We had just watched many baby turtles being release just before sunset on Zicatela Beach. I was on the scene taking photos of surfers. But the fun was just beginning.
Release Turtles Zicatela Beach
There Off!
We headed over to Trattoria Vasco Escondido – an Italian Restaurant across the boulevard from the turtle release. We had just ordered their home made French fries when there was a BOOM like a huge wave had hit on the beach. After this the floor started rolling and the building was shaking.
Anita and I ran into the street. There were a lot of other people doing the same thing. Everyone looking to everyone else for reassurance and smiles with a bit of trepidation attached.
Zicatela Beach Just After the Earthquake
It was reported that the center of the quake was 35 miles north of Puerto Angel. This is east of us and of course north – but we were in the vicinity.
We are fine and have not heard any damage reports. Our shampoo fell of the shelf and a couple things were tipped over – nothing else – the pool and the ocean still had plenty of water in them.
We are here in Puerto Escondido – day five. Last time we mentioned that we started our adventure here in Puerto Escondido with some restaurant disappointments. Friday night that changed.
Of course prices have gone up in three years. There are still deals to be had. And there are still some fine dining opportunities.
Upon arrival here we were a little road weary and hungry after a 22 hour drive from our casa in Xico to the city of Oaxaca – 550 km distance. Add another 200 km to get to Puerto Escondido from Oaxaca. Four hundred and sixty-six miles in total.
By the time we secured a motel room and got unpacked we were ready for Happy Hour. A number of watering holes offer a two for one special in the late afternoon and early evening. We tried the two for one deal several times always coming away disappointed.
My theory is they mix one large drink and split it into two glasses and little more. There certainly is no more than a shot of alcohol per two drinks. There are restrictions for any Happy Hour offering – so be sure you understand the rules. Personally, I would write-off the two for one cocktail hour as a losing proposition and not bother.
Twice we ate to disappointment Thursday afternoon and again that night.
Friday night we walked all the way up to the northwest end of Playa Zicatela (on foot). We stopped at nearly every restaurant looking at each menu. Near the top or northwest end of the Playa we came to the upscale Hotel Santa Fe. Across the street on the ocean front side we spied a charming restaurant setting.
Sometimes it is hard to say what draws one in – but the cloth table coverings and candle lit tables with the backdrop of the sun setting on the ocean were certainly inviting – we investigated.
Anita checked the menu before we sat down – best to rule out what doesn’t work before having to embarrassingly get up from a table. Things looked encouraging enough for us to take the next step – sit down.
We were welcomed by owner Chef Rafael Alvarado Perez. Rafa is young with heaps of energy and more than a dash of enthusiasm. He explained ‘Bistro 28’ was a mere month old. Before we were even seated Rafa explained in English that he was a recent graduate of a couple cooking schools, both in the United States and Mexico.
He Further explained his family had been in the cooking trade for several generations. He glowingly explained that many of his dishes are secret family recipes learnt from his Grandmother.
Rafa – Chef and Newlywed
Meg – Our Hostess and Newlywed
The young culinary enthusiast seemed like the real deal – we had our pick of tables. All came with a spectacular ocean view – we were mere yards from the water’s edge.
Bistro 28 Beach Side
Not only had we discovered a fine restaurant, but a love story soon unfolded as well.
I asked what the significance of the number “28” had in the name Bistro 28. Rafa explained that he and his bride of a month had married on December 28th. He and Meghan Wood had met in October and married in December; and then opened a restaurant in January – wow!
Soon Meghan showed up. Her excitement was a bit more contained about the new restaurant venture; perhaps a little less confident. Meg explained that a few nights before, the bistro was full. The two of them were under a lot of pressure with the large hungry audience. “Hours after we got home my hands were still shaking from the effort “– believed to be successful.
But when the conversation moved to the new marriage her eyes brightened and a broad smile appeared as she told her version of the whirlwind meeting and subsequent marriage. “His side of the family gave us household things. My side gave gifts for the restaurant.”
