Zest

I can’t believe how many good reviews there are. The food is decent, but way way over priced. I totally do not mind spending $ 12 for a delicious watermelon salad, but this was tiny –literally 5 small balls of watermelon, and wasn’t so great. The rest follows for everything else we ate. Tiny portions, not fabulous, way overpriced. We stayed at this hotel and ate here once. The rest of the week we went to el San Juan or out on the town.

Well all I can say is WOW again this year. Zest has one of THE most creative menus I have ever seen ANYWHERE. Kudos to the chef once again!

From the time you enter the lobby of the hotel till you walk into the restaurant what an experience and the food was a gastronomic delight to our palette. The chef has trained his wait staff well in describing each dish to compliment and showcase his own talent. Edgardo our waiter was exceptional and attentive to all our inquiries and service. Osso buck empanadas, yucca gnocchis, roasted calabaza and miso sea bass inventive culinary experience well worth the trip to this restaurant. Beautiful to look at too!!!

Once again Zest wows! From the tuna and octopus to the clams and the olive oil poached halibut and then the perfectly cooked and presented sea bass to die for. Chef Correa and his team have a deft hand with seasoning which seems to be a lost art. It is great food at great value if you are a foodie!

Excellent service and food. Met the Chef and was amazed how creative he is. The menu changes every 4 months.

Had a dinner with my significant other and we found the popcorn soup to be one of the most amazing things we had ever tasted! Totally worth it. The place is not very big and the ambience is very nice, food is great and portions are enough in size to get you satisfied. Popcorn soup is a must!!!

We stayed at the Water and Beach Club for our trip to Isla Verde, so naturally we dined here one night. The Popcorn Soup was every bit worthy of the hype — quite nicely done as a gastronomical invention. We also had the miso glazed sea bass — never tasted bass with encrusted sweet miso before, and it was very interesting. After all, you can’t miss out on the fish on the menus when you’re in PR. Partner had the steak, which to him was also good.
Ambiance in the place salutes the theme of the hotel (or PR in general?) — we felt like we were dining in an aquatic secret garden. Definitely recommend Zest to food-​venturers traveling this side of the island.

Pretty good overall. Service was great, very fast, and friendly. Drinks were tasty and made fresh.
Popcorn soup is good but a bit too rich for me. I would definitely recommend trying it though.
I got the gnocchi also. It was also a bit too rich for me but a solid choice if you want a vegetarian option like me.
Overall this was a pretty solid choice for a nice dinner. I would go back!

We picked this place to celebrate Christmas Day. When I made the reservation, I was informed that group more than five can only go with the prex-​fixe menu; however it turned out not necessarily! So we were able to try many more different dishes from each section.
We ordered as many as we could possibly finish — lamb dumpling, tuna tartare, scallop sashimi, clams and watermelon salad. My favorite would be the lamb dumpling, very flavorful; however the clam did have sand inside… a bit disappointed there. For main course, everyone seemed to like the sea bass a lot. If you still have space, I would recommend the donut and the pistachio fransicer — presentation was equally good as the taste.
We all loved this place.

Our first night in San Juan, we were looking for a dinner place and happened upon Zest via Unilocal.Made a reservation just before closing time, but got delayed getting there. Despite the late hour, staff was very accommodating and seated us immediately. The head chef himself greeted us at the entrance and wished us a good meal. Enthused by Unilocal reviews, we tried the popcorn soup. Wow, just wowwwww! The different layers of flavor and the melding of hot and cold just was fantastic! The other entrees we tried like the paella and the snapper were good too. Finally, for someone who gets very full just eating an entrée, I couldn’t resist polishing off dessert too which was a nice coconut cream and pinacolada affair. All in all, a delish experience!

No clue how this place has this many good reviews. They’re not very recent that’s for sure. It’s mediocre at best, nicely decorated interior though… We ordered the popcorn soup which had been split in two for the both of us. Truffle butter with some Heavy cream and kettle corn. Very rich tasting and at first weird. More of a Novelty item…
Lamb osso bucco empanadas were amazing. The white sauce that came with them was very overpowered by lime… I wanted the miso Chilean sea bass so bad! It looked decent but now I realize that those food items actually didn’t make sense at all together and it was weird. Someone clearly got ambitious. And the fish was overly fishy, we tossed it back. The waitress was really nice about it which was good bc we felt bad. I really hate sending food back and I usually never do, so you can imagine how fishy it must have been…
Tenderloin was ok. I’ve had better quality meat, that is for sure … Ordered the pumpkin donuts for dessert. I love pumpkin but the inside of these donuts tasted like pumpkin flavored raw dough… Honestly, there was pretty much something off on every plate .
I came here a few years ago and remembered getting squid ink risotto and hated it. Next time I’ll skip this place.
Food is just okay. Place is nice!.. Waitstaff so nice and very attentive.
$ 95 for everything we ordered +2 glasses of wine.

