Day 05 - San Juan, PR
We enjoy a culinary walking tour in San Juan
December 2, 2018 - Last night, Silver Spirit remained overnight in San Juan, PR and, today we have booked the San Juan Culinary Walking Tour through Silversea's Shore Concierge.
We met with the rest of the folks on the tour, about 15 total, outside the cruise terminal building. We were greeted by Pablo Garcia, our local tour guide for the day.
Pablo Garcia, Spoon Food Tours
As soon as everyone from the group arrives, we head off through the streets of San Juan. Along the way, Pablo was eager to point out the history of San Juan and the significance of the buildings we passed on the way to our first stop. Even though it is late morning, a stop for a locally-sourced cup of coffee sounds like a good idea.
Milletras, which translates to "thousand letters," is a locally-owned and operated coffee shop that specializes in artisan, hand-picked, single-bean-variety coffee and homemade pastries. We were each served a cup of latte and a pastry with a guava filling. The coffee was very mild and delicious.
Rickee is not a coffee drinker. In fact, before our visit to Milletras, she had never tasted coffee. What a great time to try something new!
Rickee tastes coffee for the first time
We depart Milletras and walk a few blocks to our next restaurant, Hecho en Casa, for a traditional Puerto Rican dish: Mofongo.
Mofongo is made from green plantains, a cousin to the banana. Plantains are larger and typically less sweet than bananas and are a staple in Caribbean cuisine. To make Mofongo, green plantains are cut into pieces, deep fried, then smashed using a wooden mortar and pestle. Hecho en Casa is known to have the best Mofongo in San Juan. Each guest is served a bowl of Mofongo with chicken and a garlic cream sauce.
I have never tried Mofongo, and I loved it. The texture sort of reminded me of cornbread dressing. The next time we cruise into or out of San Juan, this is a place to which I would gladly return, and it is not a long walk from the port to this delightful restaurant. After our Mofongo, we walked less than a block to the next stop on our tour: Chocobar.
At Chocobar, our group got to sample delicious milk chocolate squares atop, of all things, cheddar cheese!
It sounds strange, but the flavors actually complement each other. The chocolate was so good that Rickee bought some to take home. Next, we each enjoyed a chocolate rum Martini which, too, was delicious and refreshing.
As we enjoyed our chocolate rum martinis, we had an opportunity to visit the art gallery located upstairs from Chocobar in which the works of local artists are displayed. After departing Chocobar, Pablo warned us that we may be walking a few blocks and offered cups of ice water to keep us hydrated.
The walk to Plaza de Armas, the main square, was not too far and when we arrived, Pablo shared with us the history of the square and the surrounding buildings.
I should also point out that it is a beautiful day with temperatures in the 80s. It is a great day for photos like the one of City Hall above. Our tour continues down to the waterfront where we learn even more about the history of San Juan. Then, it is time to cool off with a refreshing ice cream bar from Señor Peleta, a local ice cream shop. With ice cream bars in hand, we walk back along the waterfront to our final stop on the tour: Princesa Gastrobar.
At Princesa, our group gathered in a private room where Pablo educated us on Caribbean Sofrito, a blend of vegetables and spices used as a base in many Caribbean dishes. We were each treated to a refreshing Mojito made with rum, mint, sugar and club soda and enjoyed a bowl of stew made with chickpeas, grouper, rice and, of course, Sofrito. Another delicious treat!
After our meal, some guests decided to do some walking on their own in town while Pablo guided a few of us back to Silver Spirit, even though you really cannot get lost in San Juan. Once back at the cruise terminal, we said goodbye to Pablo, vowing to meet up with him again on a return visit to San Juan.
We have been fortunate to do quite a few culinary tours, and, this was one of the best, largely due to Pablo. His extensive knowledge of San Juan and Caribbean history, along with his enthusiastic delivery style, made it fun to learn. You can tell he truly enjoys what he does and is proud to introduce visitors to venues that are locally owned and serving locally-sourced food. We highly recommend this tour.
This afternoon, we enjoyed our balcony with a wonderful view of El Morro as we sailed away from San Juan.
