The enclosed patio of Los Danzantes is always a favorite, with top-notch service and a diverse menu. With the accompanying tortillas, the queso fundido appetizer with an abundance of huitlacoche, corn smut, is hearty enough to completely fill up two. The delicate tuna tartar tostadas are a more manageable starter for venturing farther down the menu. A giant leaf of hoja santa is filled with goat cheese and surrounded by a tangy sea of tomatillo sauce. Regional goat cheese flavors the creamy rice and fills a hearty serving of chicken with a huitlacoche sauce. The chocolate cascada releases warm, molten chocolate, and crème brulee is tinged with fragrant rosemary.
Many people head to El Olivo Gastropub for tapas, but we found their main seafood dishes are amazing, even after spending six weeks in Spain this past summer. The arroz negro, blackened with squid ink and fortified with an assortment of seafood and vegetables, was the Mister’s favorite dish during our month-long stay in Oaxaca. The pernod flavoring the shrimp dish had me hooked. The coffee ice cream with nut brittle tucked under it was both better and, amazingly, less expensive than the helados peddled on the Plaza Socrates in front of Soledad. The rooftop is fanned by breezes on even a warm afternoon.
Postcards from Barton Springs 