In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Mi Jardin Coffee Bar

Boquete, Panama

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

A couple of miles outside of the town of Boquete, is Mi Jardin. It's about a five-to-seven minute, $1USD taxi ride.

Not only is this a manicured tropical botanical garden, (takes about 30 minutes to stroll around the stone walkway) there is also a coffee bar and restaurant located there.

The entrance to Mi Jardin

A delightful way to spend some time ambling around perfectly groomed trees, bushes, ground plants and even a well stocked Koi pond, Mi Jardin offers a place to view the surrounding mountains. There is no particular season that better showcases the native plants, each month of the year something is blooming or grabbing your attention.

When you have photographed the hand painted donkeys and the wondrous equatorial plants, it's time for a coffee, a brew or some lunch.

The view from the restaurant/bar

I went to Mi Jardin Es Su Jardin on a Sunday morning, and after the pleasant walk through the gardens, I decided to go up to the coffee bar and see what was cookin'.

As you can see, it's a lovely view from here.

Casual seating

The seating is casual and one can see the mountain views from about every table.

The beverage menu

I ordered a cappuccino and even though it is marked $3 here on the board, I was charged $3.25 + tax.

The coffee was delicious and I asked to take a look at the menu. There were some very interesting items listed that I had not seen in town. It was so curious to me, that I asked about the chef. Was the chef Panamanian? I was told she was, but was trained in Switzerland.

Intriguing.

I take photos of the menu and after my coffee, and immediately went home to let Billy know of my exciting discovery.

Billy decides he wants the ribs today, so we hop back in a taxi, climb the stairs, sit down and prepare to have a delicious meal along with our outstanding view.

I ask for the Executivo menu and the waiter says that it’s not available, at least, not on Sunday. Billy wants ribs, and the waiter points out that he can still order the ribs from the regular menu. Good news. Then Billy says he wants a glass of white wine, and the waiter looks into the refrigerator and says there is no white wine…

What??!! This is a restaurant!

So Billy orders red.

I was in the mood for something light and begin to order a salad, and the waiter says the two salads I was interested in – the Cobb salad and the Strawberry Spinach - salad aren't available either.

This is just not going well.

I try as best as I can not to get upset or be too disappointed … and I order the fish dish. This apparently doesn’t come with anything at all, just the fish on the plate so I need to order vegetables to accompany my main course.

The ribs with a tangy mango BBQ sauce and rosemary fries

Eventually, a young woman comes up to the bar and talks with the staff. Billy lets her know that we came back here especially this afternoon to have lunch because I had been here earlier and looked at the menu and decided that Billy “needs” to eat here.

She can see that the situation requires her intervention and offers me a glass of white wine and she opens a fresh bottle of wine just for me. (Where was that bottle before?)

I return to her in a few minutes and we begin to talk about the restaurant, the menus and her training. Apparently, the Executivo menu is a Business Lunch that is only offered Tuesday through Saturday, and today is Sunday. They are closed on Monday, so basically, Sunday is a "nothing" day. Nothing happens, and they don't want left overs to carry over to the following Tuesday. So the kitchen runs on a skeleton selection.

!!!

My nut flour encrusted fish with fresh vegetables

Then the chef offers that if we come in on Tuesday, she will make us anything we want as a goodbye lunch for us.

I thank her, go back to our table and we wait for our meals to arrive.

My fish is perfectly presented but I don't taste any nut flour or crust. Billy receives his ribs (which were a bit cool) and the rosemary fries have no rosemary taste.

There is plenty of food and beautifully displayed.

Our bill, priced in USDollars, with the Jubilado discount on the food

The meal didn't go exactly as we had planned, but that is the way things go sometimes. We have written before that restaurant service in Panama can be a bit sketchy.

We would return to this restaurant again, but never on Sunday. The Executive menu offered some enchanting dishes and we would love to check them out. We believe we just caught them on an off day.

Gorgeous garden with the mountains as a backdrop

We have a saying that you order what you want and you eat what you get. So, life goes on and we face another day!

Walking out of the garden

Definitely go to Mi Jardin for the garden walk and for a cup of coffee or glass of wine. Go during the week if you want to eat at the restaurant, that way all the menus are working and you will have a good selection to choose from.

Mi Jardín Es Su Jardín

Website: www.mijardincoffeebar.com/ Tele: +507 730 8267 Email: MiJardinCoffeeBar@gmail.com

Monica Caballero, Head Chef, Cell: 507. 6416. 7166

Vía Los Naranjos, Boquete District, Chiriquí Province, Panamá. 

HORARIO/ OPENING HOURS CLOSED ON MONDAYS Tues-Sat 10:00am - 2:00am Sundays 10:00am - 8:00pm

For more stories and photos of Panama, click here

About the Authors

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

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