Puerto Vallarta

[pbraun]

For cheap authentic, I found a great place on the north side of the bay - just grab a cab and ask the driver to head over that way and you'll see it before you get to Jalisco.....on the bay, large straw roof, right on the beach,......with superlative food - the red snapper was the best!!!!!!

Huachinango!!!!!!! = red snapper !!!!!! unbeatable!

Edited January 26, 2006 by pbraun (log)

[Jambalyle]

Trio! (<= see link)

Guerrero # 264 Col. Centro

Puerta Vallarta, Ja.

Mexico, C.P. 48300

+52 (322) 2-21-96

Bernhard Gueth is one of the chef/proprietors at Trio (and is a friend of a friend of mine - Daniel Zimmermann).

I stopped in for dessert and wine a year ago - what a great place!! Please give Trio a try and report back!

[daisy17]

I am about to go to P.V. and would like some up to date suggestions.  Anybody been there recently.  I would like a couple of high end options, as well as the cheap authentic.  I plan to vist as many fish taco stalls as my companion will allow me to.

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What a coincidence - I'm going to PV in a couple of weeks also and have exactly the same question. Also, has anyone been to La Palapa?

[Jean Blanchard]

I spend the month of February in PV. La Palapa is beautiful but the food is mediocre. Go late and sit in the bar to listen to the owner sing (ask which nights he's there). Cafe de Artiste is very gourmet and beautiful. There are three separate areas to dine in, all unique so check them out and make your reservation in whatever one appeals to you. There is also a wine shop across the street that carries a nice selection of wines. If you find a wine you like at any of the other stores, buy it. You never know if you it'll be there the next time you come back. Boca Bento is a newer restaurant in town, I believe over by the grammar school and it is also fabulous. Some friends who are already there told me that the restaurant (Italian) at the Hotel Intercontinental is very good. Haven't tried it yet myself. Trio is always good and also pretty. Piazzetta is fun and good for cheap Italian and I understand that the owner has added a lounge. Barcelona Tapas is owned by an American chef that used to work at a tapas place in my home town. Very good tapas, ask to sit upstairs. There is a frenchman there who used to own a cute little pastry shop with fabulous, typically french pastries. I understand that after a failed attempt at a bigger restaurant, he has relocated his shop but it's somewhere right in town. Try to find it. It's worth it.

There are so many restaurants in PV that it's impossible to name them all. Like anywhere, some of them fail and aren't there when we come back the following year but there's always more to replace those.

Have a great time and report back on your favorites. Let me know if I can be of any more help.

jb

[arriba!]

Cafe des Artistes for "swell". El Arrayan and/or Red Cabbage for regional favorites. Chilies(NOT the American chain!!)for wonderful grilled chicken and hamburgers(not open at night). Rio Grande for mesquite grilled red snapper and shrimp. Agree with above info re: La Palapa and Barcelona Tapas.

Regrettably, an old favorite--Las Cazuelas has closed. Their rose flavored sauce was from heaven! I read somewhere that the husband owner was in a car wreck but no one has been able to verify this.

Buen viaje!

[Alchemist]

Just had dinner at El Repollo Rojo (Red Cabbage Cafe) and it was sublime. Started with Chiles en Nogada, a cold dish composed of poblanos stuffed with picadillo (ground beef, potatoes, spices), nuts, raisins and pomegranate, topped with a luscious walnut cream sauce. I was ambivalent to say the least about ordering it but once I tasted it I was sold.

Entrees: fish with zucchini flower sauce (served with rice and perfectly cooked fresh vegetables which are nearly impossible to find in Mexico) and Pierna Machada (pork leg, slowly cooked) with ancho chile sauce and GOOD mashed potatoes. Both were fantastic.

Homemade flan to finish. One of the best meals I've had in the last month in Mexico (not including fish tacos).

[detlefchef]

Just got back from 5 days in PV. Here's my notes.

On a non-food related issue, Villa Premiere is a wonderful place to stay. Not cheap mind you, but right in town, absolutely charming, great staff, whirlpool baths on the balcony of our room. All in all, a great place to stay. They also happen to serve some well executed Nuevo Latino food. We enjoyed a few nice breakfasts, some tasty apps when we got there (octopus sopes, ceviche, crab taquitos) and had a late night snack at the fancier of the two restaurants (a salad of verdulagas stood out to me).

As for the rest. Hands down, our favorite street food was the taco truck across the street from Salsa Mexicana. I believe it was called Cescine. Pretty standard fare, but well executed. I had to stop my wife from going back reminding her that, good as they were, we could essentially get the same thing back home in the Latin neighborhoods of Durham. I can't say much good about the tacos at the stand right next to the plaza near the begining of the Malecon. Kinda skanky. The tamales at the stand right where the Malecon starts were great.

El Arrayan had wonderful scallop and avacado ceviche, very good local cheese, and another app that escapes me (perhaps because the cocktails were also quite nice). Margaritas made with Arrayan fruit, also some cool drink of basil, fresca, and vodka. I wish I could say the same of the entrees. My Concinita al Pibil (sp?) which is one of my favorite dishes Pork cooked in achiote paste wrapped in banana leaf was quite dry and chewy. There's almost no excuse to make pork dry. The 21 ingredient mole that came with the filet could have perhaps used maybe 23 or 24 ingredients as there seemed to be a hole in the middle of the taste. The mahi was overcooked and the sauce was non descript and the grilled shrimp were super tough. Not that the entrees were horrible, just not so good. The space was also quite nice.

El Repollo Rojo (once we found it) was amazing. I did the house pris fixe while the other three at the table cherry picked the rest of the menu. Guac- outstanding, cooked spinach salad- ditto, squash flower "quesedillas"- liked by me, not by all, cream of peanut soup- interesting and good. My Chiles en Nogada (another favorite) did not at all disappoint. As for the entrees, the clear cut winners were my Mole Poblano with chicken and the Roast pork leg with garlic sauce. In contrast to Arrayan, the mole was spot on and the pork was melt in your mouth tender and moist. The mahi in squash blossom sauce, however, was a bit of a let down. The sauce was super creamy and completely smothered the somewhat overcooked fish. The veggies, while al dente were rather uninspired. The flan was overcooked. Oh ya, the margaritas were the best we had while down there. All in all, a very nice meal.

Mariscos Tinos. This came highly recommended from one of my customers as a place to get simple, honest seafood. After the seafood lover among us suffered through the last two dishes he got, he basically insisted the next place we went had simple, grilled fish. Well, that's what you get. Very good margaritas again, tasty ceviche, the whole grilled snapper was immense and quite tasty. I split a Lobster al guajillo that was tasty if a bit dry. Honestly, I'm not sure if it was worth the shlep, and I may have preferred checking out another of the "High-end" Mexican in town, but it was a cool adventure none the less.

Lastly, fish tacos in the Zona Romantica at a very clean restaurant/street stand across the street from the big grocery right next to the swinging bridge you can take to get there from the island weren't quite up my alley. They were made from stewed fish and were a bit funky. The roast chicken sold kitty corner, on the otherhand, made a great 6am snack at the airport the next day.