Ajili Mojili

This is a great place to come for dinner. The food is great and the service is AMAZING.
The last time I came here, I proposed to my wife. The staff was extremely helpful in helping me make the perfect night. Even though I was calling from the US, they were able to reserve me a great table off in a corner for more privacy, set up a rose and candles on the table before we arrived and the best part was helping me arrange for a guitarist to come in that night and come to our table to sing my girlfriend (now wife) a Spanish love song.
The food was great and I highly recommend this place

Good, not great. 2.5 Stars.
I wanted a mojito, they were out of mint. I wanted pumpkin fritters, no pumpkin.
We wound up with a sampler of appetizers that were very very tasty. Great empanadas.
I had «Puerto Rican paella» (all meat, no sea food) that was too salty and also extremely similar to the (rice and pork dish) someone else had, but for some reason, it was $ 8 more.
Server was very nice and helpful, if a little neglectful. The atmosphere was pleasant, but far more casual than I was expecting based on reviews I’d read.
Overall OK, not sure I’d rush back next time I’m in San Juan. I had a better meal across the street at Ropa Vieja.

Loved the arroz con pollo and chuletas. Reminded me of my grandma’s. The atmosphere was very nice too. I wasn’t expecting this place to be as good as it was because it’s in a very touristy area. I left completely satisified.

Came here for dinner and were expecting great things; however, we left fairly disappointed.
I should point out that the service is excellent, but that was the only great part of the dinner.
Here is what we had:
–calamari for appetizer — which were pretty good but nothing spectacular
–I got the Maji Maji — let’s just say I’ve definitely had better Maji Maji before
–my friend ordered steak, which I actually liked more than my fish, but it was fairly dry and tough to eat.
Overall, the food was just okay at best, but EXTREMELY overpriced. The drinks were very watery and the whole atmosphere felt VERY TOURISTY. Also, it was freezing in the restaurant — so if you decide to go even after reading this review, bring a sweater.
Wouldn’t go back. Wouldn’t recommend.

We visited Ajili Mojili on a recent vacation and were extremely disappointed! One of their «specialties» wasn’t even on the menu (some sort of soup) and our waitress was horribly awkward and inconsiderate. When we asked about specials she said they had none but did not offer any item recommendations and when we asked why our appetizer STILL hadn’t arrived an hour after ordering it, she said she had no idea. Apparently it had been waiting on her as it was cold when it arrived… The only redeeming quality of the night was the live musician on the front patio. However, the patio is awkwardly placed facing the parking lot. Way over priced for the level of service and quality of food
you receive!

Very well intentioned, the Ajili Mojili tries to give a nouvelle cuisine spin to Puerto Rican food.
In an island with plenty undelivered promises when it comes to good food, the Ajili Mojili presents itself as a safe alternative to other disappointing choices in the island.
The ambiance is great and first class and the attention is excellent.
Worthy of three stars and not five as rating should be absolute and not relative to the failure of others.

I really loved the décor and ambiance of this place. It’s a big, open restaurant with high ceilings and lots of sunlight. There was a live string quartet out in the front playing lovely music. You actually do feel like you’re in the Caribbean which is a refreshing difference from the generic hotel restaurants.
As for the food, I came here for lunch on a Sunday. The regular menu looked delicious with lots of local flavor, but there was also $ 12 all-​you-​can-​eat buffet. Most of the buffet dishes were merely okay although the rice and turkey were good enough to go back for seconds on. It was a nice way of trying a lot of dishes for an amazing price.

Top notch service in a relaxed but elegant setting. We had a fantastic brunch here and filled up on beautifully presented local cuisine. Perhaps we were here off season, because we wandered in without reservations and were seated immediately. I’d easily come back next time I’m in town.

Anyone that can take the local flavor cuisine and experiment it to take it to the next level without losing its originality deserves 5 stars in the culinary world.
In addition the service is fantastic and the ambiance and feel is totally Puerto Rico !
Because we are in a caribbean Island, I totally favored the seafood and fish dishes, but my friends had some of the «local» fare and boy it was outstanding.
This is not a resort type restaurant, make sure to make reservations and sport a more elegantly casual attire.
Enjoy !!!

I was on vacation in PR and stopped by this place for dinner as our hotel was near Ajili Mojili. Was I glad that we came here! The restaurant has a nice atmosphere. definitely a bit on the dressy side for clothing.
My friend and I ordered a steak on skewer appetizer, mofongo, and a steak entrée. I don’t fully remember all of the names of the dishes… but my mofongo dish was really fun! The plate was called «It Takes Two to Mofongo». It was some sort of plantain with beef (see attached picture) with shrimp on the side. My friend had ordered the steak entrée — medium rare. YUM! Her steak entrée also had some shrimps on the side.
All I can say is that when I’m back in PR… I’m definitely stopping by again.
Btw, their mojitos are great!

