it about 40 times more larger than SXM. The electric current is the same as the US and the time is the same as SXM. Just north of San Juan Airport is Isla Verde on the north coast of the island and heading from there west along the coast, one goes through Punta Las Marias, Ocean Park, and Condado to Old San Juan. The driving time depends on traffic as this is the major city on the island, but you should be able to make it in twenty minutes.

2008 Trip

In 2008 we hopped over for a mini-vacation getting the 9:50AM American flight that takes about an hour to get to San Juan. A very short, and inexpensive ($12 with tip) cab ride took us over to the Intercontinental San Juan Resort and Casino. I had gone on Priceline and got a very nice room with a $300 rack rate for $122, which via the magic of taxation, became about $150 per night - pretty good for such a lovely place in a great location. One side is on the major commercial street along the shore in Isla Verde and the other side is the shore. Behind the 20 story hotel tower there are two lower buildings runnig toward the shore sheltering an impressive fresh water swimming complex and a Mediterranean restaurant, Ciao. The restaurant ends with a raised seating area offering great spots for beach-watching and even a few tables in the sand. After that is about 50 yards of beach with plenty of chairs. Wifi is free and available in the rooms and all around the resort.
		There are three other restaurants: Ruth's Chris, Momoyama (famous for shushi pizza), and Alfredo, the Emperor of Fettuccini. This is a view from our room in the tower. It is so close to the airport that you could see the planes about to land, but noise was not a problem.

We arrived long before any rooms were available, so we checked the luggage and discussed lunch and dinner plance with Nestor Colón at the concierge desk. We had been to Miró last year and had a great lunch, so we wanted to reprise that on our last day, but asked Nestor what local restaurants were in the area. He suggested Barrachina for dinner, about a 10 minute walk to the west. The original outpost was opened by Pepe Barrachina, a chef from Valencia, in Old San Juan in the 50's. They claim to have invented the Pina Colada and have recently opened this smart outpost in Isla Verde. For lunch he sent us over to Mi Casita, essentially across the street where we had Chicken Asopao and Pork Mofongo. Asopao is essentially a broth with rice flavored with garlic, cilantro, and paprika. In this case, it was a chicken broth chicken bits and a large breast of chicken. Mofongo is a popular local dish, made from fried green plantains seasoned with garlic, olive oil and pork cracklings, then mashed. In this case, it arrived with a fried pork and a fish broth soup. Two local light beers, Medella, rounded out a very tasty and filling lunch for a mere $28.

Dinner that night was at Barrachina. Nestor had made the reservations (hardly necessary on a Tuesday evening) and we were led to a window table and with three carnations in a vase. A word on the view: Most of the waterfront in this area is taken up with high rise condos, apartments, or hotels. Very few restaurants have SXM settings overlooking lovely beaches with islands in the distance. In fact, there are essentially no islands in the distance around San Juan. Nonetheless, it was a very smart looking Le Corbusier-inspired industrial dining space. The waiter arrived with a brightly-colored, laminated, ring-bound menu with advertisements on every other page and a bottle of 2004 Malbec from Argentina that he said was great. We asked for the wine list and how much for the Malbec. The wine list arrived and the most expensive still wine was a mere $30. After checking, the waiter returned to say the Malbec was $55. I'm noticing a trend wherein the most special things about specials is their profit margin. The wine list was not too large, having a few sparkling wines, about 10 whites, and 19 reds.We ordered a lovely 2003 Rioja Bordon Crianza for a mere $24 and some sparkling water. We had already perused the menu at a fancy kiosk at the concierge desk, so we knew we wanted the octopus salad as a starter ($8) and I was ready to order the pork tenderloin stuffed with chorizo and spinach ($20). Martha continued searching and eventually chose the mahi filet with a Créole sauce ($22). The octopus arrived piled high in a martini glass. Getting some out was like playing pick-up sticks, but with a greater reward for winning: tender octopus in a vinaigrette with lettuce, onions, and a few pepper flakes. The water eventually arrived as two individual bottles or Perrier. I had forgotten that America (and this is America) has not embraced the large bottle of expensive water with dinner trend. Our dinners arrived shorthly thereafter. Each had rather plain looking white rice, which was livened up considerably when a bowl to tasty beans was brought to the table. The plates also had some fried plantain and some essentially raw carrot slivers and a floret of broccoli. We are not great fans of raw vegetables and this is not related to dentures. Martha was quite pleased with her fish and sauce. My tenderloin was well short of being tender, but the combination was quite good. Toward the end of dinner, the attached lounge started playing its disco music essentially winning the battle of the bands with the jazz music in the dining room. We passed on coffee and came back to our room to have some Barrilito Rum, purchased earlier at the recommendation of Nestor.