Four of us came here for dinner in late October just before our cruise.
We were seated promptly in a large dining room with great art on the walls.
Two of us tried a mufongo and liked it pretty well. I enjoyed my dinner as well.
We were pleased when we left until we went to Old San Juan the next day and had mufongo at a rooftop restaurant. They were far better than the mufongos at Zest.

This evening we had the pleasure of returning to Zest. We have been coming here since 2013, if not earlier. Zest remains the single most creative restaurant we have experience in the San Juan /​Isla Verde area of Puerto Rico. The quality of the food and service remain outstanding.
The rich, creamy and surprising popcorn soup remains a favorite of ours. The numerous vegetarian, fish and meat dishes are beautifully prepared and commonly engage wonderfully original combinations of Caribbean and other influences. The miso glazed sea bass over crispy vegetables with eggplant foam and papaya salsa that I enjoyed this evening is but one fine example. My bride enjoyed ricotta gnocchi with pumpkin sauce and a Parmesan crisp. Both were beautifully prepared and presented. Deserts are equally creative and delicious.
Highly recommended. We look forward to returning.

Excellent food! I got the popcorn soup since so many people in Unilocal had recommended it and it was DELICIOUS!!! I would get that soup daily if I could. I also had the empanadas which were yummy and my husband had the short rib which I would also recommend.
Great food and great service!

We are staying at the Intercontinental and the bartender recommend we go here for dinner, he even called and made us a reservation. Easy quick walk over from our hotel. Food was different and outstanding. We wanted to try something different and boy did we pick the right place. Great wine list and John Paul (I think was his name) was a great waiter that very knowledgeable on everything and was very attentive. After our meal, Chef Raul came out to see how dinner was. How cool is that? Not to mention he noticed my wife’s purse was on the floor so he brought a little table with him for her to put her purse on. Try the popcorn soup, very very different and good.
After the great dinner and awesome experience we went up to Mist, the rooftop bar, for an after dinner drink. That place is amazing too.
Highly recommend checking this place out, you won’t be disappointed, we sure weren’t!

This is a nice restaurant and a bit of a surprise find on the beach of Isla Verde in the WBC Hotel. The popcorn soup gets a lot of reviews and is very unique and tasty. The ahi and octopus are very good dishes too. I particularly liked the pork belly. Overall, a lot of dishes are very tasty.

I came to Puerto Rico for only 4 days for a wedding with my aunt. After attempting to eat the overpriced, awful hotel food… We searched Unilocal for a place within walking distance of our hotel & got hooked on the reviews of this place. We are both «food snobs» & she is extremely well traveled… And we both agreed that this was, hands down, the BEST meal of our lives!!! It was so good we went back for a 2^nd time! The ambiance is a modern lounge feel with cool colors & artwork. They do keep it a little chilly in there so if you are sunburned… Bring a sweater!
We started with the infamous popcorn soup. While extremely rich, it was a total food-​gasm!!! The contrast of the cool, salty whipped cream with the warm soup with truffle butter & chives was to die for!!! Pairs well with a bold red wine. We had this on both of our visits. It’s unlike anything you have ever had, I guarantee it!
We then had the scallop ceviche for our 2^nd course… And again it was a masterful contrast of fresh flavors & textures. Most ceviches have the seafood diced into chunks but this was thinly sliced scallops so they almost melted in your mouth! Our second visit we opted for the tuna tartare with the avocado foam. Super fresh flavors of citrus, cilantro with hints of ginger, sesame & soy… a great follow up to the richness of the popcorn soup.
On our first visit, We shared the gnocchi & the miso-​crusted Chilean Sea bass as our entrees. Both were excellent but the gnocchi was a little on the salty side (our only con of the whole meal!). The sea bass was another genius melody of flavors & textures. The saltiness of the miso crust with the natural butteriness of the perfectly cooked fish, topped with sweet papaya & it was served over some roasted eggplant chunks in another fabulous cream sauce that lent a smoky element to the whole dish. Our second visit we tried the beef short rib. One of the most tender beef dishes I’ve ever had. Paired with amazing brussel sprouts & mashed plantains… Again this chef really knows how to perfect the pairings of flavor & texture to just create an extreme unique experience.
And if this wasn’t enough to send you into a fury of food envy… Wait till you hear about the desserts! We read a lot about the coconut pan a cotta with pineapple sorbet, so we got that, which was excellent… But the highlight of the meal were the pumpkin donuts!!! They look like little donut holes but when you bite into them they are a warm, comforting, creamy pumpkin delight!!! Truly amazing by themselves but then they are serves with an Expresso whipped cream sauce that is delectable! We paired this with the awesome expresso martini made with the awesome Puerto Rican coffee. We repeated this dessert experience (minus the pan a cotta) on our second visit.
For me, this is is MUST for every foodie to try. I pray that if/​when I get to come back to Puerto Rico that this place is still here. Be prepared to spend a bit of money but it is worth EVERY penny!!! We spent $ 160 the first night (which included a bottle of wine) & $ 90 the second night.
Oh yea… Don’t forget to head up to Mist (the rooftop lounge) for a drink at sunset. Amazing views, great music & comfortable environment with friendly staff. While the food is the highlight here… The staff is also very friendly, attentive & make great recommendations!

