El Balcon del Moreno

They didn’t have arroz con gandules. I came all the way from AZ from as cruise and I was hoping to try authentic rice. They pork chops were burnt and very dry. I wasn’t impressed, but I was glad we tried it. Pricey and not what I would expect from a Puertorican restuarant.

DONT GO HERE… I would give them no stars if possible. Took a seat outside waited 10 minutes before a waiter came. Ordered 2 beers took 15 min to bring considering there was only 4 couples sitting outside with us. Then 10 min later the waiter took the order. Another 15 min pass by and the waiter comes and says the other waitress or some girl lost the order ticket and he forgot what we ordered. So we re-​order our food and wait 30 minutes at this time the waiter comes back and says oh sorry but we don’t have mashed potatoes left. So we tell him to cancel the food and we will pay for our drinks. He returns in 5 minutes and tells us that he complained to the manager and the manager said they will make the mashed potatoes it will take another 10 minutes. He mentioned they are very very busy and packed upstairs so that’s why everything is taking long and they ran out of mashed potatoes. At this point we are like please we told u cancel everything and bring a check. Once we paid and are ready to leave I go upstairs to check how busy they really are and I see most of the restaurant empty and exactly 4 couples sitting. Don’t go here.

Ordered vegeterian mofongo and chicken mofongo. The vegeterian one was dry, sticky and extremely bland. Didnt look like it was made fresh. Told the server and he brought some sauce, but that didnt help. Returned the dish as is. The chicken one was no different. It had sauce but tasted horrible. Had also ordered mojito. There was no mint in it at all. Looked like it was made from some cheap syrup and rum. When we got the check, we were surprized to see the vegeterian mofongo on it. Also 15% gratuity was included for just 2 people! Do not go to this place to waste your money. Rather stay hungry.

My friend and I were approached outside the street by a server while walking. My friend & I were the only ones in the entire place. We sat inside because it was raining outside. The atmosphere was relaxing and the waitress was very nice. I ordered Mofongo topped with veggies. It was a good sized portion and tasted excellent. My friend ordered vegetable soup and it was great as well. She had to bring about half of it home because it was too big of a bowl for one sitting. She was definitely not complaining about that! Overall, great dinner choice!

Food was not good at all. I had the chicken breast filled with smashed plantains and my husband had the beef encebellado. My chicken was tough and the taste wasn’t good. My husband’s was way too salty and the seasoning wasn’t tasty. I did have a delicious mojito. We were shocked when she brought us the bill and it was $ 70.00. Would not recommend this place to anyone.

While walking we were approached by the server and decided to take a chance. There are so many options in Old San Juan and we wanted authentic Puerto Rican cuisine. It was a beautiful day so we dined outside. We had the chicken and fish Mofongo’s and they were amazing. Our server was so sweet and knowledgeable. It was also Happy Hour and drinks were 2 for 10. Drinks were just ok.
Overall a great meal with a great view.

Yum! So good. Like nothing I have ever tasted in my life. Wish O could come back tomorrow

