La Mallorquina

Came here on a whim for our last dinner in PR. The inside was very comfortable and beautiful, especially the enormous antique mirrors. The sangria and apperltizers were fantastic! Had the special (named after the restaurant) which was great and a generous portion as well. The beef was not as well done. Service was good, and Maria, the owner was great. Good spot for larger groups or couples.

The bacalaitos appetizer was very good. Not enough plantains for mofongo so the chef made trifongo (plantain, yucca and sweet plantains). So good! Great with Carne fria or churrasco. Service was good and responsive.

Beautiful place but… After 1 hr wait the waitress announced that the sangria was coming! Then she announced two more minutes for the food! The food was just average. …an inexperienced waitress with a bad attitude ruined the experience. I hope they offer better training to new employees. Another employee tried to fix the situation which we appreciated. Probably worth a 2^nd try but DO NOT go in-​between lunch/​dinner service… By the way I am Puertorrican …

The decent food and a historic interior are outweighed by a very sloooow service.
Waiters are apathetic here. They won’t come around to refill your water cups. I had to twice ask for hot sauce.
My skirt steak was well seasoned and juicy, and the mamposteao (rice and beans cooked together) was standard but a bit dry. At 22 dollars a bit expensive, but still a good meal.
But between inattentive servers and a long wait time for the food, La Mallorquina isn’t worth a visit.

Don’t be fooled by the attractive view firm the street or nice whit tablecloths, or the price point in the menu, which screams ‘fine dining’
Ingredients are very poor and the skill in the kitchen is a joke. Not a place you want to find yourself for dinner. The filet mignon was so tough I am half convinced it was a cube if sirloin, and the paella was rice and gravy.
Boo. Upside is it’s mostly empty because the locals already know. Hopefully I can save someone else the trouble.

I’m trying to understand the negative reviews on this place? From the service to the food and atmosphere the place is immaculate, on point and delicious! The only thing I don’t understand is why it was so empty? I had the seafood monfongo and the sweet plantains which were cooked perfectly. The waiter suggested the merlot wine and it complimented the flavors perfectly.
If you’re in San Juan for the evening, visit and bring your appetite, you will not be disappointed!

Went here MANY times in the 80’s — recently visited San Juan and found it was still in business… nothing has changed but the menu — -much more upscale now. Food and service were very good. I asked for something off the menu and they were happy to comply — -and it was great. Brought back wonderful memories, and comforting to know the place is still serving good food.

I do NOT recommend this place, at all! The service was very slow and the food was mediocre. We asked the server to split the bill before we ordered, he said yes… Not a problem. The food took over 40 min to come out … And given they were just appetizers ! Then he brought out the bill, for all 6 of us, and we asked about separating it… And he had an attitude about it. Beautiful restaurant, but do not waste your time coming here. No one, ever properly greeted us here.

05/​31/​2015-​was recommended by a friend, supposedly the oldest restaurant in town. Atmosphere was decent, however food and service subpar. My gf ordered the paella which tasted like something that came out of an uncle bens rice mix, I had the grouper with stuff crab, which was an uncoooked fillet with melted cheese on top. Our server didnt care to help with the specials, plus they charged me twice for ham croquettes which tasted like something you buy in publix. 0.5÷5 for me. Total let down. Raices which we ate at the next day, totally better

My wife and walked by the place and decided to come in. It was midday. We wanted a lemon drop. The bar tender couldn’t understand what we were asking for.
He made us the best Lemon Martini with Titos vodka ever. It had fresh squeezed lemons in it. It was awesome. The bar tender was a middle aged man wit slick back hair. I can’t wait to come back to get more.
We had five drinks in a half hour and left. They were refreshing on a hot day. This guy may have something here.

Terrible experience. Waited for over 40 minutes to get tapas just to receive the news that the cook personnel left the kitchen in protest. They were ready to serve us a ceviche that was left outside for over 15 minutes before to be served. Needless to say we left the restaurant upset and hungry. Only thing we got to drink was a sangria full of ice. Again, terrible.

I came here on the recommendation of a friend who visited Puerto Rico a lot and this is her favorite place. A group of 4 of us went in on a Wednesday night, quite hungry. We were seated immediately and the antique décor and recently renovated interior is beautiful. Our server was fantastic and chatted with us quite a bit — they were all very attentive. I had the shrimp and rice and was very pleased! Definitely a nice place to enjoy an authentic meal.

La Mallorquina: very nice environment and a great place to bring your grandparents; great service (Sebastián was awesome). So I ordered filet mignon with vegetables, the meat was perfect! The vegetables needed a little love, but they were ok, they could have added a bit of salt or something to make them more interesting (or maybe sauté or grilled them). The prawns (langostinos) were PERFECT AND DELICIOUS!!! Loved them! The ‘pulpo a la gallega’ was good too. For dessert we ordered ‘tres leches’, it was not the best as it was a little dry for a ‘tres leches’…but I enjoyed the «guayaba» sauce around it. I think this is the type of place were you bring your family or grandparents after a graduation or maybe a date with a retro vibe… It’s a beautiful place.

