Zihua dining report

[Don Cuevas]

Last week we escaped the chill mountain air of the Pátzcuaro, Mexico area by boarding a couple of buses to the Pacific coast city of Zihuatanejo, Guerrero. It's an easy 5 hour trip by bus, somewhat less by private vehicle. Our goal was to get some sun and warmth, hang out by the pool and to eat a lot of fresh seafood. We accomplished these goals to our great satisfaction.

Friday the night of our arrival, we stayed close to our hotel, the Villas Miramar, and walked a couple of blocks to Rufo's Grill. Rufo's is an outdoor restaurant under a thatched palapa roof. It's open only at night. I got a very nice ribeye steak and Doña Cuevas had grilled red snapper accompanied by grilled sliced zucchini and mushrooms.


One of the best steaks I've had in Mexico—Rufo's Grill

We made a point on this trip to avoid high priced "gourmet" restaurants, not just because we are cheap, but because we prefer fresh, natural ingredients, prepared simply. Thanks to glowing TripAdvisor reviews, we discovered Carmelita's Cafe. It's been in business only 4 years, but has won the hearts and palates of many devoted customers. We enjoyed it so much that we ate there 4 times in our 6 day stay.

Carmelita's is located somewhat out of La Zona Turística, on Avenida Heroico Colegio Militar, betwen a car wash and a mini super market, "El Cacahuate".


The dining room is light, airy and garden like.

Carmelita's is appealing not just for its fresh, local food, but for the warm personality of its owner and founder, Sra. Ma. del Carmen Ramírez de Gonzáles. Her enthusiasm and friendliness pervades and inspires her very competent and friendly staff.


Carmen and her daughter, also Carmen.

On our first, afternoon visit, I had a filete de Sierra (Pacific mackerel) Al Mojo de Ajo. It was among the best pieces of fish I'd ever eaten.


Filete de Sierra Al Mojo de Ajo

My wife had a bowl of Caldo de Pollo con Arroz.

The aguas frescas (fresh fruit ades) were especially good. One was of cucumber and lime, tart and refreshing; the other of watermelon.


Agua Fresca de Pepino y Limón



Agua Fresca de Sandía

We enjoyed our meal so much that we returned for Sunday brunch.

Doña Cuevas enjoyed an egg white "Light" omelette, filled with fresh vegetables, and I had a specialty of the Tierra Caliente region, "Aporeadillo", an scrambled egg dish with shreds of salted, sun dried beef in a fairly picante salsa.


Omelette


Aporeadillo


To be continued...

[Deleted]

Looks absolutely super duper so far! One of those ades would really hit the spot on a hot day.

[bixaorellana]

I licked all the topping off the filete. You can have it back now. ;D

Don Cuevas, thanks for this marvelous report on a region that gets little attention in books on Mexican cooking. The coastal areas of the states are so culinarily interesting, too, as they can be so different from their interior.

Lucky you to find Carmelita's! Thanks for showing the exterior here, which is beautifully typical of many seafood restaurants in Mexico. The food looks so fresh and deftly made. I'm particularly intrigued by the aporeadillo. I grew to love carne machaca when I lived on the border, but don't encounter it here. Drying & shredding beef to preserve it makes so much sense and the ways of using it are interesting.

What is that to the right of the (gorgeous!) steak, please?

Can't wait to see more of this report!

[Don Cuevas]

The stuff to the right of the steak is/are frijoles.

[Don Cuevas]

Continuing from above...

Although we loved Carmelita's Cafe, it was by no means the only restaurant in which we ate more than once. There were two others which we liked well enough to return for a second meal. Others got one visit.

At this point, I'll other a general scorecard of places where we ate. Overall ratings from 1 to 5.

Carmelita's 4 visits with a solid "5".
Marisco's Chendo's 2 visits and a "4 1/2".
Fonda Doña Licha, 2 visits and a "4"

Rufo's Grill, 1 visit and awarded a "4".
Patio Mexica (the breakfast version of Rufo's), 1 visit and a "3 1/2"
"El" Perla Negra (sic), 1 pleasant but unexciting breakfast and a "3".
Margarita's (beautiful building, beautiful people among the clientele) o.k but not great breakfast, spotty service, higher but not exorbitant prices. One visit, gets a "3"
One unnamed cafetería (coffee shop and tortería), 1 visit and a "3"

From this point on, I'm going to review/describe only the top ranking places.

One afternoon, I walked out on Calle Adelita in Colonia La Madera. Much of the street is torn up and undergoing repaving. I stopped to read and photograph the menu outside the noted "La Gula", a restaurant of gourmet ambitions. Here's a photo sample, of just one page of their elaborate menu.


