Laurel Kitchen / Art Bar

Amazing presentation as well as taste!!! Set in a museum, this restaurant is a real gem. Our concierge recommended this restaurant as his favorite on the island and he was absolutely right. Food was incredible. We had the fish tacos and fritters for appetizers, both beautifully presented and delicious. I had the sea scallops and my husband had the sea bass (Chef Pagan’s signature dish), we both raved about them. The piece de resistance was the dessert, peach brûlée, unbelievable.

Don’t take this the wrong way… Laurel is not a bad restaurant, but it deserves to be knocked back a bit. Part of its problem is that we had recently had a wonderful meal at Santaella, in fact the same entrée, sea bass. At both restaurants the preparation was good, served hot, etc., but we preferred the preparation from Santaella. Also, at both restaurants we split the entrée. Laurel’s portion was smaller, making the half portion look silly, plus Laurel charged $ 8 for our sharing the fish.
This followed an excellent, but extremely tiny, arugula salad, which we also shared and which looked even sillier than the half portions of sea bass. Our waiter might have recommended against splitting the salad, knowing how minuscule the half portion would be… opportunity missed. Compared to Santaella, Laurel is now looking a bit precious.
In fairness, we did have an excellent spicy crab appetizer at Laurel. That was after we turned down a tasting menu of appetizers that our pushy waiter attempted to foist on us.
The final insult was that, when it came to dessert, we were informed that the coffee machine was broken and that there would be no coffee of any kind to go with the coconut thing we had ordered. Hard to believe that a fine restaurant would allow itself to be unable to serve us a couple of decaf cappuccinos, but there you are. Somewhat testy by this time, we summarily cancelled the dessert order – no coffee, no dessert – and requested our check. When the check came, the waiter said the coconut thing had already been plated and that we could have it if we wished, no charge. We accepted and then were on our way (to Starbucks in our hotel lobby, by the way).
Closing out our Laurel experience, the hostess was kind enough to phone for a cab for us. Again, not a bad restaurant, but not nearly what it is chalked up to be. For the money, go instead to Marmalade, Santaella or one of the other fine restaurants in San Juan.

i had my fair share of criolla dog food in pr, i don t know why a lush island surrounded by an amazing ocean can t produce their own vegetables and offer their fresh fish to the table, you basically can t buy fresh fish in san juan, makes no sense. most of the lechon is from usa frozen pigs, makes no sense, try to find local greens… after eating in many restaurants i wasn t able to give any of them more than 3 stars, until laurel. full of perfectly balanced local flavors… coconut, yuca, coffee, limes… each dish is perfectly executed. true to the local flavors, true to the art of cooking. no dog food here!

Fantastic food. A hidden gem. A local picked this place for lunch. I was not disappointed. Does not seem that well known but the food and service was A+.

4.5 stars. Husband and i looking for dinner before a performance at Art Museum. was thinking of walking down the street to bistro de paris, but then decided to try out laurel inside the museum. pouring rain during our dinner, so lucky we didn’t walk down the street for dinner.
LOCATION: 5 stars
— in art museum. on avenida de diego. main thoroughfare
PARKING: 5 stars
— valet
— street available down further from the museum
AMBIANCE: 4 stars
— asian art work. clean.
SERVICE: 4 stars
— friendly. timely. we were only diners for about 30′.
FOOD: 4.5 stars
— FRIED PIG EARS: great texture. on bed of arugula/​dressing.
— CARPACCIO: one of best carpaccios. beef had fresh flavor
— CHILEAN SEA BASS with yucca purée, port wine and foie gras reduction: hard to mess up chilean sea bass. tasty. reduction a little bit too salty
— KUROBUTA PORK CHOP: double chop. cooked medium. perfect.
even though i had heard from a few friends that this place was solid, i was still pleasantly surprised that it was this solid. want to go back and try other menu items.

This place is a lot of fun. Every dish we ordered was incredible but my favorite was the tacos. They also have good drinks and a very interesting dish is the pig ears (you would never know unless somebody tell you about it). Overall had an excellent experience here.

Superb superb superb. Chef Mario Pagan has positioned himself as the emblematic Chef of the Island.

