How are the restaurants in El Valle de Anton, Panama?
Neil Stein - Panama Paraiso
The restaurants in El Valle are surprisingly good. Since the village is small with only about 7000 inhabitants, there is a limited number of places to eat.
My favorites in no particular order:
Lourdes: Excellent food with an even better atmosphere. Located in Los Mandarinos Hotel.
Bruschettas: Mario is a great chef - nice ambience.
Artash: Arturo is another great chef -...
The restaurants in El Valle are surprisingly good. Since the village is small with only about 7000 inhabitants, there is a limited number of places to eat.
My favorites in no particular order:
Lourdes: Excellent food with an even better atmosphere. Located in Los Mandarinos Hotel.
Bruschettas: Mario is a great chef - nice ambience.
Artash: Arturo is another great chef - wonderful food.
Mon Petit: Limited menu with good live music on the weekends.
Santa Librada: Good Panamanian food, nice owners, very clean.
Buen Provecho!
Posted April 8, 2013
Adam Brunner - abc realty panama
Restaurants in El Valle have a pretty good variety of different quality or “star rating.” You have one star to five stars. The five stars are restaurants that serve dinner for two people, where you pay anywhere between US $60 to $80. It can be up to $80 and sometimes even more, depending on what you are looking for and what Is available. This would be a five-course meal, where you start with the entrée, they bring you a...
Restaurants in El Valle have a pretty good variety of different quality or “star rating.” You have one star to five stars. The five stars are restaurants that serve dinner for two people, where you pay anywhere between US $60 to $80. It can be up to $80 and sometimes even more, depending on what you are looking for and what Is available. This would be a five-course meal, where you start with the entrée, they bring you a salad, there’ll be a main appetizer, and then the main course, and a dessert. Five star meals are really tasty. There is only one five-star restaurant in El Valle, which is called Casa de Lourdes.
You can go to a three star restaurant and pay about $40 for a nice dinner for two. Three star restaurants are in hotels. For example, the Hotel Anton Valley has a restaurant called Bruschetta. The chef is a personal friend of mine. He is a good guy and it has great food at a great price. I never had a bad meal there. Another place that you might want to check out is Los Capitanes. They have a seafood menu with Peruvian style cooking.
The food at Bruschetta is what you would expect from its name. It is Italian-style cooking. They have great bruschetta, which is bread covered with cheese and vegetables. They also have pretty good pastas. Their seafood is okay, but I stick mainly with the pasta. The chicken’s fantastic. Don’t miss the chicken. The pork’s really great, too.
The food at Bruschetta is what you would expect from its name. It is Italian-style cooking. They have great bruschetta, which is bread covered with cheese and vegetables. They also have pretty good pastas. Their seafood is okay, but I stick mainly with the pasta. The chicken’s fantastic. Don’t miss the chicken. The pork’s really great, too.
A two star restaurant is one in which the vendor has the roof over his head.
You can go to one star restaurants where you’re pretty much standing there on the street next to the vendor selling you the hotdog. A hotdog would probably cost you about US $1, maybe less. For a hot dog and a soda, you’re probably paying $1.50, maybe $2. The one star would be the guy out there with the grill and the meat.
El Valle also has privately owned restaurants in people’s homes, which are called Bruho restaurants. They are not legal restaurants. Here in El Valle there’s a Bruho restaurant that’s a pizza place. Another one has meals for US $3 to $10, depending on what you get. They serve basic native foods.
You can go to one star restaurants where you’re pretty much standing there on the street next to the vendor selling you the hotdog. A hotdog would probably cost you about US $1, maybe less. For a hot dog and a soda, you’re probably paying $1.50, maybe $2. The one star would be the guy out there with the grill and the meat.
El Valle also has privately owned restaurants in people’s homes, which are called Bruho restaurants. They are not legal restaurants. Here in El Valle there’s a Bruho restaurant that’s a pizza place. Another one has meals for US $3 to $10, depending on what you get. They serve basic native foods.
Posted February 19, 2015
Lourdes Townshend
El Valle de Antón, in Panamá, and Its Restaurants
El Valle de Antón ("The Valley," as it is commonly known) is a beautiful place with temperatures dropping some times to 60´s (F). Usually at night it gets cool enough to need blankets, if you are not used to what Panamanians would call "cold weather." It also rains quite a bit, as is El Valle is surrounded by beautiful mountains (pictured). ...
El Valle de Antón, in Panamá, and Its Restaurants
El Valle de Antón ("The Valley," as it is commonly known) is a beautiful place with temperatures dropping some times to 60´s (F). Usually at night it gets cool enough to need blankets, if you are not used to what Panamanians would call "cold weather." It also rains quite a bit, as is El Valle is surrounded by beautiful mountains (pictured). El Valle Is located approximately two and a half hours from the main city, Panamá, on a modern highway called "InterAmericana."
El Valle has a mixture of permanent homes and the country properties of weekend residents. It also has a great public market where you can buy fresh vegetables, fruits, plants and all kind of crafts, including beautiful hammocks at an incredible prices.
For those visitors who are Catholics, there is a nice small church with services on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
Residents and visitors love to ride their "mountain monsters cars" or go around on their motorcycles and bike or hike. It is also very popular to go horseback riding and to walk the beautiful streets. Visitors enjoy the picturesque zoo with exotic animals and plants or they stroll the orchid sanctuary.
It´s also very important to mention that this place is also the sanctuary for the famous and almost in extinct golden frogs. The price to get into the place to see these frogs is extremely low (US $3.00 and up), and the experience is very pleasant.
El Valle also offers thermal waters, and the famous "mud baths."
As El Valle has become so popular as a tourist destination, that restaurants and hotels have flourished in the area. You can find several hotels with modern facilities and others more quaint and intimate and with equal charm. Almost all the hotels offer meals on the premises. But there are also restaurants on their own in different parts of town. It is very popular to ask for a "regional breakfast," which is a choice of: liver with onions (or steak), hojaldre (pastry), carimañola (meat fried stuffed yuca), tortilla (thick corn cakes, pictured with steak and onions), eggs, bacon or sausage, and of course, a cup of the famous internationally known Panamanian coffee. (Panamanians like "café con leche" or "coffee with milk.") Another very popular coffee is the cappuccino. From there, you go for a good walk .
Panamanians like to eat lunch, more than dinner, contrary to the people from the United States. This is the reason why restaurants offer tons of different menus for all budgets, but all of them, equally delicious and at incredible prices, especially if you go to popular restaurants, where a lunch could easily cost $4.00.
For dinners, locals dress a little more formally, and sometimes makes reservations, especially in the more sophisticated places. But wherever you go, you always will find warm and friendly people to welcome you.
Lately, some hospitality facilities have been acquired by foreigners, so you will find anything and everything everywhere and lots of choices.
Normal hours in Panamá for meals are: breakfast from 6am to 9am; lunch from 11am to 2pm and dinner from 5pm to 8pm. Some restaurants close between 3pm and 6pm. Others open at 12 noon.
If you are hungry, and do not speak the language... just say, "Tengo hambre."
Posted February 20, 2015