San Juan Hilton Hotel | Encountering Caribbean Flavors

📍Rustica y Lola's 📷The biggest surprise of staying at the Caribe Hilton was discovering this restaurant tucked away in the hotel's palm grove. 🍃 The server, Luis, clearly a seasoned employee, noticed our hesitation with the menu and immediately pulled out a hand-drawn card to explain the origins of each dish. 🥙The mofongo croutons in the "Lola's Salad" were the soul of the dish—golden, crispy fried plantain cubes infused with garlic, creating a wonderful contrast with the soft goat cheese. We ordered the steak medium-rare, and when cut open, the juices soaked into the underlying maspetado rice, a hearty tropical rice cooked with black beans and coconut milk. 💫The coconut flan dessert completely redefined our expectations—it used fresh coconut meat instead of traditional pudding, topped with toasted coconut chips. Each spoonful revealed three distinct layers of texture. 🥳Seeing our enjoyment, Luis treated us to a special coffee liqueur, which he said was made with local coffee beans and rum. #SanJuanHilton #CaribbeanCuisine #HotelRestaurant