+505 8744 3419+ Add websiteImprove this listing
Hours
Sun
11:30 - 22:00
Mon
12:00 - 22:00
Tue
11:30 - 22:00
Wed
11:00 - 22:00
Thu
11:30 - 22:00
Fri
11:00 - 22:00
Sat
11:30 - 22:00
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Ratings and reviews
5.0
RATINGS
Food
Service
Value
Atmosphere
Food and ambience
Local cuisine, Caribbean, Seafood, Healthy, Medicinal foods, Vegetarian friendly
Does this restaurant have private dining rooms?
Details
PRICE RANGE
€40.00 – €67.00
CUISINES
Caribbean, Seafood, Healthy, Medicinal foods
Special Diets
Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, After-hours, Drinks
FEATURES
Reservations, Seating, Street Parking, Free off-street parking, Serves Alcohol, Wine and Beer, Cash Only, Table Service, Drive Thru, Beach, Dog Friendly, Family style
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5.0
232 reviews
Excellent
214
Very good
7
Average
3
Poor
3
Terrible
5
Nicolas S
7 contributions
Mar 2020 • friends
Darinia’s Kitchen is simply a must when visiting Little Corn Island. Not only is the food amazing but so is the cook. Darinia cooks with loads of love and passion with her only purpose being to make you feel and understand the richness of the island. With an amazing combination of fruits and vegetables all grown in her own little garden, Darinia’s cooking will bring you to heaven with every bite. Her menu is moslty comprised of her own recipes and creations. This self-taught cook also makes international meals but always makes sure to add her own little twist to it making the dishes feel and look unique to her style and the island. You cannot find any restaurant on Little Corn that even arrives at the knee of her cooking. Everything on her menu is fresh and exciting ranging from local food to Thai and Japanese. To give an example, I had never tasted ramen soup with lobster tails and I can’t remember ever having lobster sushi with small bites of pineapple or watermelon exploding with flavors. These are only a few examples of the variety of creations that you can find at Darinia’s Kitchen. In addition, the Rondon, a local dish from the island mixing all the seafood found in the ocean all around, topped off with a fresh coconut sauce and a mix of fresh vegetables, is a dish that I will never be able to forget. All of this is found in a little cosy ocean front restaurant where you can see Darinia dancing while cooking in her kitchen as if you were in her home. To say the least, after going for supper at her restaurant for the first time in the middle of our trip to Little Corn, my group and I had to go back two more times because we had the urge to taste every creation she had to offer. I am not the type to usually write reviews but I had to absolutely recommend this amazing place to any food fanatic going to Little Corn Island. Finally, I recommend one last thing, after your meal, stay seated and she will come to you and share her stories and her insight about the island making the overall experience delightful and don’t be scared to give in to the urge of giving her a hug at the end of it all, she will be waiting arms open, smiling and grateful that you have given her the chance to fill your mind with this culinary experience.
Written 15 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dana Ray Williams
Houston25 contributions
Mar 2020 • none
First off, it is important to note that the food I had at Darinia's Kitchen was fantastic. I had a five course dinner which included shrimp, lobster, and filet mignon, as well as salad and desert. All of this took place on the beach during sunset. It would be tough to duplicate that atmosphere anywhere else, and certainly impossible at home. However, what truly made this experience one of the best meals I've ever had was Darinia herself.
Darinia is a delight to experience. I have never met someone who truly enjoyed making people happy more than Darinia. It is as if she lives to make great food just to make you happy. And it is impossible to leave her establishment without a hug and huge, infectious smile. To me, Darinia is what truly made this location a must on Little Corn Island.
I want to make sure I'm not downplaying the quality of the food. Even without Darinia's effervescent and joyful personality, this would be a great location to eat. Each course was both visually stimulating and tasted fantastic.
If you go to Little Corn Island, be sure to try Darinia's Kitchen. Also, be sure to stop by and make a reservation! A reservation is absolutely critical in this instance, and Darinia will sit with you and get your input on the menu.
Enjoy!
Written 31 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Simon C
Montreal4 contributions
Mar 2020 • friends
Darinia's cooking is simply sublime, she mixes influences from Japan, Thailand, Europe and Central America with her own endless creativity and her own fresh ingredients from her garden to bring you the best culinary experience, every time. Our group had to go eat at Darinia's kitchen for three nights in a row because we loved the food and the great ambience at the restaurant. What was great too was that she is a very talented chef as well as a passionate one, after our meals, we were very welcome to stay seated and chat with her for hours about her life, her experience as a chef, Little Corn Island's history and much more! I am not the type of person that writes reviews but I really felt like I owed it to Darinia for all the great food, and the great energy that she shared with us! If you are traveling to Nicaragua and are a food fanatic, I strongly recommend Little Corn Island for Darinia's restaurant. I will definitely be following her and coming back to Little Corn someday to taste her incredible food again as much as to see this amazing and inspiring woman again!
