Saturday, November 29, 2014

Tapas & Flamenco Dancing in Old San Juan

After numerous unanswered emails and phone calls, I was finally able to get a hold of someone at Triana Tapas & Flamenco Restaurant.  I made a reservation for 9 for Saturday night and we were confirmed! I was happy and relieved.

The entourage cabbed it into Old San Juan for a dinner filled with tapas and flamenco dancing.

Of course it was too good to be true, once we arrived at the restaurant, they couldn't find our reservation and the restaurant was full to capacity.  The manager assured me that I must have made reservations at a different restaurant but I brought out my smartphone and showed him the phone # and details confirmed, "show starts at 8:30 PM and lasts approximately 1.5 hrs."  He quickly changed his tune and said they would try to get a table for our group.

The restaurant decor is pretty cool.  There were string lights and lanterns hanging in the lobby and a corner with flamenco costumes displayed.





While we waited, we had $ 4.00 Bacardi flavored mixed drinks and Patron tequilla shots at $9.00 each.




Our table was ready and we were seated!  The restaurant quickly filled up as the dancers prepared for their performance.


We started off with a pitcher of sangria and another round of drinks.  We quickly learned that our waiter, Marcel, didn't like that we kept ordering shots from the bar.




The menu was overwhelming and we wanted to try everything.  I had to take notes on my phone just so we could keep track.  I don't remember all the names of the dishes but we ended up with a fried potato dish, fried calamari, appetizer sampler with a few of everything, cured meat and cheese platter, octopus salad, 2 mofongito dishes, spaghetti and shrimp, an eggplant dish with crab and an eggplant dish with manchego cheese, a seafood paella and a squid ink paella.  Oh boy, my mother is watering reliving all these dishes.

Triana Sampler

Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese

Fried Calamari 

Potatoes
Octopus Salad

Seafood Paella

Spaghetti and Shrimp

Squid Ink Paella

Mofongitos with Pork
Eggplant with Crab

Eggplant with Manchego Cheese


Quickly after our meal was served, the performers came on stage.  There were a few ladies and a male dancer.




The meal and dancers were very good.  Pricing was a bit on the higher side.  With tax and tip, the total came to about $450.00 for 9 people.  That included 2 paellas, a bunch of tapas, sangria and a round of shots.


  1. Spanish Restaurant
  2. Address: 251 Calle Recinto Sur, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico