Ok this is an odd question but!!

[rlowe38742]

IM leaving to go on the Carnival Destiny this sunday, i spending saturday all day in San Juan

 

Now as everyone knows i will stop in St Thomas, Dominca, Barbados, and aruba

 

What are some of the best restaurants at these ports i like all kinds of food also

 

Thanks so much all!!!

[hstrybuf]

In Aruba we ate at both Iguana Joe's and Carlos N Charlie's (before the crowds hit). In San Juan, I loved The Parrot Club. Opens at six and you should arrive before that. It's very popular.

[FromHereToThere]

Also going on the De 07/09. I've made reservations for Dragonfly, its across the street from Parrot Club and I've heard that reservations are strongly recommened at both. :D

[runner15km]

We never go to the Americian Corporate restaurants on the islands. We hop in a cab and ask the driver for a restaurant that he enjoys. Only way to get a taste of the islands. We had island goat stew in SJ and bannana lasagna in in St. Thomas, so goooooood! And conch salad in Nassau, fresh off a fishing boat.

[jcanino]

In San Juan, I loved The Parrot Club. Opens at six and you should arrive before that. It's very popular.

 

I will second The Parrot Club! They are open for lunch and you can call them or stop in and add your name to the list with your dining time preference. Be prepared to wait if you have your name on the list.

[ellyzma]

We were on the RCCL AOS in Oct...

 

DH is from Greece so we ate at a small greek restaurant for lunch... It was pretty good...

 

We ate dinner at the Cafe Puerto Rican right around the corner from the Dragonfly and Parrot Club (same owners by the way)... It was fantastic... Great authentic food, lots of it and great prices... We had a seat right by the balcony on the second floor and could see square and fountain with the fort way beyond...

 

Beth

[Sue L]

In Old San Juan 2 blocks up from the waterfront area is a great Italian restaurant called Al Dente, the husband wife owners run the place, he is from Sicily and she is from Puerto Rico. The wife is also a phenomenal artist and she has her work displayed throughout the restaurant. I would definitely reccommend this place

[feistytigger]

Ooh! I can finally help someone! :D Just spent a week in Puerto Rico a month ago. We had incredible dinners at The Parrot Club and Dragonfly in OSJ. If you're in Isla Verde, there's a good Cuban restaurant, Metropol, and we enjoyed Piu Bello (esp. the alcoholic gelato drinks).

[TrqoisWtrs]

hey feisty! - nice to meet ya! :D

[kicia]

Hi! You'll have a great cruise. As far as someplace to eat in St. Thomas there are lots of places but a couple are Hook, Line and Sinker in Frenchtown or The Green House right on the waterfront. You can watch the ships from there and it is a pretty popular place to eat. We usually eat there a couple of times when we stay for a week or so.

 

Enjoy!

 

Linda

[TinkyPatz]

I lived in Puerto Rico all my life and the best restaurants in San Juan are Dragonfly (a latin, asian cuisine). The Parrot Club (across from Dragonfly, and with typical Puerto Rican cuisine), or if you're into seafood: Aquaviva (next door to Dragonfly). They are all a little on the expensive side, but I took my boyfriend to the parrot club when we went on vacation and to this day he claims it was the best steak he ever had in his life! :D

 

They're located on Fortaleza Street. Dragonfly is formal, so no shorts or t-shirts mostly. The Parrot Club is much more informal and they're open for lunch as well. Make reservations!!!

 

 

If you're looking for something a little more inexpensive El Patio de Sam is good and has a little bit of everything and a big array of beers! Enjoy! :)

 

This are the reviews from Frommer's:

Parrot Club:

Parrot Club is one of the most sought-after restaurants in Old San Juan. This bistro and bar serves Nuevo Latino cuisine that blends traditional Puerto Rican cookery with Spanish, Taíno, and African influences. It's set in a stately 1902 building that was originally a hair-tonic factory. Today you'll find a cheerful-looking dining room, where San Juan's mayor and the governor of Puerto Rico can sometimes be spotted, and a verdantly landscaped courtyard, where tables for at least 200 diners are scattered amid potted ferns, palms, and orchids. Live music, either Brazilian, salsa, or Latino jazz, is offered nightly as well as during the popular Sunday brunches.