Written 15 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jimtravel22
Ealing2 contributions
Jan 2020 • couples
Dariana was lovely and welcoming from start to finish so this isn’t personal, however we spent our last night on little corn eating there based on the reviews we had read and left very disappointed. The main problems were we tried to reserve but we’re told we didn’t need to by a member of staff. When we arrived we were recommended to eat the 3 course. We chose to sit on the beach and were given a table set for 6 which isn’t particularly intimate! It then took 1 hour and 20 minutes before our first course arrived which was salad greens drenched in balsamic. It didn’t taste good and was very small. After another 30 mins I went to ask how much longer it would be, I was told a couple of minutes. 15 minutes later I asked again. Soon after the lobster dish arrived which was about 4 mouthfuls of skewered lobster on a coconut sauce. It tasted fine but again was very small especially as we were nearing the 2 hour mark.
She said it was because we hadn’t made a reservation (even though we tried to), that her food is not fast food (it certainly isn’t!), and that she’d had to go to her garden to pick the ingredients for the salad (?!).
After than we cancelled the 3rd course because we felt we’d spent too much time and money on our last night being ignored and served tiny dishes. We were given a 10% discount on payment which was gratefully received, however it is the most expensive meal we had in Nicaragua at $44 for 2. For that reason alone we expected more. The restaurant is tired looking, had it not been for the reviews we wouldn’t have stopped. There are plenty of options for food on little corn and considerably cheaper but still excellent quality.
I believe Dariana can cook and has lots of happy customers but on this occasion left us wishing we’d gone somewhere with better food, and an atmosphere. I wouldn’t want it to happen to anyone else, especially on their final night on this beautiful island.
Written 5 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dariniab
Thank you very much for your review..
Reservation dinner always is in between 2 - 4 hours its depend how many curses people want,
I understand guys if you get mad with me, but you know that you didn't make a reservation with me, unfortunately I wasn't here when you came for reservation, am so sorry for that, also the people who work here don't speak English. And I have to say...
My food deserve the price
It's many places cheaper, a lot!! But is you my love people who decide what you want for you.
I wish you the best.
Written 6 February 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Sanjay
1 contribution
Dec 2019 • none
Please stay away from this place. The cook pretends to know how to cook and charges a premium price for low quality. Claims everything is from her garden, but I saw her buy stuff for our dinner at a shop. She uses a lot of oil in her cooking and did not even know what kind of fish she was serving us. Someone might consider this to be good if they have absolutely no experience with decent cooking.
Written 1 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SJH-SFSD
Granada509 contributions
Dec 2020 • none
We just spent the past week in the Corn Islands and one thing on our "must do" list was a meal at Darinia's. She was very responsive messaging on WhatsApp, as there are some restaurants that aren't open at the present time. We were thrilled to learn that she was open for business and she was just a few minutes away from where we were staying.
The location is easy to find, roadside in the Sally Peachy area of Big Corn. Beautiful view from the outdoor dining patio of the sea and the reef.
Darinia was super-engaging as she described some of the options available from her menu. Since it's in-season, she had fresh lobster so we went all out with lobster ceviche, lobster and rice with red curry, and lobster pad thai. All were excellent and delicious.
Hard to imagine that such incredible food can be found in a small roadside restaurant on a small Caribbean island off the coast of Nicaragua. But trust us (and the many other reviewers here) - make sure to plan at least one meal with Darinia. You won't regret it.
Thanks for an incredible meal, Darinia. See you next time we're out to the islands.
Written 3 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
4tdev
Las Salinas54 contributions
May 2022 • couples
Waited 40 minutes for lunch and we were the only ones in the restaurant. They were 'out' of the first things we inquired about and ended up with some very NOT FRESH fish dishes that lacked any flavor or coherence even if the fish was fresh at 3 times the price of anywhere else. Horribly lackluster service as well. Honestly the worst meal and service in our week stay.
Written 10 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Johan
2 contributions
Jan 2020 • none
Very personal, passionated and lovely host. Darinia is making a super delicious and healthy dinner experience. The passionfruit sauce that comes with the lobster dish is a must and the best we ever tasted. The Pad Thai dish is out of this world and very tasty. Darinia and her personal cooking style gets a five star rating and a must if you come to the LCI island. The five course menu gets you a memory for life. It is not only about the food. It is the spirit and joy she puts behind the dishes. Last but not least. You can dine on the beach by the bonfire. Come as you are barefooted and put your toes in the sand.
