Marmalade Restaurant, Old San Juan

Dinner Party at Marmalade

After a nosh and a nap, we returned to the city for a pre-dinner cocktail party. 

The Parrot Club (the 17th thing to do in San Juan according to Lonely Planet) closed down and converted itself to a disco in honor of our ship's arrival. The space is really quite nice, but it was incredibly loud and crowded. How do you squeeze 2500 well fed men into a small restaurant space? Promise them go-go dancers, of course. To make the experience even less bear friendly, there were only two bartenders who were working at island speed to serve all us thirsty guys. 

Once we finally received our beers, we squeezed through the crowd, went upstairs to see the patio, then headed for the door and up the street to Marmalade for cocktails before joining our friends there for dinner.

Our friends Greg and Ken, who own Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine in Chicago, made reservations for eight people, but our group grew to 11 and we were forced to split up. John, Jay, and I took a table a short distance from the larger table and settled in for a quite memorable dining experience. We selected the five course tasting menu paired with wines. The tasting menu allowed you to select a starter, the house soup, an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert.  The chef, Peter Schintler, stopped by our table to describe the evening specials, then we strategically selected our courses to provide the most variety for sharing around the table. We were not disappointed.

I started with a refreshingly citrusy Ceviche served with warm, Basil Infused Crostini (the winner of the 1^st course competition was John’s heirloom tomato salad with house made goat cheese). 

Ceviche with Basil Infused Crostini

This was followed by the house specialty – Tiny White Bean Soup topped with truffle oil and pancetta dust. John described this course to be like smoky, liquid velvet in your throat. He was right – I could have had 5 courses of the soup. 

Tiny White Bean Soup: The House Specialty

This was followed by a Pan Seared Foie Gras with Chorizo Sausage in a raspberry reduction. This was served with a wonderfully fruity red port wine (the winning course was the gnocchi with slow roasted beef). While I try to eat as cruelty-free as possible, I can never resist the draw of a well-prepared foie gras. Read hear to learn more.

Pan Seared Foie Gras with Chorizo Sausage

Jay and I had the night's special entree, Slow Roasted (36 hours at 150F while being weighted down to prevent curling and to help render the fat), Pressed Pork Belly with Roasted Peaches over Spicy Black Beans. OMG! This was fork tender, pork heaven. 

Slow Roasted, Pressed Pork Belly

The meal could have ended there, but no – there was Puerto Rican coffee, locally grown and roasted followed by an imaginative array of desserts – John had a lively milk chocolate mousse with a passion fruit reduction. Jay had chocolate and olive oil ice cream, which was oddly delicious with a very nice finish. And, I had a caramel popcorn crème brulee – possibly the best crème brulee that has ever passed these lips. 

Caramel Popcorn Creme Brulee

This was a great food experience from an imaginative young chef, who first gained recognition in Singapore, and has consistently won awards ever since. I highly recommend that if you find yourself in Old San Juan that you make reservations and plan to spend an evening enjoying a fine meal (an entire page of vegetarian options are also available). 

The only suggestion I have to make this a more wonderful experience is that the portion sizes could have been slightly smaller for the tasting menu – as we were feeling a bit stuffed, but giddily happy as we strolled back to the ship still discussing the tastes and experiences of our foodie evening.