Tag: seafood

Postcard from Oaxaca, Mexico: Final flavorful food photos

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Aside from Los Danzantes and La Biznaga mentioned in an earlier post, we patronized other restaurants worth suggesting. Again, will mainly let the photos do their own self-promotion.

  • Mexita Restaurante definitely is in the running to become a place we enjoy going to multiple times during a trip, but, alas, we didn’t visit until the last week. In the past year, the Italian restaurant moved out of the historic center to the Reforma side of the city, which seemed to have changed the profile of its customer base from overwhelmingly American to mainly Mexican. The individual-sized arugula salad is ample for two, and we split a stunningly gorgeous seafood pizza.
  • We fell in love with Origen a year ago, yet only went once this time. We loved the casual intimacy of the small inner courtyard, where you could feel the chef-driven kitchen pulsing beside you. Now there is a more formally appointed dining room upstairs. The innovative takes using regional Oaxacan ingredients were still beautifully prepared and are recommended, but we ourselves were unprepared for the stiff, more traditional atmosphere.
  • Café Bistrot Epicuro offers Italian Mediterranean dishes in its quiet interior. Its grilled shrimp and calamari platter and its seafood linguini are well presented, but my favorite part is the eggplant amuse-bouche. More please.
Origen pescado
Mexita seafood pizza
La Jicara jamaica tacos
Epicuro fish
Don Camaron opened-up smoker marlin taco
Don Camaron ceviche
Origen pescado
Mexita “small” arugula salad
Gourmand blue cheese burger slider
Gourmand Delicatessan
Trattoria apple and gorgonzola pizza
Epicuro octopus
Epicuro grilled shrimp and calamari
coffee shop near Susannah Trilling’s new storefront
La Teca appetizer platter – a meal in itself
Origen huitlacoche risotto
Origen sweetbread tostada
La Jicara chicken curry
La Jicara carrot and lentil tostadas
Epicuro seafood linguini
Mexita amuse-bouche
Don Camaron pulpo and shrimp
Epicuro eggplant amuse-bouche
  • La Teca is a homey spot. Because it is actually a home. Pass through the tables set up in the almost garage-like entryway if the front door through the family’s living room is not open, and head back to the pleasant little patio. The food presented is Istmos-style. Unless you haven’t eaten in days, don’t be persuaded to order the works. The multi-course meal is both too expansive and expensive. The food is heavy, so stick to one or two items al a carte.
  • Gourmand Delicatessen presents a major change of pace. The small deli is a spot we order whole Spanish tortillas to take home for breakfasts or dinners. Sandwiches, sliders (particularly the eggplant one) and salads are all good, and Gourmand bakes their own rolls and bagels.
  • We keep looking for a good Sinaloan seafood spot in Oaxaca. We tried off-the-tourist-track Don Camaron this time. The ceviche was good, and the smoked marlin taco was something I’d never had before. But maybe one of the places with the lines running out the doors on a Sunday might prove more atmospheric.
  • A bright interior cozy patio surrounded by a book store characterizes La Jicara, offering numerous vegetarian options. The lentil and carrot tostadas were wonderfully refreshing.
  • Not a destination if you are on the other side of town, but the little Trattoria y Pizzeria fronting Conzatti Park is a nice neighborhood pizza place. The apple and gorgonzola pizza was simple and had a wonderfully thin crust, and the server delivers an amazingly addictive dish of olive oil loaded with thin crisp slices of caramelized garlic as a complimentary starter.
  • We loved picking up earthy breads from Pan y Co, and would pick up freshly roasted and ground coffee from a shop on a pedestrian plaza-like street running off Los Arcos and almost next door to chef Susannah Trilling’s new storefront offering her Seasons of My Heart moles and chocolates. So new even her website doesn’t list it and its address yet, and so new she herself was standing in it arranging things and talking to us about her products and classes. Sorry, those aren’t very helpful directions…. Maybe next time, in addition to wining and dining, I’ll break down and take one of her cooking classes.

Postcard from Porto: A port naturally noted for seafood

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Grills grace the sidewalks in front of many mom-and-pop restaurants throughout Porto, filling the air with the aroma of smoking fresh dorado and sardines, a flavorful distance from oily canned ones. Porto is heavenly for seafood lovers.

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Our introduction to food in Porto was a basic riverside café, perfect for the jet-weary travelers. We opted for the classic starters – pastel balcahau, or codfish balls – surprisingly good. The garbanzo salad was great, and the seafood stew was flavorful. Can’t remember the restaurant name; the inclusion of krab in the stew seemed absurd in a port city and made the spot memorable only for its view.

At first I thought the owner of Adega Vila Mela disliked tourists, but, as regulars continued to pour in for lunch, I realize he was a tiny gruff with everyone. As observations continued throughout our stay in Porto, I realized increasingly why: often owners are the sole person managing the front of the house. Owners are seating patrons, taking orders, busing tables, cashing out customers and keeping an eye on how things emerge from the kitchen. Waiters make their money primarily from salary in Portugal; tips are meager. This means few are hired to cover the tables, which leads to stretched-to-the-max owners. But owners make sure everything is right.

Adega Vila Mela restaurant is tricky to find, so most of the customers are regulars – always a welcome sign. An abundance of flavorful olive oil was wonderful on the swordfish and the grilled calamari served with generous helpings of vegetables, but a couple of the squid were extremely sand-filled, ruining that dish. Reading reviews by others, I think that was a fluke. So I still would recommend Adega Vila Mela.

We were owner-served again, more cheerfully though, at Papavinhos, with large windows overlooking the Douro River. Here, we enjoyed a traditional vegetable soup and an artfully presented beet soup. The mussels topped with cheese and drenched in olive oil were a little rich for our taste, the cheese overwhelming the flavor of the underlying mussels. The grilled pork tenderloin was perfect. And, again, we would recommend this restaurant for traditional fare.

Located on a picturesque street that angles directly off the riverfront, Cozzza Rio looks appears way too touristy but we had surprisingly good meals there – grilled dorado, grilled sardines and a goat cheese and tomato salad. The Mister thought the dorado the best he tried anywhere, and the house green wine was refreshing and better than elsewhere. It’s best to steer clear of the frozen desserts, though.

We crossed the river via a one-euro ferry boat to sample the grilled seafood  of Casa do Pescador in Afurada. Tasted my first barnacle here, salty and tender. My father grew up on the Chesapeake Bay and the ocean and never could believe people ate mussels; can’t imagine what his disgust would have been over barnacles. A cup of seafood stew was mildly spicy and good; the bones were easy to avoid. We went again with the sweet, white dorado, surrounded by mountains of vegetables.

The ultimate bargain seafood was right in our neighborhood – about 15 euros for a dinner for two of vegetable soup, a huge serving dish of octopus rice and a liter of house wine at Tia Aninhas. The octopus was perfectly tender at this spot filled with locals.

More tastes from Porto ahead….