The night’s special was fresh tuna steak in a tamarind sauce with a goat cheese spinach salad with blackberries. That sounded good to us. We had only recently been introduced in detail to tamarind pods in Ursulo Galvan.
Tuna Steak con Tamarind Sauce – Yum!
The fruit of the tamarind tree is within a 3 to 6 inch pod. We had recently tried making tamarind tea.
The thinly sliced tuna steak was glazed with the sauce that produced a sweet and sour flavor – very tasty!
Bistro 28 serves beer and wine. We had a couple glasses of some fine Chilean wine, “Concha y Toro”.
The dinner and ambiance were absolutely wonderful.
Sunday we returned for brunch. I had a Mediterranean omelet and Anita had a Mexican omelet. They were also tasty.
Rafa suggested we visit his mother’s restaurant “Entre Estrellas Gourmet” in town. If it is true that the apple does not fall far from the tree – we will definitely try mom’s place out soon.
Bistro 28 will not be a secret for long. There are some fine eateries along Zicatela Playa. Bistro 28 has made an entrance at the top end. If you visit Puerto Escondido it is a must stop. As you turn down to enter into the beach area at the northwest end you will find The Santa Fe Hotel – across the street on the beach side is Bistro 28 – Buen Provecho!
Folks, this includes; expats, short term residents and tourists, seldom visit our tri-city area – Xalapa, Coatepec-Xico. These places just are not on the lists for Places for Fun in the Sun Mexico.
The rare birds that are here in our part of Mexico are often here in part to avoid the throng of tourists that frequent other popular haunts of Mexico like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán and San Miguel Allende.
So where does a rare Mexican expat-bird go on vacation? This essentially when everyday is a vacation. Well I am here to tell you of a rather secret spot over the next couple of weeks. We were here three years ago about this time. We have been looking forward to coming back since we left.
Puerto Escondido at Sunset
We arrived yesterday around noon. Started off with a not so great restaurant and then another. But the opening play was steadied in the evening when we re-connected with an old friend. We haven’t been here since 2007 however walking along the beach front we ran into our friend Gordy from Canada.
As a young man Gordy was the epitome of rock n’ roll roadie excellence. Gordy, a good-looking, white haired, young gentleman who still exudes the energy and ‘make it happen spirit’ of his youth is a character to remember. He is a get it done, in your face kind of hombre. His smile is infectious and he has a yarn to spill on just about any subject at all times. This silver headed and tongue guy has an accent that is a cross between a Canadian resident (which he is) and a Valley girl.
Gordy and I jawed about the time we spent together in the 60’s on a Bob Dylan and The Band train touring through Canada. The reminiscing about those lost generation days was great fun. In spite of the fact we both are prime candidates for not remembering the 60’s, Gordy has great detailed recall of those crazy days.
If you are a long time reader than you might have guessed we are in Puerto Escondido (hidden port). Like Xico Puerto Escondido is mostly a secret other than to a few stalwart travelers and quite a number of novice to world class surfers. Puerto Escondido is arguably in the top five places to surf in the world.
The Calypso’s are frugal travelers (note new category). We hope to introduce you to a few of the out-of-the-way places that are worth a visit here in Mexico. This is the first stop.
To get here is probably most of the reason Puerto Escondido is not more popular – it has everything thing else. It is the Riviera on a beer budget – OMG I have died and gone to heaven!
By the time we were fully decided that Wednesday would be the day we will leave and got loaded up it was 2 PM. Eleven hours later we drove through Oaxaca. We had decided to take the mountain route nearing the cities of Veracruz and Cardel, but driving further west over near Cordoba; then down to Tuxtepec where we got on Mexico 175 dropping into Oaxaca.
That stretch of the trip was terrific. It did include a lot of twisting and turning mountain driving. Quite scenic and probably even better in daylight.
We arrived in the city of Oaxaca a half an hour short of 12 hours driving time including a stop for dinner. From there we think we made a bad decision to take Mexico 131 highway to Puerto Escondido rather than Mexico 175 which we had been on since picking it up from Mexico 145 at Tuxtepec.