room service dates: February 12, 2015, February 13, 2015 and February 15, 2015
Hubby and I didn’t actually eat at this restaurant which is part of our hotel but we ordered room service a few times while we were staying at our hotel. The room service comes from zest.
I had mixed feelings about the different things we ordered which is why I’m giving it 3 stars vs. 5 stars.
2÷12÷15 — The first thing we ordered was coffee which was top notch. But they didn’t give us milk so we had to call up again and wait for our milk to come so we could drink the coffee.
2÷13÷15 — We decided to treat ourselves to breakfast in our room before we went to the beach. I had the belgian waffle hubby had cinnamon raisin french toast. We also got coffee and orange juice and made sure to ask them to put milk on the side. The waffle was delicious, perfectly soft and crispy came with some fresh fruit. I put jelly and syrup on it. The coffee was again top notch. The OJ was OJ.
2÷15÷15− We decided to order a small pot of coffee and some desserts. We had the cinnamon donuts and the pineapple pana cotta. The coffee was really strong this time so we think that the person who makes the coffee doesn’t know how to use the correct rations for a small pot vs. large pot. Therefore they get the large pots down but the small pots are too strong. The desserts were honestly okay. They were good but I wouldn’t say they were incredibly delicious. The donuts were better than the pana cotta. The pana cotta had an overwhelmingly strong taste to it hubby called it sturdy.
So I’m half impressed with zest I’ll update my review when we get room service again next time we go to PR or if we actually eat in the restaurant and I feel differently.

I almost cried because we missed ordering the popcorn soup. But the chef if clearly part culinary genius /​part mind reader. He came out and brought us some on the house to try with extra shaved truffle
This place is beyond sensational. Incredible food and the most personalized service imaginable. I wish I could give this more stars!!!
Ps. Order the short rib!!!

While staying at the Intercontinental, my fiancé and I were looking for a great dinner spot nearby. We googled a few places and made reservations for 7:30pm at Zest.
Best decision of our entire trip. By far.
Before sitting down for dinner, we wandered up to the rooftop to marvel at the wraparound city and ocean views. The views alone were worth the visit! Would be gorgeous in the daytime but was just as lovely at night.
We then went down to the restaurant and were greeted by the sweetest waitress named Shalom. She guided us through the entire menu and helped us decide on the lamb empanadas and tuna tartare apps.
The empanadas were little poppable minis, about the size of a half-​dollar. The tuna tartare was served with avocado sorbet — a cold and creamy way to offset the slight natural fishiness of raw tuna.
We then ordered the arroz con pollo (made with couscous) and the Maduro’s plantain gnocchi, which I was excited about all day long. Sadly, they didn’t have the gnocchi I wanted so Shalom HIGHLY recommended the sea bass. It was one of the most expensive items on the menu so I was super hesitant, but sea bass is my absolute favorite and I trusted Shalom’s expert recommendation.
2^nd best decision of the entire trip was ordering that sea bass. The fish was glazed in miso and sat atop diced root veggies with a light eggplant foam. No words could ever capture this dish… heaven is the closest I can think of. The fish was cooked perfectly and each delicate bite had a melt-​in-​your-​mouth texture that no other chef could ever replicate.
The arroz con pollo was delicious, but nothing could ever rival the sea bass. YUM, I drool just thinking about it.
If you’re ever in the area, the sea bass at Zest is other worldly. Great meal!