Great place. Casual elegance. Relaxed but fine dinning. Reasonable for this kind of establishment in San Juan.
We orderd a nice cava, better than average, for $ 40. (20 at Costco). they had some for less. Had a couple of appetizers and ordered salads. For the mains we chose Bacalao, Asopao, Paella Marinera, and Paella de carnes. The last dish was a bit greasy, everything else very good. Their side salad is amazing and beautifully presented. Service low key and efficient. we ordered coffees bit were too full for dessert (I would have wanted the Crema Catalana). The bill for 4 was well under $ 200. and we had a great time.

Reopened and very nicely done. I really appreciate the effort that went into renovation and preservation of history. Had the vegetarian mofongo which was a nice option to have — they should print it on the menu. It is a bit expensive for what you get. Good place for a fancy night out.

Buen ambiente. Lleno total y la barra espectacular. Croquetas de Bacalao, excelente y el Albariño estaba bien frio!!! Chuletitas de cordero… ricas. Deben mejorar y organizar el servicio y los tostones.

Fist dinner in old town. Very formal appearance. Appeared to have only one server. Expected more but service was poor. Food quality was poor. Salmon was not cooked in center but great seasoning. Don’t know if I expected to much

Not only we had an amazing experience, the service, the food, the ambiance, the history, etc… We were able to meet the new owner, who took upon herself to take this place and bring it back to its original splendor.
We were honored to meet her on our visit and all I can say to her was great job. «As a business woman I’m super proud of you and wish you amazing success». We need to support those who represents us puertorricans with pride and honor. Lets support our sister and help her achieve this dream.
Like I said before, a must visit in old San Juan!!! I’m coming back for more!

I always meant to write a review for this place, but couldn’t remeber the name. So, finally I found it.
So, it was horrible!!!
How dare they claim that they are the «oldest gastronomical establishment in the New World» and charge so much for what they serve!
I had the worst lobster in my life there!
The service was very slow and the wait staff made us feel unwelcome :(
Stay away! Old San Juan has so many nice restaurants, and this one isn’t one!

I really hope this review saves a few Unilocalers from throwing away their money!
Man do I hate giving 1 star reviews, however…
Literally one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. The fact that it’s located in The Old San Juan neighborhood of San Juan, PR should have been a big red flag that it has the propensity to be a tourist trap… And that is exactly what La Mallorquina is. It’s a tourist trap masquerading as a quaint, authentic Puerto Rican restaurant.
I own a service business, and brought some of my staff members who won a service production contest to Puerto Rico for a much needed getaway to the carribean. A client of our business had raved about this place, so we decided to dine here for our big night out for dinner; what a mistake. So sad. We stayed at a resort that is about 40 minutes east of San Juan, and we made a special trip into the city to dine here for a special dinner.
The positives were the service was ok, not great, just ok.
The décor is beautiful, carribean-​like and quaint.
The food was terrible!
The appetizers were served cold, even when they were suppossed to be hot.
One of our gals ordered the house salad, and it was nothing more than a small plate of some warm, wilted iceberg lettuce with two slices to unripe tomatoes on top. Really, that’s it for $ 7.50.
My son’s shrimp dish consisted of 5 tiny shrimp floating in a pool of garlic oil. This was his entrée for a modest $ 26.00.
My wife’s gazpacho appetizer was a tiny cup of almost non-​existent chopped vegetables in a vinegary liquid. Cha-​ching for $ 8.00.
My pork chops were served cold and were so salty they were almost inedible. Reeling us in for another $ 23.00.
The rice served with the meals was cold and hard, really, no kidding.
Another gal ordered the «Filet Mignon Mallorquina», and believe it or not, they figured out a way to serve an over-​cooked, fatty filet mignon. No shit. Oh yeah, a cool $ 29.00 for this fatty steak.
Now I’m from Boston, and I’m used to high prices for dining out, but this place literally gives you such bad food and charges such high prices that they have created a type of imbalance in the universe that must be corrected somehow… a paradox or sorts.
This review contains no exaggerations, and me, my wife, our son and our staff members were so completely disappointed that it is very hard to put into words.
All I can say, again, is that this «restaurant» is located in the Old San Juan section of San Juan, Puerto Rico. This neighborhood is right where the cruise ships dump off 5000 tourists per week into San Juan at the docks, and it is obvious that this restaurant’s owners could care less about serving quality food, because they know all too well that 95% of the customers they serve will never even remember the name of the restaurant where they ate the worst meal they ever had.
Ok, so the dinner for five + 2 pitchers of sangria cost us over $ 250.00 with tip, and it really did just plain suck. We were all still hungry when we left, either because of the tiny, low quality portions, or simply because the food was sooo bad it was not eaten.
If nothing else resonates from this review for you, remember these 6 important words…
LA MALLORQUINA IS A TOURIST TRAP!
Save your money and stay the hell away from La Mallorquina!

Imagine this: asopao, a thick stew filled with shrimp, mussels, chopped squid, pieces of fish, peas and a prawn.
The soup was so utterly good. M. ordered the mangrove crab, a dish with shredded crab in a chili pepper sauce. He ate all of his dish and then finished mine after I became full.
M. had a mojito. I tasted it and it was wonderfully sweet.
Founded in 1848, the restaurant boasts it’s the oldest gastronomical establishment known in the New World. The prices are steep i.e. one mojito costs $ 10. But the food and the drinks are worth the price.