Before leaving Bolivia for good after my 2-year expat adventure there, we had a memorable lunch at Jardín de Asia restaurant. Located within the premises of Los Tajibos hotel, this restaurant offers the best of the Asian and Bolivian worlds through a delicious culinary experience. Read my restaurant review here.

Location

Jardín de Asia restaurant is located within the premises of Los Tajibos hotel in Av. Marcelo Terceros Bánzer in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia).  Together with Piegari, La Terraza, Tajý Bar and Factory, Jardín de Asia is one of the various foodie options available to both hotel guests and external clients alike. Feel free to also read my hotel review about Los Tajibos.

There used to be another branch of Jardín de Asia in the Calacoto neighborhood in La Paz, but they closed it down some time ago.

Inside the restaurant you’ll notice a sort of big wooden tents. They are called ‘ajakaí‘, which in the indigenous Guaraní language mean “water basket”. Made of reed (chuchío) by indigenous weavers of the Chiriguana ethnic group from the eastern part of Bolivia, these structures are the iconic feature of Jardín de Asia.

The restaurant concept

Jardín de Asia offers the best of the Asian and Bolivian worlds through a memorable culinary experience.

The restaurant excels at using Bolivian products with an Asian influence, rescuing delicate flavors and allowing the union of both culinary cultures. Jardín de Asia strikes a perfect balance between the gastronomy from East and Southeast Asia and the best of Bolivian ingredients paired with the typical decorations of Santa Cruz.

What to eat

At Jardín de Asia, you can enjoy a variety of delicious à la carte dishes for lunch and dinner thanks to its vast menu. You can also choose alternative menus ranging from a romantic dinner or a sample menu for friends, to a couple of options for group menus (for 190Bs or 210Bs).

This cosmopolitan restaurant claims to feature the best sushi in town with endless makis, omakases, nigiris, gunkan or sashimis. It also includes various teppanyaki grills (I remember trying this in Pakistan for the first time, I absolutely loved it!). The selection of starters, desserts and cocktails is great too.

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Here´s the list of the dishes we ordered for two when we ate at Jardín de Asia:

• As a starter, we went for ‘metamorfosis‘, a charcoal ceviche with smoked leche de tigre, fried banana and palm heart.
• Then we had ‘sushi de costa a selva‘ made of shrimp in crispy quinoa, avocado and kawa karaage, covered in scallops tartare with blow torched parmesan cheese and açai tenkatsu
• Coming straight from the teppanyaki grill, we had the duck magret with teriyaki sauce.
• As dessert, we chose ‘munia‘, a volcano made of passion fruit and white chocolate with lemon sorbet.
• To drink, we picked a singani sour and a coconut mojito.

Out of the creative cuisine options from this restaurant, our favorites were the ceviche and the dessert. Absolutely to die for!

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You can follow them on Instagram to stay tuned about their latest delicacies.

My personal review from Jardín de Asia

Summary information
Cuisine: Asian – Bolivian
Food rating: 9/10
Service rating: 8/10
Overall rating: 9/10
Price: we spent 520Bs for two people (around 75 USD including drinks)
Address: Av. Marcelo Terceros Bánzer, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Have you already tried this restaurant in Santa Cruz? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think whenever you stop by!