La Gula Menu-one page


If the text of these menus is too small too read, you can go the album page and there the photos can be expanded. tinyurl.com/Zeats2012

Almost at the western, townward end of the street, I saw Mariscos Chendo's. The menu there appealed to me. It offered some creative flourishes on fresh seafood, but rarely went over the top. I later read TripAdvisor reviews, and saw that it was in 5th place of Zihuatanejo restaurants.


Mariscos Chendo's Menu

We braved the unpaved street that evening and greatly enjoyed our meal. The friendly family running it enhanced our enjoyment.

It's also a very laid back place but with good service. In fact, there's a hammock in the dining room which one or two family members use during dinner. The decor is not fancy, but the motherly waitresses do an excellent job.

Doña Cuevas chose a Filete Relleno de Mariscos, sin queso.
This was a beautifully cooked fish filet wrapped around a filling of impeccably fresh shrimp and octopus pieces, The side of fresh vegetables was notable in the is was barely cooked to even before the al dente stage. We liked that.



I went all out and got a Chile Relleno de Mariscos; again, filled with octopus and shrimp but I also opted for the cheese. The chile Poblano was very mild, except at the stem end, and the filling was again very fresh tasting. Gilding the chile was a delicate, rosy sauce. Cream was involved in some mysterious way. It was totally enjoyable.



We splurged, against our custom, to each have Nutella crepes for dessert. I'm not a big fan of crepes as dessert and I've never been fond of Nutella. But these were o.k., although I doubt that I'd order them again. Sra. C. had them without Nutella but filled with sliced, fresh strawberries. I had mine with Nutella and sliced bananas.



Chendo's is one of several places in Zihua famous for Coconut Shrimp. We passed up our chance to have this specialty, as we were concerned that the coconut might be sweet. The local style is to serve them with a creamy coconut sauce. It sounded like perhaps too much coconut for my taste. When we go back some day, maybe we'll split an order.

On our second visit to Chendo's, Sra, Cuevas had the classic Camarones Al Mojo de Ajo. The shrimp were small but naturally sweet.



I opted for a simple grilled Filete de Dorado, with nothing on it but salt and pepper, sided by a portion of spaghetti in a clinging cream sauce enriched with cheese (probably Manchego Mexicano, mild stuff) and nicely balanced with sauteed sweet peppers. The dorado was sublime and the pasta was good.

To be continued...

[tod2]

This is great Don! I am enjoying the dishes immensely ;D
Looking at the menu at 'La Gula' - are those prices in American $$$$? My eyes popped out when I see $280 for fillet Mignon! Surely not

[Don Cuevas]

tod2, they are in Pesos Mexicanos. So, $280 would be approximately $23 USD or $168 SA Rands.

I consider those prices high for dining in Mexico. We have paid that much elsewhere in Mexico, and even more, but in most instances, it was as they say, "No vale la pena."; that is "Not worth the trouble/cost".

[tod2]

Thanks Don - that brings it on a par with an upmarket restaurant here. At most ordinary everyday places a fillet steak costs R85-95. That includes a starch of your choice. Veg or salad can be extra.
A sauce is always an extra R20+-.

I love crepes - as in Crepes Suzette, but not with Nutella. It is sickly sweet and totally overpowering for me.

[bixaorellana]

"gilding the chile" ~~ ;D

This is just great, DonC -- I'm enjoying the heck out of it & learning stuff, besides.

I really like the way you showed the menu of Chendo's followed immediately by some examples of their dishes. The menu definitely shows that they honor the classics, but with some verve thrown in without silliness.

Yeah, coconut shrimp -- I'd have to be with other people in order to split an order to try it. Does not appeal for the very reasons you list.

Looked again at La Gula's menu.     How the hell do you garnish something with couscous. Wouldn't that be the equivalent of balancing one rotini or suchlike on top of a plate of food?

[Don Cuevas]

We were speaking with some Pátzcuaro expat friends who spent last month in Zihua. They stay in a modest hotel in Centro. The wife was extolling the coconut shrimp at Lety's, which may be the originator of this dish. Or, at least, the most famous for it.
tinyurl.com/LetysZihua for someone else's pics.

The coconut is unsweetened. Sometimes, the shrimp is stuffed with cream cheese. Some places serve it with mango salsa. At Lety's, you have to order the mango salsa in advance. The usually accompaniment is coconut milk or maybe cream, blended with yoghurt. Our friend was a doubter before she tried it but now she's addicted to it.

