PV Restaurants

From our scouting trip:

• La Palapa: (Puerto Vallarta Fine Dining Restaurant - La Palapa, in the Zona Romática). This restaurant is right on the beach. You can either sit in the covered dining "room" or on the sand. Service was excellent food was TOO DIE FOR. We had the following dishes:
  • Ahi Yellowfin Tuna Tartar with wasabi soy served in a martini glass topped with huichol sauce foam, caviar and chives
  • La Palapa Tortilla Soup - the house favorite!
  • Chiliean Seabass
  • Rack of lamb (neither of entrees are on their website.
  • And, of course, Café Mexicano. This was fun and I would say you have them prepare it on the beach (instead of at the bar). It's really entertaining and they "pour" fire, etc.
  My gripes:
  • I e-mailed through their website beforehand to make a reservation and let them know that we would like to talk about our cena de ensayo. I never heard anything back from them.
  • When we arrived, let the host know that we would like to chat with someone about the RD. They said someone would come to the table. Well, they waited until the VERY end, as in after we paid the bill to finally come over. They said that they were extremely busy, but they could have at least stopped by to ask how the meal was going or say that they would be by later. And not that I was expecting some sort of perks (because a lot of people get married in PV), but some acknowledgment would have been nice!
  All in all, it was a bit on the expensive side (I think we ended up spending almost $200 between the two of us with tip), but well worth the trip. I would definitely check it out if you could. I heard from the Wedding Planner that El Dorado, which is next door, is also really good and more reasonably priced for a RD. We're probably going to have ours (around 50 people) at El Dorado.

• Boca Bento (Welcome to Restaurant Bocabento in Puerto Vallarta, Zona Romántca): VERY tasty and nice setting. Asian influenced food, which actually works pretty well. Not hokey or too "asian-fusiony" (like PF Chang's or Ruby Foo's in the States can be at times). The food was delicious and again, service impeccable. (This is definitely a trend for restaurant in PV, in general). We had:
  • Pineapple Mahi-Mahi Ceviche / Pineapple in Citrus Juices/ Fresh Ginger / Tortilla Chips
  • Adobo Shrimp / Grilled Pineapple (YUM!) / Sticky Rice / Chimichurri Sauce
  • Chipotle-Honey Glazed Ribs / Peruvian Potato Salad
  • Pomegranate Martini (POTENT!)
  They were the only ones who responded to my online reservation making (the others were La Palapa and Café de Artistes). We didn't end up meeting with anyone because we decided at that point that we really liked the location of La Palapa. Boca Bento just sits in the middle of the street, although the restaurant itself (décor, etc.) is very nice. Prices were very reasonable, entrees between 13 and 20 bucks.

• Pipi's: (PIPIS Restaurant Bar Puerto Vallarta, above the Malecón in Centro) I know, I can't say it without giggling either. Very friendly service. Guacamole made at your table, "on the house" (on the entertaining side was the watching the people who awkwardly realized that they should tip the server a few pesos). REALLY good fajitas. We had:
  • Fish Fajitas (veggies included peppers, mushrooms and onions, rice and beans, guac/sour cream/salsa)
  • 2 Enchilada, 2 Tacos combo (Chicken enchiladas, crispy fish tacos, plus the fixings)
  • Aztec Soup (otherwise known as tortilla soup)
  • Flan, and just the way I like it. Nice and firm and extra-carmelized on the top.
  • One GIANT mango margarita for me (not easily finished when you've just eaten dinner...be prepared to spend more time here. I was trying to finish up quickly so we could walk around, but paid for it by feeling a bit bloated from the drink!)
  We went for lunch, and it was well priced, but we still ended up spending $60.

• Barcelona Tapas: (Welcome to BarcelonaTapas.net, up on a hill in Centro). Beautiful view of downtown Vallarta and the Bay of Banderas. It's a mini-hike up the hill. We went up during the day to make reservations and they sent us off with a couple bottles of water. The must encounter winded toursits pretty often! The restaurant is the top two floors of an apartment building (kids were playing in the pool on the first floor!). The kitchen is on the top floor. Again, great and personable service. We had the following:
  • A free sliver of tortilla española (potato, onion omellete)
  • Gambas al ajillo: shrimp cooked in garlicky olive oil (a tapas MUST)
  • Patatas Bravas: Potatoes in garlicky, spicy sauce
  • Spinach: cooked with pine nuts, raisins and pears
  • Lamp Chop: this was the special and a "larger" tapa. Comes with more potatoes and grilled eggplant
  • Tuna carpaccio (SO GOOD)
  • Half a carafe of sangria (perfect for 2, not too much that you can't drive home!)
  • Flan (has an orangey-tang to it. We got it without the raspberry sauce)
  I loved every dish we tried, but I'm a tapa fanatic! This would be our 2nd choice for the RD for the view. Even though the food isn't "local," it is so good that it doesn't matter. Note, though, that they only take Amex or cash (or traveler's cheques). They have coupons on their website if you pay in cash. They also brought us a tequila and cream apertif at the end of the meal.

Other places

• No name place across from Andale's (Zona Romática): I don't know what it's called, but it's across the street and to the right as you exit Andale's. An American condo owner we met flying in suggested it. We got an order of nachos and flautas and two cokes for around $13. Definitely an anti-hangover place.
• Didn't have any street food except for Elote: Corn with Cream, Chiles and Cheese. Yum! They sell them on the Malecón for about 15 pesos).
• Las Palomas (Puerto Vallarta Restaurant Bar - Las Palomas, Malecón), just went here for coffee, but it's a good place for people watching.

Other we wanted to try, but couldn't fit in anymore eating!:

• Café de Artistes
• Fajita Repulic
• Vista Grille (though I heard this was waaay expensive)
• Trio
• River Café (looked really cute, on an "island" and under the bridget between centro and Zona Romantica.

Best View: Barcelona Tapas

Best food (starting at the best): La Palapa, Barcelona Tapas, Boca Bento, Pipi's, no-name place, hotel food

Most to least expensive: La Palapa, hotel food, Barcelona Tapa, Boca Bento, Pipi's, no-name place

First choice for RD: El Dorado, 2nd choice: Barcelona Tapas.

I have pictures of the restaurants, too, so hold tight!

GREAT info (again!) - thanks for sharing

also, just surfed onto Chowhound and found some other info about PV restaurants: CHOW.com - Recipes, cooking tips, resources, and stories for people who love food

Thank you sooo much for the info! I've been waiting for a good review of Barcelona Tapas, thinking of hosting our welcome dinner/reception there. Someone also recommended Pipi's to me too though, decisions, decisions!!

I got these pictures and comments from a girl on the PV Brides Yahoo group.

Yahoo! Photos - Puerto Vallarta - Boca Bento

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Boca Bento

Just an update -- Stewart & Monika, the owners of Boca Bento, are also available to do catering (for your wedding reception, welcome dinner, etc). We are having our rehearsal dinner at Boca Bento, and we have just decided to also have them cater our reception.

The food at Boca Bento is great -- creative asian-latin fusion that is tasty and not gimmicky -- like another girl said earlier tonight. But in addition to the food on their menu, they can create pretty much anything you want -- French, American, European, Japanese, etc. They have many years of experience in the US in catering and running restaurants, as well as catering weddings, and one of their last weddings in the US was Christy Turlington's wedding.

Anyway, Stewart sent me a proposal with tons of options a week or so ago, and I was very happy with the wide selection and the prices as well. I am very confident that they'll do a great job and we'll have exquisite food. Just in case any of you are looking into caterers!

Thank you AdeyBaby for your great review. You mentioned your choices for RD but I can't figure out what RD stands for! I must have missed it somewhere. I was considering Barcelona Tapas for my welcome dinner and I believe Starchild had hers there. How did you like it Starchild Approx. how much per person and how many people did you invite

Yep, I just wrote a separate Barcelona Tapas review....hope it's helpful.

Roberto & I are looking for a place to host our welcome cocktail party in PV. We'd like to find a cute place where we can provide the hors d'oeuvres and have our guests buy their own drinks. Anybody got ideas?

Sarah