Aqva Restaurante Iguazú — Restaurant in Puerto Iguazú

Beautiful and busy restaurant until closing. Their menu is quite expensive but the quality of the food and the attention of the servers are second to none. Our server spoke very good English and the menu had English and Portuguese translations. As a note, people were arriving to the restaurant as late as 10:30 though they say they close at 11. Also, they have free WiFi.

We ordered the beef tenderloin dish, the ribeye with gnocchi, and the assortment of mini desserts. All dishes were amazing. The beef tenderloin was super tender and came with this white sauce that was nicely cheesy (but not in a weird way). The ribeye was also very tender and came with a savory peppercorn sauce. The sauce was complex and had umami. The gnocchi on the other hand was good but should not be named gnocchi. It was more like a corn muffin or salty polenta. Nonetheless, it was moist and soaked up the peppercorn sauce well.

Don’t get me started on the mini dessert assortment. All four desserts (passion fruit mousse, white chocolate ganache on brownie, flan, and a mate crème brûlée) on the plate were amazing. The passion fruit mousse was bright and sour but not overly so. The mousse was soft and melted in your mouth. The ganache on brownie was sweet and had a slight crunch. The flan came with dulce de leche and was firm and just sweet enough. Lastly, and my personal favorite, the mate crème brûlée really had no mate flavor but there was a hint of bitterness to the dish and it wasn’t overly sweet.

Come here if you come visit Iguazú! I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll enjoy to eat on the menu (their menu is quite extensive but still...

4.5/5 stars

Came here for dinner (we made a reservation in advance). The menu had a great variety of local specialties. They started us off with bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar - my fave was the breadstick. We ordered 2 appetizers: the antipasti of local specialties and the melted cheese. The antipasti of local specialties included cassava, avocado, surubí croquette, reviro, chipa guazu, and sopa paraguaya. This dish was so unique!! My fave was one of the corn pies (it was cheesy) and the croquette. This dish is quite heavy on the starch, so it is very filling. The melted cheese was spectacular. It was piping hot and savory, and I loved the hint of tomato taste. For my entree, I got the tropical surubí. The fish was mostly flaky and tender, and had some nice crispy parts. A few bites were too salty, but it was overall very enjoyable. My bf got the gnocchi with the shrimp sauce. It was solid. For dessert, I got the chocolate specialty dessert, which consisted of white chocolate mousse over a brownie. I didn’t particularly enjoy it. The mousse didn’t have the texture of mousse - it was too gelatin-like. The brownie also wasn’t as fudgy or chocolatey as I like. My bf got the passion fruit mousse, and he loved it. To end the evening, they gave us some limoncello. Overall, I really enjoyed the meal because of the uniqueness of the local dishes. Service was great. Price was also reasonable for the...

A complete triumph! One of the best meals I have had in years in any country. Wow… Oh… Wow! The pescado! So fresh!

I don’t even know where to start. I guess I’ll start with the entrée. The fish. First, they had such a selection of local fish. They had pacu. They had surubi. They had dorado. It was difficult to decide. I had the Dorado. It was topped with mussels and a cream sauce. The potatoes were topped with an olive Crema. They translated this as ‘cream cheese’, but it was so much more! The fish could’ve easily stood on its own, with a little salt and pepper. But the mussels and the cream sauce elevated it to a whole new level. The appetizer was a smoked salmon, and it was simply prepared with some mustard. This allowed the salmon to breathe and shine. The accompanying tomatoes were beautiful and almost seemed like they were candied. My husband had a Caesar salad, and he said it was very good, but I think he regrets not ordering the fish, after seeing what a beautiful plate I had!

The caprihinas were not too full of ice. Sometimes they are so packed with ice and lime, that it devalues the flavor. These were beautifully made.

The server was patient with my Spanish. The atmosphere was at once approachable and warm. Lots of local families were there along with a few of us scattered touristas. A beautiful meal from...