First off, this place has two Unilocal profiles which is confusing and potentially nefarious. To be safe, I’m posting this review in both places as well as posting on TripAdvisor to be sure this place gets what they deserve. The citizens of San Juan should rise up and run this place out of town on a rail. It plain sucks. Horrible food, disorganized service, and they include the tip.
As a New Yorker, I’m familiar with the lousy tourist spots in Little Italy and Times Square. This is one of those. I don’t necessarily fault myself for choosing this place: we were in Old San Juan on the Sunday of the 3 Kings celebration. Most places were closed or closing soon when we got there. This place and a bunch of other tourist spots nearby were the only places open.
We ordered 2 very mediocre mojitos and it went downhill from there. We ordered the appetizer combo which turned out to be a Puerto Rican version a crappy appetizer combo at Denny’s. No plates, no napkins, no water glasses. The saving grace of the platter was these fried corn sticks that were like sweet fried polenta. The rest of the platter was unoriginal fried finger foods that were probably picked up from Costco. They weren’t horrible, but very unoriginal. And they served it with Thousand Island dressing.
My fiancé ordered bistec empanado which was described as «pork» which was battered and fried. I don’t speak much Spanish but I know bistec is beef. She figured the waiter got mixed up, so she ordered it anyway. When they brought it, it was sautéed beef in a brown putrid gravy and covered with onions. I tasted it, and it was the worst «beef» I’ve ever had. It had a pungent chemical taste that made you question whether it was actually an appropriate grade for human consumption. She told the waiter it was not what she ordered, and he clearly agreed because he brought her another, possibly worse dish. This was the empanado. It should have been a breaded and fried beef cut, but it looked like it was coated in brown dirt and boiled, then dried on the walls of El Morro for a day. She didn’t finish it, so we took it to go and left it with a homeless man in Condado near our hotel. He would be right to ignore it and try his luck in the Burger King dumpster down the block.
I ordered the pork mofongo. I’ll be honest, the pork wasn’t bad. Unfortunately the mofongo was bland, crumbled too easy, and the pork was so greasy that the mofongo collected a pool of oil in the center of the crater that made the whole plate slick with grease. I asked for some sort of hot sauce, but the waiter said they didn’t have anything. He showed me an empty bottle of Tabasco to prove it.
What set me over the edge was that they included a 15% tip. This was the only place during our vacation where we experienced this. My fiancé had been to the city a number of times and hadn’t experienced this. Maybe it’s an Old San Juan thing, as is the case in many tourist places around the world. Here it was not deserved.
Bottom line, don’t eat here. If the restaurant is reading this, please change what you’re doing. You owe it to your rich national cuisine to try harder.

The food was mediocre decent portions though; however, the customer service sucked and may I say was close to the worst ever, the waitress waited 10 minutes to come back and repeat all the orders after she wrote them down, so her confusion just wasted 30 minutes great!!! The skinny dark chick doing the register was beyond rude and dint smile at all mind you that the restaurant was dead empty and when I asked to break a 20 bill she said they had no money in the register lmfaoooo bizzare right, so then I’m like so how do you expect to give us change??? she looked puzzled turns out the only had 20 in ones. note that they bring out one plate at a time and may forget some of your appetizers Over all: expect bad service and a wait of an hour for the only party in the place.

Stopped in here on a whim one afternoon. Waitress was prompt in taking our order. There was another table of six and a table of two. People were looking hungry so I started reading Unilocal reviews. I have to agree the wait was a little too long for such a small lunch crowd. Well over 30 minutes. Got up to leave and the waitress said our order was ready. The food was very good. I would go back when I want to take a long, leisurely lunch.

Great food and reasonable prices. Had the shrimp with garlic sauce and rice and beans with the mini cordon bleu appetizer. Great friendly service and funny little bird who stopped in through the balcony in hopes of a bite to eat as well. They also had the World Cup on. :-)

I highly recommend this place if you’re visiting Old San Juan!
We went here twice for dinner on our trip. It was so good the first time, we decided to go back again the next evening!
Yuyo was our server the first night and we absolutely enjoyed him, he was great and very informative. And even doubled as the weatherman when it was looking like it was going to rain: «Ladies, I hate to interrupt your meal, but in about 5 – 10 minutes, it’s going to rain. It doesn’t rain like the US, straight down, it comes in sideways here too…» LOL! He was sweet. Eddie was our server the next night. He was okay, his English wasn’t as good as Yuyo’s so that added a little frustration to the evening, but we’re in Puerto Rico!
Now here’s what made us go back two nights in a row: SPICY OX TAIL SOUP. The best I’ve EVER had. Period. I highly recommend this dish, but be warned. It is THAT good. LOL!

El Balcon is in a great part of Old San Juan with an outdoor terrace perfect for people-​watching or enjoying the nice architecture. That said, it has little going for it beyond that. The prices were high and interior (ahem, bathrooms…) was sketch.

We came here on a Saturday evening. which turned into a two and a half hour event. Luckily, we didn’t really have any other plans for the evening.
We started with chicken croquettes. They were okay. Probably wouldn’t have them again if I were to come back.
I had churrasco and mofongo. It was pretty good. I also had a mango daiquiri, which, might’ve been nonalcoholic due to the lack of liquor in it. Whatever.
He had creamed chicken and rice… it was bland. Wouldn’t recommend it.
Still sitting here… working on two hours and forty five minutes. for the check.
Next time, we’ll skip this place. There’s about 5 other places nearby that look like they’d be worth it.

