Jellyfish Restaurant
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Jellyfish restaurant in Punta Cana is right on the beach between Melia Caribe Tropical and IFA Villas Bavaro. Coming by car or taxi it’s a 5 minute bumpy ride from the main road. But once you get there you’ll see it’s well worth the journey.
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As you can see from the photos the restaurant’s architecture is unique! Set on 2 floors with a main dining area downstairs and a lounge upstairs both offer panoramic views over the white sand, palm trees and turquoise sea. No windows needed here, the walls are open with pull down canvas awnings to shelter you on those blustery days.
view from Jellyfish’s top deck
Out front there are sun loungers and sun decks where you can relax by day whilst sipping one of their house cocktails (Punta Cana Breeze is a fav, rum, orange juice and grenadine).
Jellyfish is beautiful by day but by night the restaurant takes on an amazingly romantic ambiance. In fact it’s probably the most popular off-resort wedding venue in Punta Cana. They have hosted hundreds of wedding ceremonies and dinner parties – ask for Maite (their very experienced wedding coordinator) on the contact numbers at the bottom of this article.
Some weekends they’ll have DJs playing on the beach and often host beach night parties (see their website for future events).
Seafood is Jellyfish’s speciality and they do it well. Try their seafood grill platter for two – a generous offering of fresh lobster, langoustines, shrimp, conch, octopus and fish. For non seafood lovers there are plenty of excellent meat, poultry, crêpes and pasta dishes. There is also a children’s menu – chicken strips, turkey fingers etc. After your meal retire to the upstairs deck with a brandy and one of their selection of De Leon cigars.
Prices run at an average of 30-70$US a head. When we’ve dined there the food and service were excellent. If you want a special evening with fantastic food in a romantic ambiance then we recommend making Jellyfish part of your Punta Cana vacation.
UPDATE 12th May 2010: We dined there again since writing this article and have to be honest and report that the food & service this time was not so good – we ordered seabass filet provencal (description on the menu: seabass filet with Mediterranean flavour, white wine sauce and black olives) – the fish and it’s sauce were cold and there were 6 large prawns in the sauce that were not mentioned on the menu. Unfortunate as our guest has an allergy to prawns! But no worries, we just swapped dishes. However, on another plate the langoustines had not been deveined (removal of the intestinal sack) leaving them inedible (unless you like grit in your food). We pointed this out politely to the head waiter but he did not seem concerned. Maybe we just got unlucky and chose a day when the staff and chef were not on form. Generally though we’d say this is a good restaurant and definitely worth a visit.
Jellyfish interior by night / the 3 resident Hispaniolan parakeets / owner Gabriel and manageress Raluca
As stated on their website Jellyfish offer free transportation back with advanced reservations. Without prior reservation this offer stands if your bill is over 100$US. This offer is only for resorts in the area between Moon Palace/Hard Rock Hotel and Catalonia Resorts (ie. it excludes resorts in Uvero Alto, Punta Cana (ie. Club Med, Puntacana Resort & Club) and Cap Cana).
Walking times: approx. 20 mins walk from NH Real Arena and Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort.
Walking times: approx. 40 mins walk south from Carabela Bavaro Beach Resort.
Driving directions: the turning is signposted on the main road.
From the north: pass Palma Real Shopping Mall (on your left) the road bends to the right, take the next turning on your left just after the bend. Follow the bumpy road to the end.
From the south: pass the entrance to Barcelo Resorts (on your right on a roundabout). Pass the turning on your right to Plaza Bibijagua & Poseidon Restaurant. Pass the entrance (on your right) to IFA Villas Bavaro. Take the next turning on your right. Follow the bumpy road to the end.
Parking: car park
Open: 11am – 11pm
7 days a week.
Menus: multilingual. Kids menu available. Taxes not included in menu prices.
Credit cards accepted – Visa, Master Card, Amex.
Reservations recommended for evening dining: Tel: 809 840 7684 / 809 868 3040
Wedding ceremonies and dinner parties catered for. Ask for Maite their wedding coordinator. Also see their website gallery for wedding photos.
Website: jellyfishrestaurant.com
Facebook: Jellyfish Restaurant Punta Cana
E-mail: either via their contact page on their website or jellyfishrestaurant@gmail.com