Menu items are updated interpretations of old Puerto Rican specialties. They include ceviche of halibut, salmon, tuna, and mahimahi; delicious crab cakes; criolla-style flank steak; and pan-seared tuna served with a sauce made from dark rum and essence of oranges. Everybody's favorite drink is a "Parrot Passion," made from lemon-flavored rum, triple sec, oranges, and passion fruit.

 

 

Dragonfly:

At one of San Juan's hottest restaurants, the decor has been compared to that of a bordello in Old San Francisco. You pass through the beaded curtains into a world of red ceilings, fringed lamps, and gilded mirrors. The restaurant lies right across the street from the Parrot Club, and these two dining enclaves have put the newly named SoFo district (south of Calle Fortaleza in Old Town) on the culinary map. In the bar, the preferred cigarette is Marlboro and the most popular drink, a lethal "Dragon Punch." Night after night Dragonfly is the fun party place in town. Along with the latest gossip, you can enjoy live Latin jazz as background music.

This new-generation San Juan restaurant offers sexy cookery, such as seafood ceviche scooped up with yucca, and plantain chips, chicharrónes (pork rinds), spicy crab cakes, and a host of other dishes, such as marinated grilled meats. We applaud the chefs for their use of root vegetables such as yucca. The red snapper and grouper are excellent, and we love the pumpkin and beans of every type. The barbecued lamb shanks are very hearty and filling. Ravioli, timbales, confits, cassoulets -- it's a dizzy array of taste temptations.

Aquaviva:

This is the third and final addition to a trio of restaurants, each within a few steps of each other, and each dauntingly stylish, that are owned by the same investors. The location is at the bottom of Calle Fortaleza, in Old San Juan, within a cool, turquoise-colored environment that's in welcome contrast to the saffron-and-fire-colored decor of the other members (Dragonfly and The Parrot Club, both also recommended). Presiding above the sometimes frenetic bar action and dining room hubbub of this place are replicas of three aquaviva (jellyfish), quivering with illumination, each painstakingly manufactured from stained glass specifically for this site. Don't come here expecting calm or respite from the maddening crowds. Its owners spend a small fortune on publicity and promotion, making it one of the hottest restaurant tickets in Old San Juan.

The result verges on the chaotic, albeit in the most stylish of ways. Just when you think the bar area is packed to the point where no further clients will possibly be admitted, boom, a new carload of hopefuls, either with or -- unfortunately for them -- without dining reservations will cram themselves in among the stylish and scantily dressed crowd. Oysters and stiff drinks are served at the bar. Flowing from the open-to-view kitchens come dishes whose ingredients derive from the watery turquoise world that inspired this restaurant's color scheme. The best examples include six different ceviches, including one made with mahimahi, mango juice, and lemons; and a different version from marlin and garlic. You might opt for a heaping tower composed of fried oysters, coco-flavored shrimp, fried octopus, and calamari. The best main courses include grilled fresh mahimahi with smoky shrimp, salsa, and coconut-poached yucca; seared medallions of halibut with a fondue of spinach and crabmeat; and a succulent version of paella garnished with seafood and pork sausage.

[caribsun]

"They're located on Fortaleza Street. Dragonfly is formal, so no shorts or t-shirts mostly. :mad: The Parrot Club is much more informal and they're open for lunch as well. Make reservations"!!!

 

I just got off the boat and you say I can't come into the dining room with shorts, t-shirt and flip flops!! :rolleyes:

[BettyCruiser]

Another vote for the Green House in St. Thomas, we try to stop for lunch every time we're in port:)

[rlowe38742]

Any ideas for a restaurant in aruba??

 

since we will be there all day!!

[TinkyPatz]

"They're located on Fortaleza Street. Dragonfly is formal, so no shorts or t-shirts mostly. :mad: The Parrot Club is much more informal and they're open for lunch as well. Make reservations"!!!

 

I just got off the boat and you say I can't come into the dining room with shorts, t-shirt and flip flops!! :rolleyes:

 

yep, i know! but they dont have lunch, so since it is a night restaurant its more formal. But if you want to try Puerto Rican cuisine the atmosphere is much more relaxed at the parrot club! ;)

[rlowe38742]

I will only be able to do the saturday brunch at The parrot cub tomorrow

 

How is there brunch menu and is the food still good??