THERE’S a lot more to San Juan than a pool and a beach. You’ve heard that before — yet, lots of folks arrive in the Puerto Rican capital for a few days of R&R and never leave the grounds of their hotel.
Still it’s a shame not to leave your resort. San Juan is a culturally diverse, sophisticated city. With its sprawling L.A.-style layout and neighborhoods separated by highways, it’s not an easy city to explore. But do make the effort, if only to sample the food.
Just hop a cab and head a few miles west, as we did on a recent stay at the Ritz-Carlton, in the Isla Verde district near the airport. We were startled by the quality of some local restaurants — not the elegant ones in hotels, nor the branches of familiar names like Ruth’s Chris, but moderately-priced places that draw a mix of locals and visitors.
Among them was Atlantica just a few minutes’ ride from the Ritz-Carlton. This friendly establishment sent us out happy after a feast that included seafood sausages fried in an unforgettably earthy batter. Even better was decidedly un-touristy Ajili-Mojili in nearby Condado, a place we surely would have skipped if our hotel’s concierge hadn’t recommended it.
This informal, trendy local eatery proved how rewarding authentic Puerto Rican cuisine can be. Don’t miss Ajili-Mojili’s pumpkin and cod fritters and asopaos — rich soupy stews of meat and seafood. The name refers to the piquant sauce that goes with nearly everything on the menu. Intriguingly, when New York “nuevo-Latino” star chef Doug Rodriguez opened a Patria-like outpost in the El San Juan hotel two years ago, it failed to win a local following and is now closed.
But nuevo-Latino thrives at Chayote, an upscale place run by Alfredo Ayala. Chayote, a Caribbean fruit that tastes something like squash, figures prominently in the menu, which puts a big-city spin on tropical flavors. Peach walls and mellow lighting lend a romantic mood.
A bit farther west stands Old San Juan. Built for walking, it’s a centuries-old Spanish-built quarter as atmospheric as anything in the Caribbean, with streets and alleys that look unchanged since pirate times.
In Old San Juan, we started at the Parrot Club — a swinging bar-restaurant with a hip clientele. We stuck with wonderful and colorful drinks at the bar. From there it was on to Il Perugino, serving Italian dishes with deceptively simple descriptions (pasta with fresh tomato sauce and basil, carpaccio, tiramisu).
The chef-owner, France Seccarelli, transformed a private home in the historical center into a series of whimsical Italian settings, including a Pompeii temple, complete with frescoes. The authenticity of the classic dishes would be hard to match in Rome.
But by day, it was hard tearing ourselves loose from our hotel. This Ritz-Carlton, built for the tropics, has soft colors, high ceilings and open views that made us forget this is a resort plunked down on the edge of a big city.
That was especially true when we lounged around the 7,200-square foot, free-form pool, or strolled on Isla Verde’s prettiest stretch of beach. The resort brims with every up-to-date amenity, from a sushi bar to a super-spa that boasts “gentle clothed” massages for kids as well as a dozen kinds for adults — just the thing to soften us up for a miserable flight home.
When we got home at midnight, we weren’t as cranky as we expected. Any resort that can make us almost forget a Tower Air 747 on which nothing worked — no lights, no movie, no food — deserves our kudos.
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FAST FACTS
* Room rates at the Ritz-Carlton through May 24 start at $439, (800) 241-3333. Puerto Rico Tourism, (787) 721-2400, Web site: http://www.prtourism.com