Seafood restaurants in Caribbean Islands
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El Templete
This upscale restaurant is situated less than 100m from its namesake temple, where the city of Habana was founded in 1519. Overlooking the harbor, the eating space is split into two halves: an outdoor alfresco area accommodated under a large awning, and a pleasant indoor dining room with starched tablecloths and expensive-looking wine glasses. For once the food quality lives up to the pretensions of the fancy decor, with seafood specialties spearheaded by shrimps and lobster. Count on forking out CUC$15 minimum for a main course here.
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Duffy’s
Esperanza’s newest bar is a sleeker and slightly more refined version of Banana’s next door. It fills a gap in the market with fresh salads and creative seafood, but still nurtures an undone Caribbean flavor. Opening out onto Esperanza’s main strip, the laid-back street atmosphere infiltrates the shady interior where expats and locals mingle over beer and scallops.
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Galloway’s Bar & Restaurant
Snowbirds Welcome’ reads the sign out the front, but those four-seasoned spring-breakers from Minneapolis you’ve just spied sitting out on the waterfront deck aren’t the only birds pecking at the food. Small black feathered creatures will make a beeline for any spare tasty morsels, so hold on to your seafood crab salad and freshly prepared octopus before it all ends up as bird-feed. Something of a local legend, Galloway’s combines great seafood with a picturesque waterfront setting on Boquerón’s rustic downtown strip. It’s terrific for children, too.
All pretense of being a restaurant is dropped by 9pm on weekends, when a yuppie crowd shows up for live 1980s …
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Aquaviva
Designed with an arty water/sea-life theme – all turquoise blues and brilliant whites – the house specialty is seafood, in particular the cerviches, with plenty of patrons rolling in just to savor an appetizer with a pre-dinner cocktail. Often packed to the rafters, Aquaviva was invented with the word ‘hip’ in mind. Everything from the open-view kitchen to the catwalk clientele is slavishly stylish. But the real test is the food: fresh oysters, calamari filled with shredded beef, and dorado with lightly grilled bell peppers, seasoned with garlic and served with plantains. It has been voted one of the top 75 restaurants in the world.
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Topacio
The newly opened Topacio has already cemented a firm reputation among those with a penchant for delicious seafood served Caribbean-style. Sheltered on an outside patio underneath colorful lights, you can sample the generous paella, fish in a creole sauce, seafood mofongo (mashed plantains) and lobster cooked in garlic. Unpretentious, efficient and brimming with fresh and locally caught ingredients, this place offers great Puerto Rican authenticity without sacrificing on the quality.
reviewed
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Fish Net
Boquerón is famous for its fish and this is as good a place as any to get it. In keeping with the image of the downbeat town center, there’s nothing fancy about the decor here. But Boquerón has always been more about authenticity than architectural awards. Owner Roberto is the local Jamie Oliver and has been known to serve up a mean pilones (mashed plantain mixed with shrimps and salsa).
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Restaurante La Terraza
A photo-adorned shrine to the ghost of Ernest Hemingway, La Terraza specializes in seafood and does a roaring trade from the hordes of Papa fans who pour in daily. The terrace dining room overlooking the bay is pleasant. More atmospheric, however, is the old bar out front (10:30am to 11pm) where mojitos haven’t yet reached El Floridita rates. The food is surprisingly mediocre.
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Town House by the Sea
This elegant dining room overlooking the beach takes food seriously, so come seriously hungry. If you’ve been craving snails – and who hasn’t? – you’ll find escargot with a Jamaican twist. Equally rich is the stuffed lobster, red snapper or the filet mignon. If you’re merely peckish, choose from the pasta, curry and Jamaican dishes. The smoked marlin is one of the best on the island.
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Paladar Vista Mar
The Paladar Vista Mar is in the 2nd-floor family-room-turned-restaurant of a private residence in Miramar that faces the sea. The oceanside ambience is embellished by a beautiful swimming pool that spills its water into the sea. If enjoying delicious seafood dishes overlooking the crashing ocean sounds enticing, this could be your bag. Most mains run from CUC$8 to CUC$15 with salad.
reviewed
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Blue Marlin Restaurant
Rather than breaking the bank on the fancy place at the Copamarina, try this family-run restaurant on the malecón. Locals consider it the best, with a large outdoor deck and economic seaside drinking ($1.50 Medalla beers). If you ask for the freshest catch, your waiter will most likely bring you something that was in the water only a few hours earlier.
reviewed
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El Nuevo Horizonte
Just a mile or two west of Parador Costa del Mar, the view rarely gets better than it does from this place. This restaurant is perched high on the mountainside overlooking the Caribbean. You can smell the asopao de langosta (lobster stew) cooking 200yd before you get here. A cauldron of the stew will set you back about $18 and serves at least two people.