About 3 AM we pulled over and slept for a couple of hours in a Pemex station and then finished the drive arriving in Puerto Escondido about 22 hours after we left our home in Xico. We drove a lot at night through the winding mountains – the roads were good. No worries. However not long out of Oaxaca highway 131 became bothersome with many highway holes and a lot of topes going through small pueblos.
We will take Mexico 175 back up to Oaxaca on the return trip hoping for a better road.
The good news is the scenic mountainous route we chose had but one cuota (toll) of 19 pesos. We have spent as much as $65.00 US$ on tolls back in 2007 on one half of the journey. The trip from Xico to Oaxaca is recommended – you will have to stay tuned to learn about the best stretch between Oaxaca an Puerto Escondido.
Upon arrival we drove straight down to Playa Zicatela. This beach front area has motels, hotels, restaurants and all the beach trappings including charming little palapa headed cantinas fronting beach umbrellas stuck in sand and life guard stations standing tall above the hot sand.
New Pavement on Zicatela Playa
The ocean view is looking south past wonderful Pacific Coast sandy beaches.
A lot had changed on Playa Zicatela. Many new restaurants, a couple new motels and a very nice cobblestone like roadway which was just getting installed when we were last here three years ago. You are going to vicariously visit some restaurants, as well as be introduced to some of the street vendors. Together we will visit some of the many shops.
At our beach front motel you won’t find mints on your pillow; but the entire experience is a sublime box of chocolates. Next time another secret place here in Puerto Escondido – So Stay Tuned!
The Guapa Señora Calypso reaches the age of 50 this week. As a retired expat she ranks quite young. Her ability to speak Spanish and charm the natives has certainly made the adjustment to living in Mexico easier for me.
She has spent more than half her life at my side, nearly all her adult life. I thank her for that. In thinking about our relationship and how I might define it at her mid-century mark, I think it appropriate to write that she has been the difference in my life.
She has been the difference between thinking about it and getting it done.
She has been the difference between getting it done and getting it right.
She has been the difference between faith and knowing.
She has been the difference between a good day and a great day.
She has been the difference that enables me. She is life’s gift to me; the gift that keeps on giving. I am a lucky man indeed. Happy Birthday Anita!
Continuing on the construction theme, I mentioned that on some main streets they are putting the electrical lines underground here in Xico. With all the cobblestone roads and mass of humanity and traffic this is quite an undertaking.
Comision Federal de Electricidad, Mexico’s largest state power company known as CFE,Has been modernizing at the same time the Government is remodeling the fronts of the buildings fronting Calle Miguel Hildalgo. Additionally they have reconstructed the park, which has caused some discontent, as folks were concerned about Xico losing its historic face.
So far progress on the park does not look like it will detract from the overall quaintness and charm of our fair pueblo.
No one will argue the benefits of hiding those many electrical cables. Photographing the area will have better framing options without those many overhead lines – that in and of itself is worth all the current disruption.
Last night four of us, locals went to dinner. Acamalin was our destination – mere blocks from our friend’s casa. Upon arrival we found the restaurant closed with a notice of remodeling – bummer.
We proceeded on our scooters up to Calle Victoria and swung back down Hildalgo, which runs one way to the east a couple blocks to El Mesón Xiqueño at Hidalgo #152. Another excellent restaurant with a lovely invernadero (greenhouse) in its patio with squawking parrots (Lasguacamayas).
Here in front of the restaurant was the common red plastic tape sectioning off the work area that encompassed about a third of the width of the street. Our riding partners lifted the tape as we maneuvered our scooters under the tape parking in front of the entrance – ah those little scooters are totally convenient when it comes to parking
A fine dinner was had by all. El Meson’s mole is prepared in house and is a mouth-watering treat smothered on many of their dishes. At some point I mentioned how great it is to be sitting at a table outside on the patio at the end of January – “You have to love it!”
We ate; we gabbed and finally scratched Paco the large macaw’s head before heading off to our respective casas. The torn up streets were a mere distraction that promises to make our little side of paradise just that much better – come and visit, you will not be disappointed. Stay Tuned!