	We strolled out of the hotel and noticed this spctacular bit of orchid attached to a very tall palm tree. We hopped the bus (75 cents each, exact change required) for a 40 minute bus ride to Old San Juan. It's an interesting ride and air-conditioned well, but it does get crowded. The bus terminal is down by the Cruiseship pier where the Carnival Triumph towered over the landscape. Just off the waterfront is Senor Frog's. It appears that this frog preys on cruseship passengers. We were looking for better fare and headed up hill into the center of Old San Juan. Turning back, we got this nice view of a square with the harbor in the background. We continued walking to this square and discovered Columbus, who discovered Puerto Rico. Old San Juan is a rather small area, about three quarters of a mile long on a peninsula that is about a quarter mile wide. It was heavily fortified to protect the harbor.

We looked at several restaurants and finally choose Aguaviva for lunch. The name means Jellyfish in spanish. It features fish, specializing in ceviche and oysters. They have a large order of ceviche for $15, two tasting size orders for $17, or three for $25. There were 12 white wines on theist, six sparklers, and ten reds, with many of them available by the glass. We choose two portions of ceviche, opting for octopus with pepper in a vinaigrette (sound familiar?) and a grouper in coconut milk.
	To go with our ceviches, we choose a glass of Wente chardonnay and a pinot grigio. A basket of bread arrived promptly with a bowl of aïoli - very nice. We do like octopus, but I was really intrigued by the sweet flavors that the coconut milk gave to the grouper. The wines were an added bonus. Our main course was a swordfish sandwich with melted cheese and sautéed mushrooms.
The bread was great and toasted. With the addition of some remaining aïoli and a Trinchero Pinot Noir, we had a fabulous lunch. The service from a young lady named Nindiri was great, friendly and efficient. She explained that she was named after a volcano in Nicaragua, so possibly she has a fiery side. The interior was quite striking and the group (OOF! Restaurants) has designed several restaurants in San Juan. Go to the website to see the interesting details.

We wandered around Old San Juan a bit more after lunch and stumbled onto a store that sold Chavin Cotton clothing at 255 Tanca Street. It's Peruvian cotton and the cloth and clothing are made in Peru. We went into the store at the bus station where we bought Barrilito Rum last year and, no surprise, it was more expensive than it was in the local grocery store in Isla Verde.

That night for dinner, we took life easy and rode the elevator down to Alfredo, the Emperor of Fetuccini. They are tucked into the corner of the lower lobby where the hotel tower at the front of property meets the western block of garden units running toward the beach. The interior of the restaurant (right) is quite striking and there is an outdoor area opening onto the well-manicured gardens, but with a roof, somewhat important in the tropics. Moreover, the the area between the two garden wing units is protected from the winds, which can get a bit rough given several thousand miles of open sea. It was a pleasant evening so we choose to dine out on the terrace with a view of the gardens. As guests of the hotel, we were offered a glass of Proseco on the way to our table. The wine list was long featuring Italian wines, but with a good selection from around the world. We choose a Montepulciano and a bottle of Pellegrino to start. A basket of bread arrived with two pieces topped with a bit of tomato and olive oil. A slice of mortadella and a marinated artichoke arrrived next. A chunk of Parmegianno was brought over. By now we were glad we had only ordered a Mediterranean salad as our appetizer. It was still a large salad with olives, feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, and various greens with a thick sun-dried tomato dressing - quite good. They make their own pasta here and Martha then moved on to a very tasty canneloni while I had a porcini mushroom risotto, also very good. Espresso and complimentary lemoncellos followed. It was not cheap at almost $170 with a 15% tip, but it was a great dinner, with great service, and a nice view.

For our last meal on Puerto Rico, we choose Miró on Ashford in the Condado, across from the Marriott Resort. (They have moved slightly from last year's location). It was about a $15 cab ride from our hotel. The new place doesn't have the old-fashioned charm, but it does look quite nice and given it's raised location, it has a bit more of a view. Ashford also provides a bit more to look at, especially in terms of people watching, and the entrance to the Marriott is rather nice. We were one of the first lunch customers and were led to a corner window table. Our waiter recommended a 2001 Entrelepas Riserva ($44). We took that, some sparkling water, and started with alcochofas con jamon (artichokes and ham) and sautéed squid. Bread and aïoli arrived, followed by a the smooth red wine, not terribly large. We seemed to have liked it as it was gone by the time we finished these appetizers. We were going slowly as we had almost three hours before we had to leave for the airport. Eventually we ordered our second courses which were sautéed baby octopi and Pimiento Miró, a red pepper stuffed with crab meat on a bed of smashed potatoes. With this we had a 2001 Montecillo Rioja Grand Riserva ($42). This had a bit more fruit, dispite being the same age. The two dishes were fabulous. We slowly worked our way through the wine and ordered espresso and a tumbler of Barrilito Rum to finish a three hour lunch. It was another $15 back to the airport and off to SXM.