[fumobici]

Feb 6, 2012 14:49:32 GMT Don Cuevas said:

as they say, "No vale la pena."; that is "Not worth the trouble/cost".

Add an 'n' to 'no' and you've got Italian.

I wish we had Mexican places like that up here, it looks wonderful.

[Don Cuevas]

It would be interesting to learn Italian, Fumobici.

Now, returning to our Zihua dining story:

Besides Coconut Shrimp, another Zihua and area specialty is tiritas, a version of ceviche in which the fish fillets are sliced into strips, then marinated in lime juice. The condiments are usually simple, typically some finely cut red onion and a sprinkle of chile flakes.


Tiritas de Pescado. Photo taken at Mariscos La Güera, Pátzcuaro

Although I was sorely tempted to order some tiritas and especially, the "Cevichendo" at Chendo's, in which orange juice is among the marinade ingredients, over a variety of raw seafood, I restrained my desires. We both had suffered various health problems recently, and I just didn't want to take any chance of seafood borne illnesses.
Undoubtedly, the seafood at Chendo's, raw or cooked, is impeccably fresh and properly prepared, but I just wasn't going to experiment at that point.

Also, against our previous custom, we totally refrained from eating street food. However, we didn't lack for traditional regional cooking, and one of the best places for that was at Fonda Doña Licha. Doña Licha's is a big place on a side street not far from Zihua's mercado. It does breakfasts nicely, but the main reason for its popularity are the economical comidas corridas (Set lunches at one, low price. I think the comida corrida ran about $50-55 pesos.)

The place is dedicated to quickly getting good, inexpensive food to its many customers. There are touches of decor, but essentially it's not noted for frills. On the other hand, it's spotlessly clean. Some guests might be troubled by the street pigeons which scavenge the floor for crumbs. We were not, as they were quiet and didn't fly about inside and get up on the tables.


Archive Photo from 2009

At our first meal at Doña Licha's, I had Enchiladas Verdes Gratinadas, which elsewhere would be called Enchiladas Suizas. I am not a huge fan of enchiladas, but these were good, and not excessively rich.


Enchiladas Verdes Gratinadas

Doña Cuevas had a comida corrida. It started with a good Sopa de Tortilla, then Pechuga de Pollo a la Plancha (flattened breast of chicken, simply prepared), frijoles de olla (simple, earthy and delicious boiled beans, which come to one's table unbidden but welcome.). We shared a pitcher of pretty good Agua Fresca de Piña, which is extra, and I had a couple of shots of local mescal, at an amazing $10 pesos a shot! The total bill was $145 pesos, or about $12 USD.

On Thursday, our day of departure from Zihua, we had plenty of time until our bus left, so we went to Doña Licha's for breakfast. Sra. Cuevas had two fruit plates, one with yoghurt and granola, the other "natural", and a glass of papaya juice.

I tried Doña Licha's apporeadillo (which I learned is the correct spellng), and a glass of papaya and orange juices, mixed. Doña Licha's apporeadillo is somewhat more picante and characterful than that at Carmelita's, although I enjoyed both. Of course, the tortillas are hand made at both places, but I give the edge to Licha's for freshness just off the comal (flat cooking surface).


Doña Licha's aporeadillo

I don't recall what our breakfasts cost. The apporeadillo was about $60 pesos. Overall, it's a great bargain.

These are all of our currently favorite Zihuatanejo eating places. As I said at the beginning, we went to a few other places of lesser quality, but I'm not going to mention them. We didn't get to eat at the famous Tamales y Atoles Any, a fine, if somewhat touristy place in Zihua Centro, but it's worth a visit. On our earlier trip in 2009, we had an excellent Mole de Olla and Consome de Polo. But the Mole de Olla seemed high priced, at $100 pesos. And that was in 2009.

Another omission was that we didn't have any of the local pozole (hominy based soup with pork, chicken or seafood), as it's customarily cooked and served on Thursday evenings, but we were absent then. Another trip will be required.

[bixaorellana]

Yes, another trip ......... with me along!

Wonderful report, Don Cuevas. I'm always leery of discovered beach towns & their many indifferent restaurants with English-language menus. But you definitely show that Zihua is a real place, plus ferreted out some lovely places to eat.

Licha's comida corrida price is about what you pay here in a better but not ritzy eatery. You might get the agua or a small dessert with the meal for that price, but probably not handmade tortillas, which of course trump aguas & token desserts.

Lovely photo of the tiritas, something I seldom see on menus here. The second photo of the aporeadillo made me want the stuff even more than before.