Laurel Kitchen is a small hidden gem in the rear of the Puerto Rico Museum of Art lobby.
Upon arrival, I smelt a hint of burning food as the servers seated me with a kind smile. The décor, dimmed in a blue glow, had a modern art classiness and the quick looping soundtrack was mellow and upbeat but could have used a few more tracks. Looking around, one could tell that the small restaurant was no where near full, with the patrons being mostly locals.
As I dictated my order for the raw scallops, pork sliders, and pork loins, the bread was delivered, a small but satisfying variation of a whole wheat baguette.
Not long after the dishes began to appear. The scallops, first, were thinly sliced and placed in a dish of citrus foam topped with a seaweed. The presentation was quite appealing and the scallop was beautifully thin and fresh. The foam was too acidic to be pleasing.
The pork slider delivered quite a smile. The meat, tender with with the right amount of fat, reminded me of times fulfilling late night hangover cravings. This was surely a dish I would not have expected to see a higher end dining establishment, but good food is always welcomed.
The main dish was very generous in portion and it came out very well plated. As I cut into the pork loin on top of a deep red wine reduction, the warm smell of the dish began to permeate. The taste met if not exceeded the visual and olfactory appeal. Though not a bold dish by any means, the pork loin was cooked to perfection and the reduction was classically done.
Laurel takes reservations over the phone only.

What I love the most about Chef Pagan is his ability to turn known flavors and comfort-​food into entirely new experiences. His croquette starter plate, arugula salad with pancetta and papaya and the pork belly with figs and local cheese are fantastic. The truffle yucca mash with sea bass and foie gras sauce as well as the Filet with yam gnocchi and stilton sauce are my go-​to entrée options… I need to make it a point to try something else! But who needs to try something new when these two plates in my opinion are PERFECT. For dessert, good luck with that… Every one I try is better than the last — but there was once a turrón dessert served over Christmas that I still dream about and the goat cheese and guava dessert is incredible. Service can be a little on the stuffy side and I feel that a formal yet more relaxed approach in regards to service would suit the restaurant’s personality more.

Great location in the Museum. Great service, everything I tried was memorable — from oyster-​marinated skirt steak to cracklings pizza. Will definite recommend and re-​visit when in San Juan again

Beautiful restaurant, excellent service, delicious meals. I could possibly even go as far as to say this is the best food I’ve had in Puerto Rico.

Muy buen servicio y calidad de comida. Recomiendo las croquetas de habichuelas blancas y tocineta y el Rib-​Eye estuvo excelente. La carta de vinos es corta pero bastante completa en términos de variedad. El servicio fue de primera desde nuestra llegada al restaurant. Los asientos de sofá estan un poco incómodos, por eso no les doy cinco estrellas. Pero excelente en general.

Connected to the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico (MAPR), Laurel had the perfect atmosphere to match. Service was attentive, precise but not over bearing.
Food was akin to what you would expect form an upscale dining experience in New York, Barcelona or Paris.
What we had.
APERITIVOS
Tempura of Escargots with White Yam and Bacon Croquettes.
Perfectly cooked, could have used a bit more garlic. But perhaps that is the french escargots in my mind speaking.
CHARCUTERIE
Duck Prosciutto, Sopressata, Serrano Ham and Rabbit Terine with Sweet Olive jam
The cured meats were slaty and meaty as one would expect. The real star here was the rabbit, a combination of smooth, sweet and earthy.
Entries
Chilean Sea Bass, Yuca Purée and Port Wine and Foi Gras reduction
Fish was cooked perfectly and the port reduction was surprisingly not overpowering considering what a subtle flavor seabass has.
Veal Cheeks, Roasted Yam and yuca pure with oven roasted Tomatoes
What can I say, I am a sucker for anything cheek and they did not disappoint
Desert:
Warm Chocolate Cake with Basil and Cardamon Ice Cream.
Standard fair invented by jean george, this came with a salted caramel sauce the was smooth and rich.
Wine paring is also available with the meal.
Laurel also has an impressive scotch collection as well large collection of rum.

I wanted to try out something different for my Mother’s Day dinner with my husband and ended up at Laurel almost at the spur of the moment. This restaurant is the epitomy of great food, great service and great ambiance. The only reason why I gave it four stars instead of five was because the dessert which is very pricey, was a real dissappointment. I ordered a lemon crème brûlée and even though I LOVE lemon and all things tart, the lemon in this dessert was so overpowering, I couldn’t finish it. A first for me.
The restaurant is fine dining and the prices reflect that but the experience is worth every penny!

This is a high end restaurant with top service and innovative cuisine. Everything is just perfect.
I ate at the restaurant by chance, I was visiting the museum and felt hungry. I was very happy to find this place. Actually the restaurant was much better than the museum. It is pricey, but it is the kind of place that you ought to go from time to time to awaken some dormant senses.

Visiting PR on vacation we took in the arts at this Puerto Rico art museum. Lucky for us they had this very chic luncheon restaurant in the museum. It appears to be frequented by local business folks & there was a birthparty there when we arrived. Nice museum but not on the same scale as those on the mainland. But this restaurant was outstanding. We had a rabbit pillow appetizer & shrimp mufongo which was amazing. They have special events held here but for something special along with a little art don’t miss this fine restaurant. They have a fairly large selection from seafood to steak & desserts.
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