Mi Ranchito

Description:

• This is certainly not the best Panamanian food in the city (El Trapiche, Las Barandas, Al Tambar de la Alegría, and Las Tinajas fill that bill), but nevertheless the great view of the Panama City skyline and the almost constant cool breeze that blows through accounts for its crazy popularity among tourists and Panamanians alike. The restaurant is open-air and under a massive thatched-roof bohio on Isla Naos, near the Smithsonian Museum. You'll find typical Panamanian dishes here such as grilled meat, prawns, sea bass, and snapper served in a garlic or tomato-and-onion sauce and paired with coconut rice and fried plantains. Mi Ranchito has an appetizer mix of Panamanian specialties such as empanadas, patacones (fried plantains), and carimiñolas, but they are so deep-fried they almost all look and taste the same. Stick with the fresh fish and shellfish dishes, and an ice-cold beer. After lunch, you can rent a bike next door and go burn off all those calories.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010