dining

El Parque in San Carlos

by Eric Jackson

It was one of those crash and burn mornings after a production weekend and a Monday trip into the city. There were still many holes to fill in The Panama News but I had a sluggish mind and an aching body. Down by the beach in San Carlos, there are limited options within walking distance and what was left of my mind said "mustard greens" and "Chinese tea."

San Carlos is changing and is about to change a lot more, but dining options outside of the home are some kioskos doing that yummy greasy stuff that I couldn't handle on this day, some typical Panamanian fondas that I will not disrespect, ceviche and bar food had I cared to walk through town and cross the highway, and a couple of china-panameña places, one of which is reliable. Those being the choices, El Parque it was.

Sadly, on this Tuesday lunchtime they were out of mustard greens, and the tea they had was only of the Duran variety.

Well, you make do with what you have.

Were my body not already aching too much for me to risk gout food, I might have tried one of the day's specials (none of which happened to be Chinese), the liver and onions. That would taste so good, but I needed to eat lighter and skip the fatal dose of purines.

The cup of regular tea began to clear my head.

I ordered more hot liquids in the form of wonton soup, and chicken braised in ginger.

This is comida china-panameña in the 150-year-old tradition. Leon pan mein and Mayor Aleman soup are on the menu, but here they don't go so far as to garnish the chow mein with minced culantro. About half of the offerings are not particularly Chinese at all, and in previous visits I have been well satisfied with some of those, particularly the fish.

The soup had one big wonton, a bunch of noodles, a hunk of chicken with the bone left in and some slices of roast pork. Those things and lots of soothing hot broth.

The chicken, about half of one, was tender, properly done, well seasoned with minced ginger and not at all greasy.

I got there just before noon, and as my meal progressed people started coming in. In the table next to me were four foremen/supervisors from one of the nearby residential construction projects that will certainly transform San Carlos and along with it most likely its restaurant scene. There were educators and retirees, merchants and working men. Most of them dined a lot cheaper than I did. The lunch specials, after all, were mostly under $3.

I splurged, spent a little more than six bucks on the meal, and because I tip like a gringo at 15 percent rather than the more common Panamanian 10 percent (I have worked for tips in my life, you know), dropped seven dollars and change on this visit.

Skip the superlatives for El Parque, but it's a nice, economical little eatery that I suspect will survive a probable influx of newer restaurants driven by some relatively wealthier people moving into this beach community. This place is comfortable, affordable, clean and part of the community.

(On the way back, by the way, I stopped into the Supermercado Alex, an establishment that's a few doors down from El Parque in the direction I was headed, and there I found a box of Chinese green tea, plus a bag of the long Chinese green beans for dinner. Had I been feeling a bit better on this day I would have hoofed it further into town to see what the fruit and vegetable vendors had at their stands, but that's a different story for a different day.)