Mexico is labor intensive. This is a good thing for an aspiring country (developing nation). For some months now the Mexican government has had a work force remodeling building fronts along Hildalgo street. Calle Miguel Hidalgo is the main drag heading one way (west to east) through the town of Xico.
A week or so ago a project to place electrical wires underground was started along Hildalgo and a few other main roadways in town. How nice it will be to have those webs of wires removed from view. Signs of progress.
The other morning it was rainy and foggy; generally miserable. I was reading. I heard shrill whistling that silenced the birds and interrupted my moment. Across the way I spied a propane truck – common around here. But, when I saw what the two workers were up to I had to get a picture or two.
The big truck carried an extension ladder and rope. In the miserable weather one hombre climbed the fully extended ladder to the roof top of the two story casa across the way from us. He then dropped a rope down to the other hombre. He secured the heavy filling hose and nozzle to the rope. It was hauled topside in order to fill a 300 liter tank on the roof top.
The hombre aloft had whistled to his partner to secure the line and then release hose from the spool on the rear of the truck. As the tank was filling he continued to whistle while he worked.
I, like most U.S. laborers, might have been grumbling about having to be doing this in cold rainy weather; and adding the question out to the air and anyone within listening range, “WHY would anyone install a gas tank atop their house?”
Lot sizes are typically narrow and small in Mexico pueblos. Every square meter of property is utilized. Often a casa will cover every square centimeter of land space. Naturally building up – placing propane tanks, drying laundry, storing furniture and things you might find in a metal shed in the U.S. and walking the dog rooftop is common practice.
Propane gas is about half the cost typical in the U.S. There is no extra charge for hefting large tanks of gas or filling tanks on rooftops – just part of the job.
Occasionally when I see many hombres out doing work that might be more easily done with heavy equipment I scoff at the inefficiency; the labor intensiveness. But then I see that Mexico, a developing nation, has half the unemployment of the first world nation hovering a top their land. I think maybe those people up there have outsmarted themselves.
Today is beginning sunny. Dogs will be warming themselves at roofs edge. Clothes will be hung on rooftops to bask in the sun and propane hombres will climb to rooftops sans yellow rain gear. It will be a good day here reaching to the 70’s.
That hombre will still be whistling as he works I am sure. He has a job and happy for that. Stay Tuned!
Eat the cherries. Toss the pits. The bright red cherries of ripe coffee berries are tossed. The pits are toasted. Here in Xalapa, Coatepec and Xico it is coffee berry harvesting season.
The hills are alive with folks bearing buckets, baskets and bags of bright red plump coffee berries stripped from the vines of hundreds of thousands of coffee plants. A couple days after picking the beautiful red pulp will be stripped away and used for little more than fertilizer. The pit on the other hand or the seed or the bean will be toasted to coffee perfection.
These days on our roads we see many stake bed trucks with pickers packed like so many sardines. They are returning from the coffee plant fincas dotting our country side. Burros, mules and horses are packing sacks of red coffee berries. Driving by the numerous large coffee Beneficios (coffee processing plants) you can smell the rich acrid aroma of coffee in the air.
Our local friends in the Hood at Ursulo Galvan will not be found in the day time now as they are out on their small fincas “cutting coffee”; removing berries from vines.
It is a season of robust activity.
Side-walks, roof tops, patios, and cement drying decks of all kinds are heavy laden with golden coffee beans basking in 80 F (26.5 C) degree sunny warmth. A year ago we did a series of Blog entries on the coffee process from vine to cup.
Finished coffee is in short supply right now as last season’s beans are long gone and first crop is just getting into processing. It was high time for us to begin the search for good roasted beans as our supply had reached an untimely end. But good luck and the warmth of new friends brought us north and east to Coatepec where fine roasted Robusta and Arabica beans abound.
We had lunch at a 20 acre coffee plantation that included a tour of the facilities and grounds. Our host is an extranjero (foreigner) who has been in Mexico more than 20 years by way of New York City. His sun filled casa had stacks of 57 kilogram quintals (bags) of golden coffee beans waiting to be roasted to a dark brown.