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Paladar El Colonial
The town’s only surviving paladar has been knocking out good food for years with an exotic Baracoan twist. Still run out of a handsome wooden clapboard house on Calle José Martí, the menu has become a bit more limited in recent times (less octopus and more chicken), though you still get the down-to-earth service and the delicious coconut sauce.
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Seafood Giant
At the west end of Runaway Bay, it serves such dishes as jackfish with spinach roasted in foil or fried with bammy, plantain, rice and peas; otherwise order curried, creole or braised garlic shrimp. The filling meals are excellent value. However, if you pick your own fish, you’ll be charged ‘according to size.’
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Su Casa Steak House
Breaking the fast-food monotony, this casual place (which is on the Mesón Gastronómico hot list) serves up some of the best steaks in the area. Also on the menu are seafood, comida criolla (traditional Puerto Rican cuisine) and plenty of other Puerto Rican delicacies served up with an international vent.
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Costarenas
This is another fine choice. Located across from Hotel Tropicoco, it specializes in seafood dishes like paella and a mixed grill with lobster, shrimp and fish. The upstairs terrace is a good place to catch a beer and breeze. Fishermen sell their catch nearby which is terrific if you've got cooking facilities.
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El Gringo Viejo
The Gringo offers a good atmosphere and large portions of invariably brilliant food. Locals and visitors love it for its speedy service, fine wine list and big portions of more adventurous plates, such as smoked salmon with olives and Gouda or crabmeat in red sauce (CUC$10 to CUC$12).
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Diana’s Seafood Bar
A sky-blue shack serving steamed fish (US$4) and basic Jamaican fare. Diana is a pleasant lady who also has Diana’s Guest House; its one room has a double bed and an outside bathroom and toilet, but no electricity (it’s lit by a kerosene lamp). Rates here are negotiable.
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Don Cangrejo
This unique seafood restaurant is run by the Ministry of Fisheries and scores high points for atmosphere and service. Fresh fish dishes include red snapper, grouper and prawns (CUC$8 to CUC$12), while lobster plucked from the pit on the terrace comes in at CUC$20 to CUC$25.
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Rodney Arms
Housed in a beautifully restored Georgian limestone building that was once the Old Water Police Station – where pirates and miscreant marines were detained – this excellent seafood haunt offers crab, a seafood platter, garlic shrimp and other local dishes.
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Restaurante Mi Cayito
On a tiny island in the Laguna Itabo, this place serves lobster, shrimp and grilled fish in an open-air locale. Nice ambience and cheap pork fillets. There’s a live show here every Saturday and Sunday at 3pm, which you can enjoy for the price of a drink.
reviewed
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World of Fish
Popular with locals, this casual and economical eatery serves fresh seafood, including lobster and shrimp. In keeping with the Jamaican capacity for making juice from just about anything that grows, sweet nectars of June plum, ginger and soursop are served.
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Restaurante Puerto de Sagua
This nautical-themed eating joint in Habana Vieja’s grittier southern quarter is characterized by its small porthole-style windows and serves mostly seafood at reasonable prices (CUC$5 to CUC$8). The jacketed waiters are courteous and friendly.
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So-So Seafood Bar & Grill
A casual place, known for its mellow after-work scene, which settles around the bar and two TV sets or sprawls into its outdoor patio. The seafood menu, divided into conch, shrimp, lobster and fish sections, belies the modesty of the name.
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A La Banda Waterfront Restaurant
Live lobsters are easily transferred from the aquarium to your plate here – with a side trip to the kitchen, of course. If you prefer not to see your food swimming before you eat it, go for the Italian dishes or hearty steaks.
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El Pescador
This decent spot just west of Isabela does excellent seafood with a Caribbean twist. Beyond the fresh fish and loyal following of locals, there’s evening karaoke mixed in with the occasional live salsa and meringue band.
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