What we liked —
My mixed mango drink with rum. The mango was fresh, it was really refreshing to have on a warm night.
Mahi — mahi with crabmeat on top is what I ordered, it was very good. The crabmeat made a good crust on top of the fish. It was very flavorful.
Cod fritters — we ordered this for our appetizer. Pretty good. It’s fried so it’s kind of heavy, but it took awhile for our dinners to come out, so I guess it evened out.
Server was very nice and attentive.
What we didn’t like —
My boyfriend ordered the special, a $ 35 red snapper. He enjoyed it, it was good, but as he was finishing up, he noticed that they hadn’t gutted the fish. You could see the insides. We complained to the manager and he said that it’s clean and wasn’t sure what that was. So the server came and showed the cook. The cook told us it was gills. Come on, my boyfriend saw the heart and some things hanging. Gross. So that kind of ruined everything. It was annoying that the manager didn’t make any apologies for this.
Since the manager didn’t do anything, the server felt bad and gave us flan to make up for it. For $ 35 dinner, we would expect the fish to be cleaned. It ruined what would have been a really nice dinner…

Traditional PR food recommended to me by my friend who grew up in PR. It was okay, but we had better during the trip. A little pricier than we expected for the food and service. We wished that we had gone to Ropa Vieja across the street, which has a more extensive menu and seems to have nicer ambiance.

I cannot even begin to tell you how delicious the food was here, eventhough it was a little on the expensive side. I don’t think my friends and I said a word the entire time while our food was on the table. The food was very authentic. I ordered the pastelillos de bacalao, which were fabulous and the pastelillos de carne which were good, but the pork could have been a bit more tender. I also orderd a Mojito, which was good, but I’ve had better. My friend raved about the mofongo.
The breakfast buffet was average, but I would definitely recommend Ajili Mojili for dinner if you are in the area.

Great place — wines were very reasonable (a lot of selections from Spain and Argentina) and food was great.
My boyfriend and I started with a glass of wine at the bar and the bartender could not have been more helpful. It was our first evening in PR and we weren’t sure about the wine selections as we were unfamiliar with the wineries. He let us try a couple of them and we both found something that we liked.
At dinner, I chose the chicken mofongo — yum. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the mofongo-​stuff — the plantains but the rice that accompanied it was delicious. My boyfriend’s dish was not as good — so immemorable that I can’t remember what it was!

Recommend this place both for the lunch buffet and the dinner… checked it out twice about a month ago when I was in PR — hands down some of the best Puerto Rican food I had while I was there (of course expect slow inattentive service — standard in PR)

Fortunately I had a good experience while dining here, unlike those who reviewed before me. I’m not too knowledgeable about Puerto Rican food but I was told to try the «mofongo» and I must say… I loved it! It was very exotic (of course since it’s relatively new to me) but I thought it was good.
The waitstaff was very good too. They were very courteous and they made sure that we were satisfied.
So I give it 3 stars because I’ve only been here once and I probably won’t be back anytime soon… but my first visit was a positive one so no complaints here =)

Since Mark and I are avid Unilocalers– we relied on reviews, heavily in our trip to Puerto Rico. A/​J seemed to be a bit overpriced and almost a lil’ cliché at first glance. Nevertheless we went and we were excited about what we found:
First time around we got:
* bacalaoditos (small cod fritters)
* Mark: Seafood Mofongo
* Me: something I can’t remember, but it came with arroz mamposteado
Second time around, we brought Mark’s co-​worker:
* Shared the fritter app (good, but not the best)
* Mark: Paella (yum!)
* Co-​worker: Shrimp and Chicken Mofongo
* Me: Arroz con Pollo with Green Plantains (yum!)
Again, ambiance is so so… it’s a bit of a trendy place in the upscale area, but good food.

This restaurant has won the «Tenedor de Oro» a few times and well deserved. Food was really good, full bar, great service.
Great place to go experience Puerto-​Rican cuisine.

Sorry, folks, but this restaurant is in serious need of a management overhaul.
There were some severe breakdowns in the kitchen — the official word was that some equipment broke. What I noticed was that guests were starving, but the restaurant continued to take walk-​ins.
If something’s wrong in the kitchen and a restaurant is unable to serve its current customers, then two things should happen immediately: 1) Continue to honor reservations, but turn down all walk-​in business; 2) Make certain that your guests have something to eat. Complimentary cold appetizers work fine if there’s something wrong with one of the ovens. Under no circumstances should there be more than an hour wait between courses (with no explanation.)
I would give this restaurant 1 star, but the food deserves 3. Given the utter disdain that management showed for its clients, thought, I’d never return.
No recommended.

While I agree with the other reviews that the place was overhyped, I still thought the food was good, the mixed drinks were great, and the prices were on par with most restaurants in Old San Juan ($ 15 – 20 for lunch entrees, $ 8 – 10 for drinks).
We got a plate of mixed appetizers/​fritters, all of which were delicious. I got the beef bowl for the meal, which was really salty but still very good overall.