The Canal and Central Panama Restaurants

Though Central Panama's restaurant selection is neither as impressive nor as varied as Panama City's, the region has some fun dining options. Rather than unforgettable food, you're likely to enjoy good food in unforgettable settings, which include the ocean views on the Caribbean coast and Pacific Islands and Chagres River views in Gamboa.

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  • 1. La Casa de Lourdes

    $$$

    After years of running one of Panama City's most popular restaurants, Lourdes Fabrega de Ward built this elegant place across from her retirement home so that she wouldn't get bored. It now seems unlikely that she'll ever retire, since old clients and a growing list of new fans pack the place on weekends, drawn by Lourdes' inventive menu and the magical ambience of her Tuscan-style casa. Meals are served on a back terrace with views of her garden and Cerro Gaital framed by high columns, arches, and an elegant pool. It is truly a house, and you enter through a spacious living room with couches, a piano, and family photos. She changes her menu frequently, but it always has a good mix of seafood and meat dishes, as well as amazing desserts. Reservations are essential on weekends.

    Calle El Ciclo, El Valle, Coclé, 0211, Panama
    507-983–6450

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 2. Bruchetta

    $

    This small Italian restaurant next to the lobby of the Anton Valley Hotel has a covered terrace where you can watch the townsfolk roll by. The food is quite good and the menu includes an ample selection of salads and pastas, half a dozen different bruschetta, corvina (sea bass), salmon, and beef tenderloin. The nicest seating is on the front terrace, which has a view of the main road and the church, and access to Wi-Fi.

    Av. Prinicpal, El Valle, Coclé, 0211, Panama
    507-983–5118

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Thurs., No credit cards
  • 3. El Rincón del Chef

    $$

    In a colonial-style building on the road to Playa Coronado, this attractive restaurant serves a good variety of quality dishes. The menu changes daily, but always offers a good mix of meat and seafood dishes that feature a mix of Panamanian and international fare. There is invariably corvina (sea bass), langostinos (prawns), and grilled (rather expensive) USDA-certified beef, including a good burger. The ambiance—terra-cotta floors, ocher walls, and a high wooden-beams ceiling—is right out of the 19th century, except for the TV and ceiling fans.

    Playa Coronado, Coclé, Panama
    507-345–2072

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted
  • 4. Gerald's

    $$

    This restaurant is a short walk from the beach, serves some of the best food on the island, and rents basic rooms. The eight rooms are in a two-story building behind the restaurant, with high ceilings, TVs, and air-conditioning. The restaurant is a rustic, open-air affair under a high-thatched roof, which means it picks up the breeze, if one is blowing. The menu is a mix of fresh fish and seafood dishes, and German standards such as Wiener schnitzel and goulash. They also make a decent pizza. Food is tasty, but service can be very slow.

    Isla Contadora, Panamá, Panama
    507-250--4159
  • 5. Los Lagartos

    $$

    Built out over the Chagres River, this open-air restaurant at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort is a great place to see turtles, fish, crocodiles, and waterfowl feeding in the hyacinth-laden water. If you travel with binoculars, you'll definitely want to bring them here, so that you can watch wildlife while you wait for your lunch. A small buffet is frequently available, but the à la carte selection is usually a better deal, with choices such as peacock bass in a mustard sauce, grouper topped with an avocado sauce and cheese, or the hearty, spicy fisherman's stew. Lighter items include Caesar salad, hamburgers, and quesadillas. It isn't Panama's best food, but it's good, and the view of the forest-hemmed Chagres River populated with grebes, jacanas, turtles, and other wildlife is worth the trip out here even if you have only a cup of tea.

    Carretera Gamboa, Gamboa, Colón, 0801, Panama
    507-314–5000

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Mon. except during high season, Credit cards accepted
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  • 6. Pimienta y Sal

    $$

    Located in the small downtown area of Isla Contadora, this pleasant, open-air restaurant (formerly known as Hot Stone Rincón) has an ample menu of seafood, beef, and sandwiches.

    Panama
    507-250--4251
  • 7. Restaurante Rincón Vallero

    $$

    This open-air restaurant, a short drive from the main road, is like something out of a fairy tale. There are stone floors, plants everywhere, goldfish ponds and a stream running between the tables; the food is pretty good, too. The ample menu ranges from traditional Panamanian dishes such as sancocho (chicken soup with tropical tubers) and corvina (sea bass) prepared various ways, to filet mignon and chicken cordon bleu—they spell it "gordon blue." There's a playground and a tiny menagerie in the back garden. They also rent rooms, but they're cramped, dark, and musty.

    Calle Espavel, El Valle, Coclé, Panama
    507-397–1393

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