Toasted beans were actually in short supply as a delivery had just been made. But, the two couples that came over from Xico each left with a six-month stash of dark roasted Grade A coffee beans – life is good!
There are plenty of pictures within the pages of this Blog of coffee in all stages of its growth, harvest, processing and liquid state. But, I wanted to share with you some beans in a rather unique state. As everyone was hustling about the kitchen where our host and the two mujers (women) of our foursome were preparing lunch I spied on the marble counter this:
On close examination you can see that a kilo or so of dark roasted beans is the ‘potted earth’ for the lovely colorful dried stalks in the crystal vase. A clever artful display – however unless you own a coffee plantation you might imagine the temptation to seize the ‘earth’ of that lovely display when your coffee supply has run out.
We live in coffee country where roasted beans become charm bracelets, necklaces, key chain bobs, folk art and even potting soil in crystal vases. I just plunged down the grounds of a dark roast in the French press – coffee time.
The other day we drove into Xico to pay our property taxes, check on our rental and have lunch at our favorite cocina economica, The Tias. During the drive and subsequent moving about the town of Xico we noticed a lot of new graffiti markings. I even saw a truck with the canopy marked by paint can graffiti.
It looks as if graffiti is endemic to Mexico, but then the U.S. certainly has its share. Here in our area I would suggest that graffiti is now at an epidemic level. This quite simply boggles my mind. In the latter part of the 20th and now into the 21st Century the earth is scorched with the markings of restless, mindless youth. The billions of dollars spent on education are doing what for society?
Across the street at our Casita in Ursulo Galvan a block wall and a wood door have been marked by the pubescent nina that lives there. The apparent plan is soon the door is to be replaced and the wall stucco’d. But in the mean time these areas have been tagged to provide entertainment for the restless young girl – all in good fun.
We know the circumstances because when we started to commiserate for the travesty the mother explained it is all in good fun. But do all the youth and parents for that matter here in the Colonia of 1700 know this is just good fun, or do the children see inroads to this trashy barrio identity crisis and their parents accept yet another insult to respectable living?
Why would a parent allow this activity as some sort of release because it will be covered one day – and perhaps not too soon as the wheels of construction over there run very slow? There are two casas in various stages of construction, and have been for the last five years. Is it not a training ground for future tagging?
Until they do get that wall and door covered we will be entertained by these barrio markings, as will the rest of the Hood. We and the neighbor to our east have long walls directly across from this barrio blackboard – ours are bigger and certainly more inviting.
Six months ago if you turned off the main road between Coatepec and Xico to head up to our Colonia and further in you would have noticed a distinct lack of barrio markings; but it started creeping up from the turn then and is now there in the Hood.
Have we adults all gone nuts? Have we given up on our neighborhoods to our children? Apparently the repercussions for such behavior are in no way a deterrent.
I know trying to reason with teenagers is often a lost cause, but has anyone suggested some mass media programs to let these taggers know they are ruining their own inheritance. That the buildings and neighborhoods that they are defacing will one day belong to them; that the costs involved in cleaning up their mess eventually gets passed back to them via higher taxes and parents who have to buy $45.00 gallons of paint instead of those $300.00 sneakers they are wanting.
Might we suggest that by turning their neighborhoods into trashy looking slums might reduce the support and investment made by government and business? The houses they live in lose value as they convert their middle class neighborhood into the likes of a low end barrio.
It would seem that even if you have not yet enough sense to come out of the rain that you might be able to do the math that equals defecating in one’s own nest as not smart.
Here in Mexico they haven’t been able to stop littering – it also is at epidemic proportions here. We are enough generations into littering here that quite simply the adults seem to have no care to stop it – soon there will be second and third generation taggers. There seems to be no stopping any of this.
There are a whole lot of people on this planet now and seemingly few that care about the future of it. People here in Mexico are starting to go to the gym and exercise – they are running and buying jogging outfits – getting real first world ideas. But, they won’t do any deep knee bends, squats or toe touching to pick up the trash in their neighborhood; and they surely aren’t going to disrupt the happy family unit by beating the tar out of little Jose or Mary for defacing the neighborhood.
