Day 4 in PR and I am just starting my trip report. We’re having a great time thus far.
Wed 16 April
Had a surprisingly more than decent meal at Cisco Brewers in Terminal B. My falafel “gyro” was something I would gladly get at a proper pub. (We like Cisco, having visited both the Nantucket and New Bedford locations.) Big bacon cheeseburger for Spring Onion, fried chicken sandwich for B.
As our plane waited to take off, a friend alerted us to the island-wide blackout on PR. No one on the plane mentioned it, either attendants or flight deck. Well, what can we do? Got in ~midnight and we were surprised to see many lights on. Of course, those tended to be the tourist-heavy areas. We had interesting conversations with our Uber driver and the hotel check-in staff (and later in our trip with locals; bottom line from their perspective is that the grid is awful and corruption is rampant). We both wanted SO to see a part of the world that is not as orderly as Scandinavia.
Thursday 17 April
Poor night of sleeping. Got up too early for free breakfast at our hotel. As I read through @plragde’s excellent PR report, I realized that we are staying very close to where he and his partner stayed. We took the free hotel shuttle into Old San Juan and had a lot fun exploring the National Park Service forts. SO was excited to get many stamps for his NPS passport. He started wilting a bit around midday so, following @plragde’s lead, we headed to Taberna Lupulo. Place was totally up-our-alley. Problem is, the heat tends to sap our appetites so we only snacked (wings for the guys, nachos+salsa, homemade potato chips). Very nice beers on tap and fun soundtrack.
SO got a crazy-looking cookie from Drunken Cookies. A silly concept that only a 10 yo could love (well, without the free alcoholic pipette).
Back at hotel for some pool time. Dinnertime rolls around and I realized that Kemuri is not opened on Thursdays. We wanted something close by, so we walked to Pizza e BIrra. Definitely a locals’ place. Pizza (half Italian sausage+pepperoni/half mushrooms+arugula) was not notable, but SO thought it was “amazing.” He was also probably starving by then. 
Should’ve gone to La Santurcina but that’s ok. Turned in early.
Friday 18 April
Hit Escambron beach for snorkeling. It was Good Friday so I think many people took to the beach for the holiday. SO loved chasing the colorful fish underwater. Lunch was back in Old San Juan, at Deshistoria for empanadas and beer. Not the best empanadas I’ve had (they are baked, not deep-fried) but they had both veggie+chickpeas and mushroom+cheese ones. The guys were happy with their pollo, carne, and chorizo varieties. We got to sit at the bar with all the hot sauces at our easy disposal and watch AC/DC music videos.
A local at the bar told us about a local taproom do we checked out afterwards. We didn’t love the beers but it was a cool space.
Dinner was at Kemuri. We took a rather bleak walking route but then we finally saw the welcoming storefront. Easily got a table and had a wonderful meal of mochi agedashi (we all enjoyed this; wonderfully fresh and chewy), pork katsu (SO), crispy-skin salmon (B), and veggie with mushroom and asparagus curry (me). Delightful goma’ae and potato salad as sides. The guys loved the corn soup and miso soup. We took a more pleasant route home. Sadly, we missed out on Via Lactea right down the street, which I knew about from @CurlzNJ’s PR post.
Saturday 19 April
We check out today and head west, to Aguada. A short 2-hour drive. We’ll break it up with some sightseeing along the way. I just remarked to B that we haven’t had any traditionally PR food. We have to remedy that. And SO is obsessed with the idea of drinking coconut water from a fresh coconut.
After dinner, we walk down to the water and then B runs into a patient of his (who is also a physician at one of the other big Boston hospitals) and his family. We make plans to get together during our stay.
