Best bets for dining in San Juan, PR

updated 12:51 p.m. ET Jan. 8, 2007

Best Classic Creole Cooking
In his new location in Old Town's Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, Chef Wilo Benet at Pikayo, Av. José de Diego 299 (tel. 787/721-6194), holds forth. He's a master specialist in the criolla cooking of the colonial age, emphasizing the Spanish, Indian, and African elements in his unusual recipes.

Best Wine List
The luxurious Vineyard Room in the dazzling Ritz-Carlton, 6961 State Road #187, Isla Verde (tel. 787/253-1700), serves a refined California/Mediterranean cuisine, but we'd go there just for the wine list. The countries best represented on the wine carte are France, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, and even South Africa. The California selection will make you think you're back in the Napa Valley. There is also a good selection of the increasingly fashionable wines from Chile.

Best Newcomer of the Year
The savory cookery of Brazil is today served at Bossa Nova, 358 Calle Fortaleza (tel. 787/722-0093). Its house specialty is reason enough to dine here: a Brazilian-style Rodizio, consisting of five different grilled meats.

Best French Cuisine
Against a Moorish and Andalusian background, Trois Cent Onze, 311 Calle Fortaleza (tel. 787/725-7959), serves a classic French cuisine with many innovative overtones. Great attention is paid to color, flavor, and texture of each dish.

Best for a Romantic Dinner
Out in Miramar, Augusto's Cuisine, in the Hotel Excelsior, Av. Ponce de León 801 (tel. 787/725-7700), lies on the 15th floor of this hotel, offering a stunning and panoramic view of San Juan at night. Not only that, it serves one of the best French and international cuisines in the Caribbean, backed up by an extensive wine list.

Best Nuevo Latino Cuisine
Parrot Club, Calle Fortaleza 363 (tel. 787/725-7370), wows tastebuds with its modern interpretation of Puerto Rican specialties. Even San Juan's mayor and the governor have made it their favorite. Husband-and-wife team Emilio Figueroa and Gigi Zafero borrow from a repertoire of Puerto Rican and Spanish recipes, and they also use Taíno and African influences in their cuisine. Their ceviche is the best in town, and their Créole-style flank steak is worth the trek from Condado Beach.

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Best Burgers
Patrons freely admit that El Patio de Sam, Calle San Sebastián 102 (tel. 787/723-1149), is not always on target with its main dishes. But they agree on one thing: The hamburgers are the juiciest and most delectable in San Juan. The Old Town atmosphere is also intriguing -- you almost expect to encounter Bogey and Bacall.

Best Asopao
Soul food to Puerto Ricans, asopao is the regional gumbo, made in as many different ways as there are chefs on the island. Some versions are too thick to be called soup, such as the seafood variety at La Bombonera, Calle San Francisco 259 (tel. 787/722-0658), in San Juan's Old Town, which is more like a stew. One popular version of asopao includes pigeon peas, although the one with chicken is better known.

Best Spanish Cuisine
You'd have to go all the way to Madrid to find Spanish food as well prepared as it is at Ramiro's, Av. Magdalena 1106 (tel. 787/721-9049). The chefs take full advantage of fresh island produce to create an innovative cuisine. In fact, the style is New Creole, although its roots are firmly planted in Spain. Their fresh fish and chargrilled meats are succulent, and any dessert with the strawberry-and-guava sauce is a sure palate pleaser.

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