What do we do when we find something wrong, when someone is acting against what we believe is right, moral or ethical? More often, the answer is – nothing. And here in passive Mexico that is written in stone.
How long this can go on is anyone’s guess. Graffiti has increased by a magnitude in the short few years we have been here – there is no end in sight; quite the opposite. Now when I say this is paradise to a future resident I qualify it with when you look past the litter and graffiti. Stay Tuned!
When we were considering Mexico as a place to live Mexconnect, an Internet E’Zine was a source of information. That and “The People’s Guide to Mexico” were pretty much it other than the rather milk toast Frommers and Triple A travel guide books.
In those days you had to pay to be a member of Mexconnect – now with so many other Mexico information Internet options they have stopped the membership fees and taken to advertising – a good idea I think.
I occasionally go back to those roots and see what is up on Mexconnect. Yesterday, to my surprise right there on the front page there were lead-ins to two articles on Veracruz! Believe me when I report that formerly Veracruz was not on Mexconnect’s radar – now two articles.
And what’s more startling is one of those articles actually mentions this site as a good source of information – be still my heart! We have evolved from looking for information to a source of that in a mere five years – cool.
But what I really want to talk about is the article, “Expat living in Mexico: Xalapa vs. Ajijic.” Of course anything written about our area by ‘mainstream’ tourists/expats information includes how ignored the State of Veracruz is, and these days it is said that we are in fact a hidden jewel of sorts. I agree.
Comparing Xalapa to Ajijic or should I write doing battle with which is a good place to beam yourself to mostly bothers me.
On the Vivaveracruz Forum when someone downplays Ajijic and San Miguel as being gringo strongholds, writing how these places are not ‘real’ Mexico etc., I remind those writers that no one place suits everyone; and further that it is not necessarily a bad thing wanting to be with your own kind. But the controversy persists. Here on the Blog I write about The Good Life – with little direct defense against the likes of Ajijic.
While my readership meets or exceeds (thank you Global Post) that of Mexconnect these days (based on their readership statistics where they sell advertising) you will find on this Blog that I take on the deeper and controversial issues without fear or commercial trepidation. Although my own nephew, just the other day, suggested that perhaps my writing had become tamer? Perish the thought!
We twisted in the wind in the early days about exposing the value of being here – we’re here, now close the door.
Over time I have come to realize that throngs of foreigners moving here really isn’t a major worry as truth be known our little slice of paradise is not everyone’s taza of tequila. It seems almost as many people that have come here have left – some running.
Maybe we 200 or 300 expats in the area really do want to be alone? Attempts at expat social gatherings seem to have mostly failed. Makes me recall one of my favorite pieces of poetic justice written by Elinor Wylie:
Avoid the polluted herd,
Shun the reeking flock;
Live like that stoic bird
The eagle on the rock
Great that – somthing I wish I had written first, but then Elinor passed on way too soon and 18 years before I was born. Her words in the poem, “The Eagle and the Mole“ reflect my feelings on the need for seclusion.
We had a punch list of what we wanted in a new location low those many years ago, about ten now. Being away from people of the United States wasn’t on any of our lists – the three of us each had his own. After a career in the entertainment industry you might imagine how one could develop a need for seclusion.
If in the eagle’s track
Your sinews cannot leap,
Avoid the lathered pack,
Turn from the steaming sheep.
The Mexconnect author writes, “A far more magical place is Xico, a few miles south of Coatepec. It has the feel of a pueblo, not a suburb. Its further distance from Xalapa has staved-off development.” This is arguable, but certainly holds true for its quantity of expats – there are but few.
You have but to mill around past entries of this Blog to understand why we are here. Mexico and most certainly its State of Veracruz are not for everyone looking to escape Canada and the United States.
Xalapa (Coatepec & Xico) versus Ajijic (San Miguel de Allende, Cuernavaca, Chapala and Puerto Vallarta). A silly debate really.
There was little in the article’s summation that explained the writer’s decision on the debate. The article goes on to say, “These self-anointed Jalapeños seem more independent than expats who settle elsewhere in Mexico.” Perhaps?
