It’s hard not to fall in love with Mexico’s food. But where does this love affair begin? Where does any love affair begin?
In a restaurant, of course.
Mama Mia in San Miguel de Allende
But not the only place enamorase. Traveling through Mexico for any length of time at all quickly reveals that the norte-americano concept of el restaurante is a loosely held one in Mexico. Typical walk-in restaurants are, naturally, everywhere, but there are also a huge variety of other types of food venues: the ubiquitous food carts, street-side food vendors, and even backyard or patio restaurants run out of family houses are everywhere.
Pedro’s Cenaduría is the back patio of his modest house on the outskirts of Bahia de Kino. His food is always muy sabroso! Note sign for menudo: no thanks.
Camping in Mexico presents itself with its own kind of food related challenges. Sometimes there are just no traditional-style restaurants close by, and even if there were, when travelling with Louie, it’s always problematic whether or not a restaurant will let us bring Louie in with us. Case in point:
- ¿Podemos traer a nuestra mascota con nosotros? (I’ve used this Spanish phrase a lot)
- No, señor. No admiten mascotas.
But when you least expect, good eats are just around the corner. Our first overnight stop in Mexico, for exmple, was at Punta Vista RV Park in Santa Ana, Sonora. Naturally, after a long, grit-your-teeth kind of day of driving, we were insanely tired and hungry.
By the time we arrived at Punta Vista, the park was already getting dark, so while I set up Rocinante for the night, Jackie offered to scout out (them Texas women are raised fearless!) possible restaurants down the busy street for something to eat for our very first, official meal in Mexico. She returned a half-hour later laden with carnitas asadas she bought from a little family taqueria just down the street from the RV park.
The vieja abuela who ran the place was so taken with Jackie when she saw her (there’s something about Jackie that automatically attracts elderly grandmas, children, stray dogs and cats, and crazed hipsters to her) that la señora insisted on helping Jackie carry the carnitas back to our camper. And when Jackie gave her a tip, la abuela was so grateful that she cried huge tears and hugged and kissed Jackie on the cheek.
Carnitas—simply prepared, traditional, and fabulously delicious!
Teníamos mucha hambre, we were so hungry, and they tasted delicious. The carnitas were really nothing more than grilled meat, a few spare condiments, rolled in corn tortillas, and limón. Simple, but remarkably delicious, Mexican food.
Staying at the Islandia RV Park in Bahia de Kino put us in walking distance of most of the local restaurants and gave us more opportunities to sample the local fare whose menus where, of course, dominated by mariscos.
On the spur of the moment one morning after a little Kino exploration, we walked into a very small seafood restaurant, Los Mariscos de Kino, for a late breakfast. The owner was extremely welcoming and had no problem with bringing Louie into his restaurant. We both ordered camarones. What else would you order? When staying in a small Mexican fishing village, what you primarily eat in the restaurants here is los mariscos.
Camarones Tocino. Served with rice and papas fritas and lime.
I ordered huevos camarones, eggs with grilled shrimp, and Jackie ordered camarón con tocino, shrimp wrapped in bacon, served with a small salad and rice on the plate with papas fritas and lime.
One of the interesting food idiosyncrasies we’ve found is that given the opportunity, Mexican cooks will wrap just about anything in bacon. Again, the food was simply prepared and delicious.
On a Friday evening, the town full of tourists from Hermosillo seeking escape from city heat, we tried Restaurante Paula.
Restaurant de Paula located in the busiest section of Bahia de Kino. All open air (yes, to the flies as well).
Yes, we ate more shrimp: Jackie went for the camarones asada tacos, and I ordered camarones asada. The meal came with an very large bowl of frijoles, and Jackie ordered a side of guacamole.
Camarones asada, arroz, ensalada, limón, y un tazón grande de frijoles. ¡Muy sabroso!
Camarones asada tacos, arroz, ensalada, salsa, y por supuesto Tecate.
The young waiter saw right away he would be serving norte americanos, so he took out his cell phone and readied his Google translate app, as did I. Dueling Google translate apps. During the meal, he stopped by to check on us. I was curious about him, so I asked, ¿Eres un estudiante? That was all the prompting he needed to talk about his studies.
He told us (en español) he was studying marine biology at the university in Hermosillo and was in his final year of studies. I was surprised by the fact that even with what little Spanish I knew, I was still able to understand a large part of what he was saying in Spanish. Maybe the year I spent studying Rosetta Spanish is paying off. Who knows.
Restaurant de Paula menu:
Call and Response 