2007 Trip

We stayed at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino on Ashford in Condado. The cab ride was about 15 minutes and cost $18 with a tip. The high-rise hotel had just been refurbished and looked quite nice, inside and out. Our room with a king-size bed and large flat screen TV was wonderful. We asked for a high floor (not requesting one with a sea or pool view) and got sixteenth floor room with a lovely balcony looking south over the top of the city to the range of mountains running through the center of the island. There was a coffee pot and refrigerator in the room and a large and well-appointed bathroom. Hotels.com offered it to us for $275 per night and Priceline.com had it at $295, but they accepted a bid of $125! Admittedly, it was $150 by the time they added taxes, but that's pretty good. We've heard good things about Hotel El Convento in Old San Juan. We had a lunch in La Vista, their ground floor casual restaurant, as we arrived a bit before our room was ready. The menu was a bit thin, but we had a Cubano ($12) and some empanadas ($12) with a couple beers ($12). A Cubano is ham and cheese on a baguette with pickle and a mustard sauce (usually), crushed and heated. This one was loaded with ham, probably the average Cuban's meat ration for a month. Empanadas are a ground meat-filled fried pastry. It was only afterward that we noticed that they were setting up a wonderful looking Sunday buffet ($22). Our lunch was fine, and probably more than we should have eaten, but we definitely would have eaten too much of the buffet! The restaurant across the hall, Tuscany, was only open for dinner. We never did eat there as we were trying for something more Spanish, but the reviews that we read on Priceline were favorable and the menu looked good. The pools were laid out nicely with plenty of fountains filling the area with white noise. There was a warm tub and lots of plantings. Don't judge the beach from the picture, as those rocks were the only bit of visual excitement in at least a half mile of beach - nothing but sand, not even that many people. It is on the north side of the island and the trade winds coming from the NE, tended to be rather strong and kicked up some waves, nothing that kept anybody out of the water.

The concierge at the hotel was fabulous. There was a three inch thick book of restaurant menus and photos and a lovely woman to guide you through it. We choose something close for our first night: Yerba Buena. In Cuba, yerba buena refers to a herb known as large apple mint, foxtail mint, hairy mint, woolly mint or Cuban mint. Their website is quite flashy and opens with somebody else sitting in these seats. The food was good and the service was friendly and efficient. The calamari were tasty. Ropa Vieja means old clothes. It is a flank steak cooked to the point of tenderness when the meat can be shredded into strings resembling old clothes. Trust me, it tastes better than it sounds. The Churrasco is a skirt steak, a bit chewy, but flavorful, especially when slathered with chimichurri sauce. There was a nice wine list that provided an old Marques de Caceres Rioja at a reasonable price ($38). Espresso and old rum finished an evening that cost $130 with a tip.

The next night we took an $11 cab ride to Pamela's in nearby Ocean Park. The restaurant is located in a guesthouse and the website doesn't devote nearly enough space to this little gem with tables out on the sand. Those take some special reservations, so we dined inside which is also quite pleasant, starting with good bread with an olive oil and garlic dip, followed by some skewers of lamb with coriander. Martha had the Chicken Guajillo with plantains, cilantro, and a pineapple au jus. Guajillo are hot peppers and they were rubbed on the skin, very tasty and not overly hot. I had the Pork Medallions with a dark rum, raisin, and vanilla sauce. A 2000 Campo Viejo Rioja Gran Riserva cost only $37. More espresso and eight year old Bacardi finished this evening, about $160 for everything.

Our last meal in Puerto Rico was at Miró, a short southerly walk from our hotel. It claims to be a Marisquería Catalana, a Catalan Fish restaurant, and there was no doubt about it as the menu was filled with fish and the walls were filled with Miró art. We couldn't decide what fish to order, so we went with a mixed grill that included baby octopus, squid, shrimp, clams, mussels, and cuttlefish (larger squid). They were fresh and and tasted of the grill and the bit of lime that we squeezed on them - wonderful, and more so from the 1994 Tondonia Reserva. We continued with the house specialty, Pimiento Miró, a red pepper stuffed with crab meat, and alcachofas con jamon, artichokes with ham, one of our favorite Spanish dishes. We took a photo of the wine cellar to convey the size of the wine list, just in case the mention of a 94 Rioja didn't tell you enough. That is a table in the wine room and they will accommodate parties of up to eight in there. Obviously, this is not news the average tourist can use, but it should let you know that this is a serious restaurant catering to locals who know fine food and wine. That is news you can use.

And then there was this. I think this is supposed to say GOOD, but it sure looks like GOOP, and that is not a good name for any restaurant, especially a Chinese restaurant.

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