We have been cooking a lot at home; Indian food (plain yogurt marinade for the chicken), Mexican Baja style fish tacos, pasta, lasagna, grilled chicken, spicy stir fries. We have been having a lot of fun, eating great food, spending time together cooking and saving a lot of money because every $15 meal we cook lasts two days. Going out all the time was getting expensive in our little tourist town and we were getting tired of the same old-same old. Unlike Ocean City where I grew up, there is no back door with different pricing for the locals versus the tourist on a travel budget. We all pay the same prices.

One of our regular spots over the past year or two has been the sushi served over at The Pool Bar in Barrio Puntas (that’s the neighborhood on the windward side of Rincon). They have a great fresh salad (served with shrimp or ahi), delicious and creative sushi (coconut wasabi drizzled over the tuna roll) and an awesome seared tuna with beurre blanc sauce. Dennis and Carol, the owners, have been in Rincon for thirty plus years, raised their own family here and now have their adult daughter working the bar and their grandson keeping them in board games, skateboards and days at the beach. If it’s a hot night, go for a swim in the pool while waiting for your sushi or to wash off the strong buzz you tacked on with the Saki bombs you were doing. For Summer and I, soon enough it will probably be a combination of the above along with our daughter begging us to go for another swim.

Thursday Nights in Rincon

Jazz Night and Sushi at Pool Bar

I went over to get take out sushi for Summer and I last night. I didn’t call my order in ahead of time because I wanted to have a cold Presidente or two and listen to some live jazz while waiting. There was a good crowd with all the tables taken at 7:30 and a few people waiting at the bar to be seated. They started a new hibachi menu, but I didn’t go for any of those items, we stuck with sushi and salad (our usual). The Jazz was a refreshing change to the reggaeton, house music and nursery rhymes I am subjected to on the daily. I really like the live jazz, the band is a colorful bunch of guys and girls…and they make me tap my foot. I recorded some of a song so you could have a listen before you head over next Thursday for your sushi jazz experience.

Shipwrecks – Everything on the menu is great, but it is expensive. My absolute favorite is the Tuna Tamari Salad. It’s $24 but it is HUGE and could easily feed two people.

Calypso – This is a touristy bar/restaurant, but it’s also a favorite with all the locals. The food is actually very good and reasonably priced. Stefan claims that the churassco steak plate is the best steak in town and trust me, he’s tried them all. They also have good vegetarian or dorado burritos, a decent salad and great drinks.

Pool Bar – This bar/restaurant is a very cool place to get a few drinks and grab some sushi. The sushi is some of the best I’ve had in Puerto Rico (Although, most sushi in Puerto Rico is horrible, so…take that for what it is worth).

Bungers – They just started doing fish tacos (not fried!) and they are SO good and very affordable. I highly recommend them. Bungers also has a good salad and the pastas/meats and whatnot are decent.

Superfoods – This is actually a brand new health food store in town that also serves lunch from 11am – 3pm, and is our new favorite place to eat. It’s very affordable and everything we’ve had so far has been delicious.

Rincon by the Seas – They have a really good chicken breast plate, a decent salad and a delicious hummus appetizer, although I havn’t tried anything else there yet.

So there you have my picks for the best places to eat in Rincon, PR. Please let us know where your favorite Rincon restaurant (or pinchos stand!) is, as we’re always looking to try new/good food!