Beach Front Dining in San Juan

Ciao Mediterranean Cafe

Intercontinental Hotel

San Juan, PR 00921

http://www.icsanjuanresort.com/

In June I spent nine days in San Juan, Puerto Rico with my girlfriend’s family. Her parents live in the Intercontinental Hotel in Isla Verde because her dad is the general manager of the hotel and the director of operations for the Caribbean region for Intercontinental. We did a majority of our eating in places at the hotel, so my next few entries will be reviews of my food adventures in Puerto Rico, so I hope you enjoy!

I have stayed with my girlfriend’s family in Puerto Rico once before, so it was nothing new to me to go down to Ciao Mediterranean Café on the beach at the hotel and have lunch on the day that I arrived. My girlfriend, her sister, her baby daughter and I went down and enjoyed lunch at Ciao. I had been there a few times before, and I would be there a few more times as the week went along. Ciao is my favorite place to eat at the Intercontinental because I feel that they produce the best food at the hotel.

The first day when we had lunch, I ordered the Ensalada Puertoriquena con atun (Puerto Rican Salad with tuna). I had thought that the tuna would have been a tuna steak, but I actually enjoyed the tuna salad with the rest of the salad very much. The salad was very different from what I usually like in my salads, but it was really well done. The salad included hearts of palm, pineapple, tomato, lettuce, ham and onion, and the dressing was a citrusy vinaigrette of some sort. All of the different elements of the salad were great in their own right, but they mixed together in different bites so well.

Another night we all enjoyed dinner at Ciao. I had been craving pizza, and Ciao has very good pizza, so we ordered pizzas to share with my girlfriend and her sister. We ordered the chicken bacon ranch pizza and a special pizza called Bruno’s pizza, which was topped with fresh mozzeralla, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil. Both pizzas were fantastic.

On yet another occasion, we enjoyed dinner at Ciao with my girlfriend’s immediate family, as well as her aunt and uncle that were visiting from Colombia. I had been having a craving for churrasco steak, which is a type of steak dish that is well known in Latin American countries, so I ordered it, and I was not disappointed. Churrasco is a skirt steak that is grilled and served with a chimichurri sauce, a sauce made from garlic, basil, and oil. The steak was completely charred on the outside, but perfectly tender on the inside. I used each and every bit of the wonderful chimichurri with each and every bite of the crunchy, flavorful steak.

If you ever get the chance to visit Puerto Rico, particularly San Juan, I would recommend the Intercontinental Hotel and its many dining options to everyone. Everything is affordable and very nice, and the hospitality of the workers is unmatched. Definitely give Ciao a try if you are ever visiting San Juan. Cheers!