Foodie Guide to Nicaragua

I found Nica food better than Tica. 

Both cuisines share some of the ingredients and dishes but the Nica seemed a bit more authentic, creative and diverse. 

Although our first experience in Nicaragua was terrible. At El Castillo, we ordered a steamed fish that supposedly is a local specialty. It was so overcooked that melted. But the next ones were incredible. 

San Carlos

Before we get an 11 hours boat to Ometepe, we had lunch in this famous restaurant just across the port. 

I was planning to try the river shrimp soup (it seems quite similar to lobster) but they run out. So I decided to try the other local delicacy, fish soup. It was delightful. The broth was very rich. And on the side it had some tostones. 

Fish soup

Ometepe

In Ometepe I could have fish almost every meal (if I could I would have fish for breakfast too). We found an awesome restaurant in the beach, owned by 2 nice southern Europeans, called Caballitos Del Mar.
The views over Concepcion volcano are great but the grilled fish is even better. Fresh and cooked to perfection. It came with rice, salad and tostones. I could easily eat there every day.

Scenic view over Concepcion volcano

Side dishes: rice, salad and tostones

Grilled fish

Close to our hotel, Xalli (I highly recommend it), there was another beach restaurant called Comedor Jackeling. I was looking forward to have more grilled fish but they only had fried pieces. We heard about their specialty, the wine sauce and we ordered it.  

Fish cooked in red wine, with onions and tomato

Granada

In Granada we could explore more the Nica traditional cuisine. 

We had two classic Nica dishes, in a restaurant close to the main plaza, indio viejo and pig with yucca.

Indio viejo is very typical. And it has a story behind. Once a group of Indians were preparing this recipe when a group of Spaniards approached them and inquired about the food. And the legend says that they told the Spaniards that they had just prepared an old Indian that recently died. It's not hard to believe because this dish has an odd look and texture, a brown orange mass. The Spaniards walked away terrorized. 

The ingredients used are a fatty piece of cattle meat and pig fat mixed with onion, chitolma and garlic. Tortillas, rice, white cheese and tostones are served on the side. It's really good. 

Indio viejo

Indio viejo side dishes, rice, white cheese and tostones

Indio viejo exquisite texture

The cerdo con yucca (pork with yucca) is similar to vigoron. the only difference that I noticed is that on vigoron the meat is crispy, they use fried pig rinds (chicharones). The cerdo con yucca is made with roasted pork with cooked yucca. They use the same salad on fritanga and vigoron, cabbage and tomato salad with vinegar, on top. The mix of flavors and textures is to die for.

Pig with yucca, cabbage, tomato and vinegar

Unfortunately we didn't have enough meals or room to have the vigoron again during our trip. The one we tried was already good but I'm sure that we could get much better. As you can see there are not many differences between the cerdo con yucca and the vigoron. I loved the fried pig rinds with the freshness of the salad and the bitterness of the vinegar. I wish I can try it again. 

Vigoron

Masatepe

There are several small local eateries serving mondongo soup in the same area. Our guide book recommended Vera Cruz that it was very busy at that time which is always a good sign. We ordered just one to share which was the right amount. The bowl was huge. 

Mondongo soup is a slow cooked soup made with pig diced trip and carrots, cabbage, tomatoes and yucca. The broth is very rich and intense flavor. It's a must try.

Mondongo soup

Pork diced tripe

In Masatepe we stayed in a colonial house managed by an aristocratic Spaniard descendant family. They take traditions very seriously and on every Sundays they serve the typical Nicaraguan breakfast, nacatamal. It is a dough made of corn and filled with small pieces of tomato, potato, onion, garlic, pig loin, chicken and beef. And it's wrapped in banana leaves. These ones were homemade style and they were great. We tried it before in Granada and it wasn't as good as this one.

Nacatamal

Nacatamal filled with meat and veggies