restaurants and hotels

[chi-mike]

arrived in pv on jan 23rd. 7 days at the villa del palmar and 4 days at casa dona susana. As has been our custom since the airlines stopped providing meals, we walk across the pedestrian bridge and have lunch at tacon de marlin.it's a nice way to start our vacation and the hundred or so pesos we save on the taxi helps to pay for our lunch.we enjoyed our stay at the villa del palmar. nice kitchenette. 3 pools, plenty of chairs by the pool.( at least there would have been if people didn't put their towels out at 6am so they would have a chair when they come to the pool at noon.) our stay at casa dona susana didn't start out as well. we booked a jr suite king bed, kitchenette and asked for a balcony. our first room had a balcony,queen bed and fridge.it was very small. we asked for a larger room when we realized the shower would only hit your head and shoulders. you barely had enough room to turn around to rinse the back of your head.we moved to another room without a balcony and it seemed larger until we realized there was no dresser.the next day we moved across the street to the los arcos suites. balcony,stove, fridge, coffee maker even better tv stations.I would stay again at los arcos suites but would avoid the casa dona susana unless I lost a lot of weight. now, on to the more serious part of my report, the restaurants. breakfast: LA HACIENDA:. cardenas and aguacate. 3rd year in a row and my favorite breakfast place. pleasant courtyard setting, relaxing music, cafe de olla coffee and the best chilaquilles I ever had.(chilaquilles primavera). LA CASA DE WAFFLE: av francisco villa. col fluvial. good waffles and egg selections.good service good coffee. ate breakfast at a couple of the no frills restaurants. dianitas and la tias. both on madero st.both are similar. pancakes and bacon 45 pesos. eggs and choriso 45 pesos. on our last day we had breakfast at la palapa on the beach. I had blueberry pancakes,Nadine had french toast. very pleasant setting.we also had a buffet breakfast at mama rosas.(thanks for the tip ellen) 105 pesos ea. very extensive selections.everything was very good. you can view their menu at www.mamarosavallarta.com.they also have a 3 course dinner for 185 p. had hamburgers at 3 different locations.
BERNYS:: av. fluvial 231. corner of fluvial and venecia. older maps may show av fluvial as amazonia. hamburger 56p. with cheese 58p. with bacon 59p cheese and bacon 61p.they have a condiment counter with lettuce,mayo,ketchup,pickles and strawberrys with jalapenos. threw a few strawberrys on my plate and they were as hot as the jalapenos
LITTLE ITALY: in front of parque lazaro cardenas. also had a meatball sub here. both were very good. I believe both were 55 pesos.
Vaca Grill: on Avenida Francia about 2 blocks in from hsbc bank or suites del sol hotel. I have seen their large burger before and wanted to try it but I wasn't that hungry so I ordered the small burger.it was good. fries are ordered separately and they were good also.if you go there make it a point to visit the mens room.they have a very funny wall painting(we were the only customers at the time but nadine wouldn't go in to see it) Nadine liked bernys the best, I liked little italys but they were all good.
wanted to eat tacos at el carboncito on honduras st.1/2 block in from salsa mexicana restaurant on av. mexico.they don't open til 8:30 / 9:00 pm. so we skipped dinner and had a late afternnoon snack at cheeky monkey. its on the malecon across from the ladder statue. I had 2 margaritas for a grand total of $2. Nadine's one strawberry margarita was twice as much.$2. for a dollar margarita it was pretty good.we also had a chile and cheese appetizer for about 80 pesos. it was crowded and noisy and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. tacos el carboncito was the last stop on my quest to visit all of the same locations that rick bayless visited when he did a tv show from pv about 5 yrs ago. they serve tacos al pastor. they have 4 salsas to put on them,a mild guacaamole sauce a mild red salsa a hot green salsa and a muy picante red salsa. .I had 3 tacos and an agua drink that began with an s. didn't hear what he said it was and he was gone before I could ask again. it was sort of sweet and very good. I gotta say that I think he could have put a little more meat on the tacos.3 tacos and 1 drink,40 pesos.