Uno de los peores restaurantes donde he tenido la mala suerte de comer. La comida no solo fue mala y fria, si no que ademas tardo 1 HORA Y MEDIA en llegar. Cuando nos quejamos con la supervisora Jazmin demostrando su poco, o mejor dicho nulo, servicio al cliente, no se le ocurrio nada mejor que reirse de nosotros y llamarnos mentirosos, Wow! Una estrella es demasiado para este restaurante mediocre. Lo mejor que pueden hacer es mantenerse alejados.

Ok… so maybe the guy on the street was a «crackhead» and the waitress looked like she was dead on the inside, both were very friendly. We opted out of the 2 fer drinks… we had our own, the setting is nice, outdoor seating and although I admit I did not try as many PR dishes as I wanted to, this was my first experience and I LOVED IT. I had the vegetable mofongo and it was packed full of flavor. I will upload photos soon. This was the best food I ate in PR… even better than «Raices» that was a close second

2 for 10 mojitos!
Howeve, I must concurr with fellow Unilocalers that they were weak. But the Balcon (balcony) this place has offered us shelter during the rain and a nice view!

One thing we didn’t know is that San Juan is pretty dead after 8pm on a week day. There are hardly any tourists out and most places are shut down. We were happy to find this area featuring a few late night bars. And by late night I mean …8pm… lol
We only came for drinks — beers and mojitos. They had a mojito special, 2 for $ 10. I only wanted one but they wouldn’t give it to me for $ 5, I had to get both for $ 10 otherwise the one mojito was like $ 8 by itself. BOO! The mojito was ok, not great.
My friends got beer and the 2^nd night we came I got beer too. With a quick glance at their food menu I did notice they did have a few vegetarian and possibly vegan options. The place is kind of cool inside — I think it used to be a house. The bathroom is all the way upstairs and there is more seating up there. But on a nice warm night, take full advantage of the fenced in patio. Also you may be able to find a plug should you need to charge your phone! (Look for where the Christmas lights plug into… they’ll be happy to let you use the outlet). Also keep an eye out for the cute homeless dogs that trot by, perhaps you can save them a treat!
Once we left at like 9pm or something the place closed up. Early birds!

I should have read the reviews first. Soup. Salad. Wings.
All mediocre.
Have a beer and use the wifi and sit on the balcony and people watch.

Can I just say this was THE worst food I ever tasted. This is what I got for not listening to my myself, and going with my first decision, but instead going off the advice of a stranger. *insert eye roll*
We were directed here by some man, while exploring Old San Juan at night on an empty stomach, after asking where we might be able to get a bite of good food. Dude swore by this place and how great the food was. Now that I think of it, when he said his friend owned this place, I should have known something was not going to be right. *sigh*
As soon as I walked up to the El Balcon del Moreno, my Scooby radar went off. This place reminded me of one of the numerous restaurants on Lincoln Road in Miami. If your ever visited Lincoln Road you know exactly what I mean.
The outdoor seating area was dirty and I had to request the waitress wipe the table off. Strike one. Then we ordered, and the food took FOREVER. Strike two. As for the food, it was straight garbage. It was oily and just down right disgusting. Strike Three, and I was OUT! I was so livid, by this point, that I told my husband I was not eating another bite and to get me out of there asap. Trust me you do not want to see me with low blood sugar enduring horrible service and food. At all. I ended up going to Burger King of all places, and what a damn good burger it was.
Moral of the story, El Balcon del Moreno sucks ass. The end.

We were just walking by an decided to try this restaurant. They have seating outside as well as inside the restaurant. On the wall of the restaurant they have a sign that state you get a free drink with your entrée. The servers will not tell you this. We had to ask for the drink. They gave us piña coladas that were very, very weak.
As for the food, we were not impressed. Everyone in the party agreed that their meal was as bland as it gets. The food was of poor quality and not worth the price we had to pay.
When we got our ticket, the server had already put an 18% gratuity on the bill. It was only 4 of us dining.