Tomorrow, Silver Spirit will be in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
Day 04 - San Juan, PR
An afternoon arrival in San Juan gives us time to enjoy our suite and dinner at La Terrazza
December 1, 2018 - As Silver Spirit sails towards San Juan, Puerto Rico, the Captain informs us that they will be performing a series of sea trials required prior to entering a USA port. So, if the ship slows down, or makes a few turns, not to be concerned.
After attending another excellent lecture by Dr. William Crowley on St. Kitts, Dominca and Antigua (three of the islands we will be visiting on this itinerary), we decided to enjoy an al fresco lunch at The Grill. Since The Grill does not open until noon, we had time to stop by The Arts Cafe and noticed they had a variety of light snacks available. In fact, after Rickee tried one of the tomato, cucumber and cheese finger sandwiches, she decided to make that her lunch and had two more!
There are small jars filled with a variety of salads (see above) so, I tried a Chicken with Curry Mango and it was really good. Everything we have tried at The Arts Cafe has been delicious. But, for me, this was just an appetizer. My lunch awaits poolside at The Grill. Before placing my order, I noticed Executive Chef Chilcott overseeing a stirfry station at The Grill.
The daily special stirfry looked very tempting, but I decided to try the cheeseburger, which is served with french fries and onion rings. My cheeseburger was cooked to my liking, medium, and the fries were hot and crispy. The bun is also a very important component of a good burger, and this one is one of the best you will find. Silversea has really improved their burgers.
Back "in the day", a Pool Grill would typically offer a burger, fries and maybe a chicken sandwich, but Silversea's Pool Grill menu is quite extensive. In fact, it is two pages long!
After lunch, we spent much of the afternoon enjoying the peace and quiet of our expansive private balcony. The Silver Suite has a comfortable lounger, two chairs with footrests and a large table with two additional chairs.
We enjoyed our balcony as Silver Spirit was sailing into San Juan, Puerto Rico, this afternoon.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Tonight, we have dinner reservations for La Terrazza, Silversea's Italian Bistro restaurant. We stop at Panorama Lounge for a pre-dinner drink and instantly notice the beautiful changes made to the lounge during last summer's lengthening of Silver Spirit.
All of the furnishings, carpet and other surfaces have been modernized with top-quality marble, fabrics and leather. Silversea's bar service remains the best in the industry, with generous pours. My Crown Royal would have been considered a "double" on most cruise lines, and the same for Rickee's scotch on the rocks.
A line was already forming at La Terrazza when we arrived at 7:00pm for our reservation. We were escorted to a table for two. In the evening, La Terrazza is transformed from a buffet restaurant into a romantic Italian bistro with an extensive menu. After a welcome glass of Spumanti sparkling wine, we were offered a choice of white or red Italian wines. I requested the Bogle Merlot that we had enjoyed at Atlantide and the Sommelier promptly brought a bottle to our table and poured a glass. A large platter of antipasti was brought to the table along with a basket of breads.
My Insalata Caprese (above) was a delicious chunk of fresh Mozzarella atop three fresh slices of tomato and drizzled with a pesto sauce. It was excellent. Rickee's Carpaccio di Manzo was paper-thin sliced beef tenderloin topped with Arugula, Cherry Tomatoes, Celery and aged Parmesan cheese. For my pasta course, I tried the Bigoli al Cacio 'Podolico' e Pepe which is a homemade Bigoli pasta in a rustic buttery black pepper sauce.
The Bigoli was cooked perfectly al dente and it was one of the best pasta dishes I think I have ever had. I will be ordering this again, maybe as a main course! Rickee had the Pappa al Pomodoro as her second course, a rich bowl of chunky tomato soup that she devoured. She decided to have her pasta as her main course. She chose the Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, Peperoncino, which I also got to try. It was very garlicky and quite spicy, which I love. For my main course, I had the Costoletta di Vitello farcita al Taleggio (Veal Shank), which was way too large, but I somehow managed.
Costoletta di Vitello farcita al Taleggio
Needless to say, we were so full after the first three or four courses (I lost count), that dessert was not even an option. I finished my glass of Merlot while Rickee had a glass of chilled Limoncello (an Italian lemon-flavored liqueur). Our dinner at La Terrazza was memorable and I think we should visit here at least one more time on this journey.
We overnight here and tomorrow, we will explore San Juan, Puerto Rico.