found a place last year for tacos de carnitas.(pork) they cook the pork in a hugh pot in front of the store. he pulls out a chunk and chops it up as ordered. each table has a wide variety of salsas. excellent!. had an agua drink (again, I didn;t get the name) used to be called tacos de oro. this year it's just taquerria. corner of guatamala and belice. about 7 blocks inland from the buenaventura hotel.
for dinner: NO WAY JOSE: 5 de febrero #260. just opened about 4 months ago and has become very popular,with good reason.I had the mexican mixed salad with cucumbers,plantains,fried gouda cheese and other ingredients that I don't recall 58 p, nadine had the freidas pear salad 69 p. both were delicious. for entree, nadine had the xochimilco spinach stuffed chicken breast 136 p. lots of tasty ingredients and covered in a huitlacoche sauce .I had the yucateco pipian chicken breast 98p.served with rice and vegetables.I was half way thru my chicken breast and running out of the pipian sauce when the waiter showed up with a cup of sauce.I didn't even have to ask. first time I've ever had the pipian sauce.it might be a type of mole,if not it is similar their margaritas are made with don julio tequila I had the no way jose margarita which has kiwi in it..they have 1st floor seating and open air seating on the 2nd fl. reservation are almost always required.
ENCANTO: aquiles serdan #518. showed up on a saturday without reservations but it was early enough that they were able to seat us. the owner, christine took our orders. her recommendations all sounded good we couldn't decide. she suggested 2 specialties and she would spilt them.first we split the garbage salad which was delicious. we then split the seafood chile rellenos we each got one seafood chile relleno covered in a sauce and we also split the coconut shrimp.they complimented each other and this was one of our favorite meals of the week.
EL MOLE DE JOVITA: basillio badillo #220. the owner is sergio, jovita is his mother.their specialty is(no surprizes here) MOLE. jovita lives in mexico city but it is her recipe.nadine and I were walking past one day while they were closed. I stopped to read their menu ans sergio came out to greet us. I told him mole was my favorite mexican dish and he told me to wait. he come back out with a cup of mole and some corn chips to dip in the mole.we went there for dinner the next night. it's not a very big place maybe 8-10 tables.pleasant decor. I had the chicken mole which was one thigh,rice,frijoles with corn tortillas. 70p.it seemed like a small serving but by the time I finished I was full. the mole was very good. nadine had the chicken enchilladas de mole 70p which she also liked. they serve a bowl of , I wouldn't call it salsa, it's more like a dip served with corn chips.I ordered a guacamole. the chips, dip and guacamole combo was excellent. great value for your money.
MARISCOS TINOS: diaz ordaz # 920. across the steet from parque hidalgo. new location. same menu and (for now) same prices as their pitillal restaurant which is closed for good according to the waiter. not enough buisness. I had the pescado zarandeado. redsnapper, spice rubbed and slow cooked on a wood burning grill.covered with red onions. nadine had tinos special shrimp dish. served in a bechamel almond sauce with mushrooms spinach,bacon and vegetables.we've eaten at the pitillal location,punta mita and now the malecon location and we both have ordered the same things everytime.the spice of life doesn't always have to be variety.I also had my first taste of racilla there.it reminded me of my friends' grandfathers' moonshine he made in the barn when I spent the summer with him in mississippi in 1959. total bill was 670 p.we got there early enough to watch the sunset from the balconey only to discover the rosita hotel blocked our view.
ROGAS: in bucerias. it's up in the hills directly behind the church and plaza. we sat out on a patio which had a commanding view of the town and the bay.watched the sunset and a cruise ship making its' way out of the bay. We both had a shrimp dish. neither meal was memorable. we split a salad that I think was overpriced at 95p. total bill was 600 p. they did show us a lobster (frozen)that was as big as a goat for 400 pesos.
GUERO PALANCA: it's on the highway to las palmas,past ixtapa and past the prison.in an area know as desembocada. it's set on the mascota river.it's far enough away from town that you don't see many tourists there.Dave and Ellen joined us. it was the first time there for all of us. we were met by a little boy who directed us to a parking spot.our waitress spoke perfect english. I had a whole fish and shrimp combo that I thought was very tasty.nadine had a shrimp shish-ka-bob. actually there were 3 shish-ka-bobs. dave had a shrimp combo and ellen had fish shimp combo. I believe all meals were 120p. plastic table and chairs with a view of the mascota river just a few feet away and a panoramic county setting with mountains in the backround.they had a 3 piece band taking requests. I believe our waitress liked the band because she was dancing with her partner for about 15 mins or so.it was a pleasant experience and her dancing just added to that.
