A Little Lunch With Friends

After a fairly long lapse, we were ready for a visit to our favorite restaurant in the Pátzcuaro area, la Marisquería "La Güera". Seafood is the specialty, of course.

Our neighbors,, Geni and Larry accompanied us. It's now a lot faster and easier to get to the restaurant because the construction of the 4 lane Libramiento Ignacio Zaragoza is essentially complete, lacking only the finishing touches of palm trees, "modren" statuary, and lateral curbs. There are even traffic lights, still undergoing testing, or just to familiarize the drivers of their existence.

Once parked, and at the restaurant, I saw that the staff was having their lunches. I think that it gives an appealing, "family" touch. Although I was curious to knw what they had chosen, I didn't ask, although at least some rice was evident.

We four went for a light selection of fare:
We split an order of Tiritas de Pescado Fresco, a sort of seviche in strips, presented attractively on a background of sliced cucumber, a little lettuce, chopped cucumber, some rings of purple onion, and the trademarked orange slices, all lightly sprinkled with chile flakes.

The fish takes about 20 minutes to "cook" in lime juice, so we filled the wait with an order of guacamole; and I had two tostadas de marlín guisado, shredded, smokey fish cooked with tomato and a little chile. Geni had one also. The guacamole was simple and freshly made.

Three of our group drank goblets of fizzy limonadas freshly squeezed from limes, while I had a Cerveza Victoria.

The Tiritas came, and they were outstanding, tangy, fresh and flavorsome. One order, $38 Pesos, is enough for 4 to have as an appetizer. I used to try to eat one by myself as a light main course, but it's just too much of a good thing.

We then ordered more plates to suit our individual desires.

Larry got a torta de marlín, a small French roll with the same marlin spread on it, which just about filled him, but he and Geni were able to share the large plate of warm, freshly cooked Camarones Para Pelar that we ordered. (Peel' em and eat 'em shrimp.) These are among the best products of the restaurant, and although I'm certain the shrimp comes to them frozen, it always tastes great and fresh. The headless shrimp are large. This time, the colorful platter came showered with finely chopped mild white onion.

There is no cocktail sauce, but some of us made up a tasty do it yourself sauce of mayonnaise and thick, smoky rich Salsa Chipotle.

To balance all the "cold" foods, I also got an order of nice, perfectly acceptable Papas Fritas (French Fries.) There was a new-ish condiment I wanted to try, made by the same company, Cosecha Purépecha, who manufacture the Salsa Chipotle and other fine bottled salsas. The condiment is a chile vinegar, but way above the common stuff. It has 2 or 3 different kinds of chiles, carrot, bay leaves and other spices, attractively arranged. It went very well with the cucumbers* as well as on the French Fries.

I think that about covers all. There were some extra limonadas and another beer.

The total bill was $366.20 MXP, or around $33.38 USD, plus a 12% tip.

We love that place. The neatly dressed, white jacketed, mostly attentive employees seem genuinely happy, and that's a plus.

*Cucumbers are very cheap in the mercado (at retail). Typically, 3 kilos for 8 or 10 pesos. Once every vendor was pushing them 3 x 5 pesos.