Different strokes for different folks will always be a fact. I find no need to defend or espouse the reasons why we are here. I will defend the rights of others to be someplace else in any debate on ‘what is the best place to live’.
In the mean time stick around to learn more about this side of paradise. It is going to be near 80 today and still warmer tomorrow. We welcome the sun and you with open arms. Stay Tuned!
Acamalin wins second place for longest operating restaurant in Xico, Veracruz (operating for 26 years). The Acamalin (AH-KOM-A-LEAN) restaurant gets its name from the prominent hill landmark seen southeast of town. Also sometimes called “Xico Mountain” or “Cerro de Xico”.
Acamalin Hill in Xico, Veracruz (Pico de Orizaba Reins Supreme on Rgiht)
Rafael Tomas Gómez Fuentes and his lovely esposa Doña Guadalupe Caballero Lopez, the proprietors, were having dinner together as we entered the eatery last night.
Acamalin Restaurant #40 V. Carranza Street, Xico
Senor Gómez a tall Mexican man with an infectious smile greeted us. He recognized us as we have frequented Acamalin a number of times over the last five years. He listens intently and took the time to answer all our questions completely.
Restaurant Acamalin was originally located on Hildalgo, Xico’s main street. A collapsed roof caused them to relocate to their residence at number 40 V. Carranza calle (street).
Three and a half years ago they built the restaurant addition to their residence creating a warm, charming homey atmosphere.
Acamalin Front Room - Senor Gómez Enjoying Dining at Home (The Acamalin)
We like to sit all the way to the back room of the several dining areas. There, you will find large glass windows opening to a lovely garden area.
Dining Room with a Garden View
This night Anita and I both had trucha (trout) entrées. Fish = brain food.
I counted a total of 6-ways to have trout. Anita had “Trucha Frita O Filete con Ensalada y Papas” (Trout fillet – fried with salad and French fries). I had “Trucha O Filete con Champiñones y Queso Manchego” (Trout fillet – with mushrooms and Manchego cheese). Mine included salad as well.
An empanada like hors d’oeuvre filled with beans was served as well as small cups of Verde. The green sauce served with the empanadas is scrumptious. The trout entrees replete with head and tail were very good. We agreed mine was the better of the two; we are not major fried food fans.
Complimentary Verde Liquor & Delicioso Green Sauce
The mushrooms and herbs as well as the Manchego cheese were a delectable combination with the tender white trout “meat.” Anita and I debated the fact that the mushrooms were canned. I thought for such a fine preparation natural mushrooms would have been tastier.
My one real criticism was the tortillas were the masa mix variety. You may have read my recent tortilleria entry. I am spoiled and much prefer the ground corn kernel tortillas. El Campanario Restaurant just down the road actually has a mujer making handmade tortillas on the spot. I would have been happy with the fine machine made tortillas made from real ground corn masa.
After dining Doña Guadalupe Lopez proudly showed us her well supplied cocina (kitchen). They were well set-up with a great commercial stove and lots of stainless steel. It was exceptionally clean and well thought out.
Doña Guadalupe Lopez in her Kitchen (ENLARGE HERE)
Don Gómez explained that originally his grandmother was the original chef. Both he and his wife had careers in business, but opted to be restaurateurs. Doña Guadalupe learned the trade from the grandmother and then later attended la escuela de cocina (cooking school).
More in the Kitchen – A Pot of Mole (ENLARGE HERE)
In summary the comfort food is very good to excellent. The ambiance is warm and the owners and help are cordial. Street parking is ample. Overall I give the restaurant 4 out of 5 stars. It gained a ½ star for its very reasonable prices (Menu Here) and very gracious owners. Anita had a glass of mora (blackberry wine) and I had a Negra Modelo beer as well as the entrees for 200 pesos ($16 US) plus propina (gratuity). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Buen Provecho – Stay Tuned!
Release Turtles Zicatela Beach
Zicatela Beach Just After the Earthquake
Tuna Steak con Tamarind Sauce – Yum!