HACIENDA XOCHTIL: rio nazas #388 col. agua azul. a hidden gem tucked away in a quite residential community. we were joined by dave and ellen and their friends(and now ours) Steve and Dianne. we sat in a courtyard of what was once someones hacienda. nadine and I spilt a chorizo enpanada appetizer 4 pieces.I had the oaxaquena, chicken breast with dark mole from oaxaca,nadine had mole de olla, which wasn't a mole but more of a beef stew served with mashed potatoes and veggies.I don't remember what everybody else had and I don't remember what the bill was.but there prices are very reasonably and I think their quality is as good as anywhere I have eaten the young man who brought our meals out got his notes mixed up but with a little help everybody got the correct dish. they had a one piece band playing backround music.last year they had a man playing a harp. don't know if he's still there.Nadine and I got there early and I asked the waiter how buisness was.he said "getting better". I would hate to see this restaurant fail. becaus of it's location I'm afraid people are reluctant to travel too far of the beaten path. this one is worth the short taxi ride.
we saved the best for last or so we thought. we made reservations for dinner at the hacienda san angel. mirimar #366. we arranged to get there one hour early for a tour of the hacienda.it is said to be one of the most beautiful homes and restaurants in puerto vallarta.Unfortunately it rained all night and all day . they have mariachi music on this day and I wasn't sure how the rain would affect the dinner and show. I called hacienda twice during the day to find out and I got busy signals both times.I asked the concierge at playa los arcos if she knew if the weather would affect the evening. she didn't know. she tried again same results. so I decided we would cancel and save it for next trip. the concierge said she would continue to call to cancel. we then decided to do the next best thing. el torritos 2 for 1 ribs. it wasn't a full slab but close, with . a large serving of fries total cost for 2 not including drinks.130 pesos. ribs were good,fries were good. only available mon/fri between 2pm and 4pm.because it was raining pretty good still and the streets were now flooded we jumped in a cab for the 3 block drive. I usually ask the price before getting in but failed to do so this time .the 3 block ride' 50 pesos. live and learn .I checked back with the concierge and she got thru and canceled but was told the dinner and show was still on.I had a list of places to go and things to and I barely made a dent in them. I'm going to start planning for our next trip.

[pvgemini]

Wow!!!

Thanks for all the fantastic information!! Since you did not make it to Hacienda San Angel, you'll just have to go back to PV soon!! Probably will be better when it's not raining!

I'm definitely going to check out No Way Jose and La Hacienda. I love trying new restaurants.

Thank you for including the prices you paid for your meals. That is so helpful. I just wanted to note that in many of those places, smaller eaters could split a salad and split an entree, so your food cost would be half. When my husband and I went to Encanto, we split the garbage salad, and then split the coconut shrimp, and we could not even finish all the food.

That is one of the reasons I love Barcelona Tapas. We avoid overeating. You can order a few small plates, enjoy different tastes and textures, split a bottle of wine, and walk out of there for $40-50 USD including tip.

Thanks again! I have always wanted to do a trip report like that, but don't want to take the notes required while I'm on vacation.

Sally

[ellen]

Nice review, Mike. I was just going to pm you and ask if you had made it to Hacienda San Angel. I'm sorry it turned out the way it did but we were all thinking of you that day and wondering if the weather would affect your decision. The restaurant does have a large area that is under a roof but if the wind was blowing strong you might have gotten wet anyway. Now you have it to look forward to next year. It was great to see you and Nadine again and Steve and Dianne really enjoyed meeting you.