Bite This: The Coconut Shrimp at Tierra Viva

Tierra Viva is a small and romantic spot, all outdoors, one block from the beach at Calle Martin 10. I wish I could tell you that I have eaten through the entire menu such as the New York Times restaurant critic. But I can’t lie. For as much time as I spend reading through the varied menu, I always have the coconut shrimp. Why? Because it is coconut shrimp like no other.

Many iterations of this dish have a thick crust of coconut bits. When this occurs, the taste of the sweet coconut bits overwhelms the taste of the shrimp. When there is not enough coconut, you have almost unadorned shrimp.

The fine chef at Tierra Viva strikes a balance and the result is a menu item that looks and tastes like no other. The shrimp are placed on easy to eat skewers for dipping in sauce.

And here is the inside tip: ask nicely for the tamarind sauce. Tell you why. The sauce that usually comes with the dish is a sweet sauce of coconut milk. That is all well and good-- I find that sauce delicious, but a bit too sweet. The tamarind sauce, however, has a lovely sweet, spicy, tartness that is truly a thing of beauty.