Ikakos

We stopped at Ikakos after wandering around the touristy Condado section of San Juan looking for a good place to have some good criollo-style seafood. The place we'd intended to go to had gone out of business, the upscale Ajili-Mojili down Ashford Ave. was a little more than we wanted to spend, and we didn't feel like we should be reduced to going to Chili's or Wendy's just yet. Then we happened upon Ikakos, a place that looked like it had been there for a while, where googly-eyed lobsters were beckoning to us through the glass front doors.

We walked in and discovered that almost all the diners appeared to be locals -- another good sign. We ordered some pina coladas and conch pastelillos, and both showed up in a timely fashion and were quite good.

I then ordered some crab-and-chorizo mofongo, reasonably priced at $12. A huge volcano of mofongo arrived, fried just to the proper crispiness and filled liberally with crab meat and sausage. It was the best mofongo I'd had on the island (and I had a lot of them). My girlfriend got the whole grouper in criollo sauce, which was buttery, soft, and perfect. It came with a sizable helping of mamposteo, a sort of olive oil risotto, which was delectable; I couldn't stop eating it. The service was excellent. In the background, a woman was playing some music on a piano. Unlike some other live music we'd had to endure during our stay in Puerto Rico, she was actually quite good, and the music was soft and unobtrusive.

We were so full we decided to skip dessert, but the waitress nonetheless showed up with some cocolitos (an eggnog-like alcoholic concoction) on the house, thereby earning Ikakos the elusive fifth Yelp star from me.

The dinner was inexpensive (by touristy San Juan standards), complete, and very good. I'd strongly recommend Ikakos.

You know what I love? Local, underrated, inexpensive, cozy restaurants that serve up the best food. That is exactly what Ikakos is-- and after eating at some of the most expensive and flavorless restaurants in the city, Ikakos was the perfect last meal for me and my friend. We actually came with a group of women, and each of us enjoyed every morsel of food and every sip of drink-- and our waitress was so kind and adorable. This Condado area restaurant definitely gets a high recommendation from me.

Really wanted to eat here, based on my Yelpers' collective experience. IT'S CLOSED...

Came across this place on our last night out in San Juan. Who knew that a Greek owned Puerto Rican restaurant would be so good?! The waitress was so cute and accommodating to us. I started off with a virgin pina colada which was soooo damn good! Had the emapanadillos, which are very similar to empanadas and that was darn good. For a main course, I ordered the chicken mamposteo and was so pleased with the flavors. I could taste the salt and the chicken was damn good! It was even big enough to share with four other people! The price of this place was really inexpensive compared to the other places we tried. This was a good way to end our PR experience!

Ikakos is a lovely, down-to-earth, homey restaurant. As a business traveler who has been staying in Condado for months, I am often looking for a place to have a decent dinner and relax without feeling weird about being alone. This place is perfect - on weeknights, the place is pretty quiet, and they put something interesting on the TV and just let you eat and "veg out." The service is very friendly and the bartender is a genius! I have had some great cocktails that were invented right there. Just ask the staff for a recommendation and they will have something great. The seafood is really great - I like to have the ceviche with tostones. The price is reasonable and the fish is very fresh. So yes, I will be going back tonight...