Pura Vida Vegetarian Bistro

They had none of the dishes i wanted… the service slow… and when the salad came late, i asked to have it packed and the chef asked me if I could eat it in the restaurant! I won’t be coming back…

This WAS one of the better dinners we had, but certainly not enough to merit that 4^th star. The short: Decent food that was way overpriced.
The long (er): Pura Vida is a veggie dining establishment… except they also have «catch of the day» seafood specials. I was really tempted to get the stuffed portobella, but when I heard fresh scallops, that sealed the deal. Anyway, what we had:
*The fried tofu with a ginger-​y sauce
*Eggplant (served almost like babaganoush, with pita)
Mains:
*Shrimp
*Scallops
Dessert:
*Coffee
*Chocolate cake served with some potent liquor on top
Apps were ok. Eggplant was nicely flavored and ample. Tofu was soggy — not nice and crispy as «fried» would imply. The mains were served exactly the same — bowls of our sea creatures in the same red sauce — somewhat sweet with slices of peppers and onions. Small side salad and some local sweet root vegetable to accompany. The dessert — oh man. I wish people in Puerto Rico could make decent sweets. The cake was so dry. To make it edible, I tried to soak as much of the liquor into the sponginess, but it was hard to mask the near-​tastelessness.
To drink we had two Coronas, split a strawberry-​banana yogurt shake (for $ 7, what?!) and were given two complimentary shots of rum/​anise (way too strong, but my hubs loved it). The coffee was good.
Ok, so in all, our bill came to over $ 100. I was just sitting there imagining what I could get for $ 100 back in DC… certainly something better.
Anyway, it IS one of the better spots in Ocean Park. The ambiance is divine (if you sit outside by the pool, under the tree — very nice) until guests of Oceana come trekking from their rooms across the dining area. There ought to be a better way to divide the restaurant from the living spaces.

Wow, about the only thing going for this place is that you can be sure it’s vegetarian (unless you accidentally order one of the fish dishes — doh!). Veggie options are not to be dismissed lightly, so it is with a heavy heart that I say the fact the place was empty when we arrived to eat should have been a sign, but we ignored that.
We went with soup and salad to start. Bland, but passable. Moved to to veggie starters and pasta for the mains. Went from bland to silly — poorly cooked and completely unflavorful. Very disappointing.
Adding insult to injury, the bill for two people came to nearly $ 100USD.
On the positive side, the server was friendly. But each course was worse than the last, so we got tired of trying to provide feedback and hope for something better.
Very sad to post this review but hopefully it saves some fellow Unilocalers time and money. For a much better bet in the same ‘hood (though a very different menu and of course not all veggie): Try Via Apia just down the street. (See Unilocal reviews for more color.) If you are looking for caribbean, esp Puerto Rican style food in a veggie configuration, try the Café Berlin in old San Juan. Awesome.
PuraVida: Great idea, unfortunately horrible execution.

I have been a vegetarian for the past 14 years and my husband is always looking for restaurants that suit my taste and food choice. So when we ran into Pura Vida we were extremely excited. We arrived at the restaurant at about 6:30pm and it was empty. We were greeted by a gentleman who not only tended the bar but the reception area as well as doubled dutied as the waiter. Long story short the food was greasy, tasteless of poor quality and extremely pricey. It was everything but pure of life it was more like pure regret. My suggestion do yourself and your pockets a favor and stay away from this restaurant. It was a pure fail.

