Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sets your taste buds traveling inexorably east. The pièce de résistance is the belly dancing
that kicks off at nine-ish on weekends.
LATIN FUSION IN OLD SAN JUAN
While Old San Juan is well known for its historic Spanish forts and atmospheric
cobbled plazas, few outsiders arrive expecting to find a clutch of cutting-edge gour-
met restaurants shoehorned in among the quaint 16th-century facades. But hidden in-
side one of America's oldest urban quarters, streets that once played host to cutlass-
brandishing pirates are now the preserve of knife-wielding chefs. San Juan's culinary
nexus is situated in the compact neighborhood of
SoFo
(an acronym for 'South
Fortaleza St'), a trendy but constantly changing strip of funky wine bars and dimly lit
restaurants that has sent many a holidaying food critic home happy. Small, cozy and
architecturally interesting, these engaging eating establishments are famous for their
Latin-fusion cuisine, an eclectic mix of traditional Latin American ingredients such
as rice, beans, pork and plantains, blended with more exotic flavors from Asia,
Europe and beyond.
Dragonfly
FUSION $$
(Fortaleza;dishes$14-25; 6-11pmSun-Wed,6pm-midnightThu-Sat)
Duck nachos
- say no more! One of SoFo's most stylish culinary innovators, this hotspot of Latin-Asian
fusion brims nightly with a plethora of self-assured, well-dressed and, frankly, beautiful
people. After surviving the shock of your initial entrance (the place resembles a dark,
red bordello - all dim lampshades and decorative mirrors), follow up with a hard-hitting
Dragon Punch cocktail before you dive into a menu awash with the wonderful and the plain
weird (yes, those duck nachos).
La Bombonera
PUERTO RICAN $
( 259 San Francisco; mains $8-16; 7:30am-6pm)
The old-fashioned coffee machine
hisses like a steam engine, career waiters in black trousers appear like royal footmen at
your table, and a long line of seen-it-all
sanjuaneros
(people from San Juan) populate the
lengthy row of barstools, catching up on the local breakfast gossip. It shouldn't take you
long to work out that La Bombonera is a city institution: it's been around since 1902 and
