The Ceiba — Restaurant in Coamo

Great Drinks, OK food, Dirty. The drinks were really great. I had a Mojito, my wife had a pina colada, awesome. Check out thier fresh sqeesed orange juice machine, very nice. I had some rice plate mixed with meat plate, got a big headache later from the MSG. Its because almost everybody in Puerto Rico cooks with Goya Sazon or "el cubito" bullion cube. They dont seem to remember how to make real food taste good without the modern prosseced seasonings. My wife ordered Mofongo with cubed pork. Traditional enough, ok, considering the pork is imported from the mainland, and even the plantains are often imported from south america. And then cooked in GMO vegetable oil. What can you expect nowadays though. The Mofongo was very dry without any sause to acompany it. So we asked the waitress to bring us something so it could be tolerated . She sugested a butter- garlic sause. Tasy enough, however I asked what it was made of, she said mantequilla (butter) I said: butter from the cow, or butter from "elsewhere"? She said elsewhere. In other words, cheap margerine. Add to that, where you sitt beggars can come right up to your table from ouside and begg for money. They seem to be a part of life here in Puerto Pobre just like the flea infested mangy overpopulation of street dogs. Hasent anyone considered animal control here in PR or would that cost too much? OK so lets just repel the tourism industry with our 3rd world conditions. Or may e basically the problem is, who cares! Back to the restauraunt, where you sit is right beside the lovely busy street where you can whitness the every-man-for-himself-and-to -hell-with-the-rest driving skills of everyday Puerto Rico life. Amazingly no one crashes, amazingly you made it to where you are without crashing. Probably because you've learned also the anything goes driving style. Parking is horrendous. The restroom was a little trashy dirty place, with a trashcan near the toilet. What is that for? Do you throw Your toilet paper in there after pooping or what? Suprisingly there was soap but no paper towells, so you go back to the table with wet hands. I have to wonder since there is no paper towels provided in the restroom, how big of a priority is it for the cooks to really wash thier hands after they use the toilet and throw the paper in the trash can? the reality is that on the surface, things look good, but when you look below that, this place, as with the rest of the island, most people could care less about cleanliness, about orderliness, about you the tourist, or even about the island they are suposedly...

I had eaten at La Ceiba several years ago and remembered the food was very good. Fast forward to December 2024, we ordered three takeaway meals. Two mofongos and one chicken plate with mushroom sauce and side of amarillos. The chicken dish with mushroom sauce looked like the chicken had been boiled instead of grilled and the mushroom sauce was basically non existent. The side of amarillos were edible, but it’s not hard to mess those up. It appeared as though the cook tossed in a few soggy green peppers for a bit of color. The mofongos were dry, and the sauces looked like they threw leftover shrimp and chicken from the day prior. Overall, the food was absolutely disgusting and unflavored. The presentation of the plates was just as unpleasant to the eye as it was to the palate. I don’t enjoy leaving negative reviews, but I’m giving an honest review of La Ceiba in Coamo. Perhaps the head chef was sick and sent his/her 5 year old son to cook instead? For whatever it’s worth, if you’re hungry and don’t want to throw your $$$ in the safacon (bin), just drive towards Santa Isabel and order a Big Mac combo meal at McDonald’s. Sorry La Ceiba, but I will never be spending my $$$ in your...

Our first stop during the 2024 Puerto Rico trip. Our family is from Coamo, so this one is close to home. Being a Monday evening there were just a handful of patrons and we were seated promptly. Service was good although there was a little hiccup with one of the ordered plates. My wife ordered a whole fish but instead received two filets. Not a big deal in her book so we moved on. We ordered 5 plates: 1.Bifongo y Carne Frita, 2.Filete de Chillo relleno de pulpo y amarillos, 3.Filete de Mero y amarillos, 4.Taella, and 5.Carne Frita y amarillos. Portions were adequate, and the flavor was great. A bucket of bottled Medalla beer washed all down. Prices were adequate too. La Ceiba is on the main through fare into town so it's an easy drive from most anywhere. We will have no reservations coming back for multiple visits...