My bf and I came here in light of all the positive Unilocal reviews and because we were craving something lighter and un-​fried on our trip.
I should have taken a clue from the completely empty restaurant that the food wasn’t going to be good. Granted, we got there close to 9 PM on a weeknight, but we were beyond disappointed with the food.
For starters, we got the veggie spring rolls ($ 7), which were about six inches long, maybe ¾″ thick, and super greasy. We were hoping the spring rolls would be more Vietnamese style (rice paper, no grease, fresh veggies and lean protein), but when we bit into these spring rolls, the grease just comes out. And the accompanying sauce was a gooey (for some strange reason) version of soy sauce that was way too salty.
I got the «artisan pizza» ($ 13), which was on a whole wheat pita of supermarket quality and the typical array of veggies (broccoli [raw], onions, peppers, olives, etc. The server (perhaps the owner) asked if I wanted veggie chicken (which did not appear on the menu), and I was curious, so I said yes.
He didn’t tell us that it would be an additional $ 6 charge, bringing the pizza up from its original price tag to nearly $ 20, the same price as my boyfriend’s much larger-​portioned mushroom risotto. I’ve had better pizza from a chain like California Pizza Kitchen, or even a local NYC like Ray’s Pizza for less money. The mock chicken looked like chicken, but when you bite into it and start chewing it, the taste becomes drier and drier. I’ve had mock chicken at different places, but this places dead last.
As for my boyfriend’s risotto ($ 20), he said it had too heavy a taste, and said that it paled in comparison to the risotto he had at Spago on Maui. (Sure, it’s a much more expensive restaurant, but the dish was well-​executed.)
I thought the flavor was ok, but it was extremely salty. Just a forkful and you feel the need to gulp down some water. There didn’t seem to be much else but rice.
The portions were pretty big, so if you do like this kind of food, lucky for you. I finished only about ½ of my pizza, and there were probably 3 – 4 servings of the risotto left (which we might need some bland/​salt-​free accompaniments with it).
We also got two glasses of sangria, which was supposed to contain red wine, etc., was pretty weak. The flavor was good, though; it was my first time having sangria with mango juice in it.
I really wanted to like this place – I really did. Vegan, vegetarian, delicious and healthy – at least, that’s how the website and all the previous Unilocalers had portrayed it. But I could have had better food from the frozen section of a supermarket. For salads, I think we’ll get a package from the local Pueblo or SuperMax and make it ourselves.
I’m not sure I like the fact the restaurant automatically charges 15% gratuity. (Granted, our server asked us first, more to let us know than to ask permission, since this fact already appears at the bottom of the menu.) Most restaurants that charge gratuity would only do it for parties of 6 or more; we were only a party of two.

This is a beautiful vegan restaurant located within the hostel. There is parking out front and located close to the beach if you want to stop by. The service was a bit slow considering there is only one person who runs the front desk at the hostel and also acts as the waiter, but it worked out fine. Okay, about the food– GREAT! It was fresh and well prepared. I would actually go with the recommendations from the waiter/​host – he has great taste! The portions were a bit small, so we ended up getting an appetizer, main course, and dessert in addition to drinks. If you sick of greasy food, go here for something healthy and delicious!

PuraVida is amazing! The menu is diverse ranging from mushroom risotto (a must) to creole tofu to «tuna» croquttes. Vegans and vegetarians will love it and omnivores will be pleasantly surprised. The servers are incredibly plesant and helpful. Don’t forget to finish dinner with dessert. Kahluha soaked chocolate cake? Yes please!
The restaurant is beautiful – there is outdoor seating with a view of a waterfall, inside there is a banyan tree growing through the ceiling, and the menus are all hand painted. Stunning!

A veggie bistro on a Latin American island? That’s freaking delicious?! YES!!! It’s hard enough to find a Latin American restaurant w/​vegetarian OPTIONS, but Pura Vida carries a whole menu of veggie-​only goodies, that are mouthwatering-​mm-​mmm-​mmmm-​DELICIOSO! A must-​try for any vegi-​head on the island (or for when you grow tired of mofongo and meat).
What I had (over a couple of nights):
— Sangria (made w/​brandy– mmm, riiiica)
— Pan-​seared tofu
— Pita-​bread pizza
— Chicken-​less Thai Chicken
— Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
— Choc-​Kahlúa (chocolate cake topped with almonds & strawberries, so drenched in in Kahlúa and coffee cream that it’s only for those 18 and up)
Everything was SO good– comparable to (or better than!) what you might find some fancy-​schmancy veggie chef whipping up in the Bay Area, arguably one of the capitals of veggie fine-​dining. And the prices were decent– starters for less than $ 10 (the pizza was a starter that I had as a meal); and entrees for about $ 15.
Pura Vida’s a total surprise, considering that it’s in the same hotel that serves breakfast even a prisoner would turn away from; but I’d definitely go back again if I could.