Written 11 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
melano
95 contributions
Apr 2021 • none
We walked 5 km to reach Darinia's place (for the exercise), but it was worth it! She prepared a delicious and beautiful salad for starters, followed by excellent lobster and chicken plates with tasty sauces. Everything was fantastic, and Darinia herself is delightful company. Highly recommended.
Written 14 May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kiana G
Managua5 contributions
Aug 2021 • none
Darinia's Kitchen is a MUST if you're on Big Corn Island. Darinia herself is an absolute delight - you can feel her immense passion for cooking and making her guests happy. She uses what's in season, and will cater the dish towards what you're looking for.
In our case, we haven't found Thai food anywhere in Nicaragua, and Darinia delivered! We had wonderful chicken pad thai, shrimp and lobster coconut curries, and spinach + watermelon salads. She even went out on her motorbike after we ordered to freshly pick some herbs and edible flowers!
Please, do yourself a favour and pay Darinia a visit. You won't regret it. It was one of my favourite dining experiences ever, and without a doubt the best, freshest, most presentable food I've had in Nicaragua.
Written 12 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mitchell J
Calgary255 contributions
Jan 2020 • couples
Darinia offers an incredible 4/5 course meal that might cause you to never leave the island.
She is creative and pours her soul into every morsel of food.
The passion fruit cream sauce that was presented with lobster almost stopped my heartbeat.
The bartender Petter will happily explain the island life and where to find everything.
We returned for lunch the following day for drunken noodles and Petter’s special cocktail- Passion Fruit Smash perhaps :D
Written 17 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dariniab
Hola hola hola my Canadians couple!! Right now I feel so blessed because of you guys, thank you so much for your visit here... We will see again. for sure I will come to visit you in Canada!!
Written 21 January 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jazzmin C
2 contributions
Dec 2022 • solo
I ate at Darinia’s alone during my trip to Big Corn for dinner, I can’t speak highly enough about the food and her service. I had the Rundown (specially made) and I knew it would be made with love when I saw her in the kitchen using her own herbs. She made time to connect with the customers and have great conversation after we dined. Darinia is a lovely soul and she puts a lot of effort into her cooking, the 2 other couples dining raved about how good their dinners were too. Definitely worth checking it out if you want some local authentic flavors, reasonably priced excellent quality dinner. Best meal I had on the island!
Written 14 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jamie Alison
19 contributions
Jan 2020 • couples
It's impossible to say that you don't like her food. Why? She cookes what you like! First the idea was fish, I told here that I don't eat fish and Switch! She thinks of something else very easily. Besides the really good, fresh food, she is also just an amazing woman. We enjoyed the food and her company so much and when she asked us what we eat at home, we told her. 1 second later she just desides that she wants to know how it tastes and she starts to make it. So funny! So next to her dinner we ate 'Hollandse stamppot'! Hilarious haha. So when you go to Little Corn, it's really a must to eat at Darina's kitchen. You won't be sorry, you will be full ;).
Written 18 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dariniab
Hahaha..... Please it's me who have to say thank you, thank you, thank you guys. We had such good time thank you for that and please, send me a whatsupp or a email to be in touch :). I have to send you all the recipes Here is my email--dariniabonilla@gmail.com my phone - 505-87443419 I wish you the best now and forever!!
Written 21 January 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Paul P
Playa Avellanas70 contributions
Feb 2019 • none
Darinia is one of the most talented, creative and passionate chefs I've come across in the global travels. Dinner with my wife and parents here was one of the most memorable experiences of Little Corn. She pours her heart and soul into everything she does and her food reflects her commitment to delicious meals - with her own personal twists. Set one night out for Darinia's Kitchen on your next stay on Little Corn.
Written 9 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alana K
Calgary17 contributions
Jan 2020 • none
All I can say is AMAZING! My partner and I walked by Darinia’s on our to our accommodation. The ceviche and tacos caught our eye on the menu board located out front. We tried the shrimp ceviche, lobster & fish tacos.... TO DIE FOR! We watched the sunset on beach chairs, drank beers and ate the most delicious food. Darinia is a true gem and a lover of food. We went back the next day and had the lobster ceviche and tacos. WOW! We are coming back to the island specifically to see her and eat her food! Thank you Darinia 🙌🏼
Written 29 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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