In a recent email, Pablo Kundzin sent me a tip about a new restaurant, El Rincón del Buen Sazón, at the glorieta in Pátzcuaro, across from Bodega Aurrerá. He wrote that the food was good, the portions generous and the prices reasonable. It's in the same building formerly occupied by a not-so-great seafood house, later by the Bodega construction office. The carved wooden door says "Los Fresnos", although I don't recall a restaurant of that name. There's parking to the side, and paved street parking around the corner on Calle Nueces. We actually parked at La Bodega, but risked our limbs and lives crossng Avenida de Las Américas/Lázaro Cárdenas.
After procrastinating a a couple of weeks, three of us dined there yesterday. I can confirm Pablo's opinions by saying that this restaurant is a very good addition to Pátzcuaro's restaurants, and all of us would recommend it for meat lovers. The interior is attractive and colorful, but not fancy. The seats are of molded plastic. The tables have colorful tablecloths. All was neat and well arranged.
At one-thirty in the afternoon, we were the only customers and one waiter. He greeted us and we chose a table. Soon after bringing us the two-sided, plastic laminated menus, he brought us a four compartment pottery server of three distinctive salsas and crisp totopos. A small plate also held delicious frijoles refritos, warm and sprinkled with queso fresco.
We ordered drinks, one Coca, a Cerveza Bohemia, and for me, a "Fantasma" o "Cubana", which turned out to be a particularly tasty variant of Michelada, seasoned with Jugo Maggi and more.
The menu has an ample selection of meat dishes and steak cuts to please most any taste.
Us two hombres ordered Ribeye steaks and my wife ordered Alambre de Arrachera. All were priced at $80 MXN or less!
The Entradas (appetizers/starters) menu included Queso Fundido, Choriqueso and Champiqueso.
We also asked for an entrada of "Champiqueso", but it did not come until the main courses arrived. If there was a weak spot in the dinner, it was the champiqueso. It was a bowl of canned sliced mushrooms, covered in a difficult to penetrate cap of melted white cheese. I would have preferred having the mushrooms enveloped in hotter, melted cheese. But it wasn't bad; just not that good. With all the other food, the Champiqueso was superfluous.
I'd been wondering what sides, if any, the dinners would include, and I was very pleasantly surprised when they arrived with attractive accompaniments.
The steaks were not thick, like in a U.S. steakhouse*; yet nowhere as thin as the typical carne asada we've had elsewhere in Mexico. They looked great, anointed with a jugo or jus. They tasted great, too. On the same plate was a small piece of very tasty grilled chorizo, a couple of cebolletas asadas, a grilled chile Húngaro (a long, pale green and deceptively innocuous looking pepper.), and some halves of papas chicas, bearing silly little squiggles of mayonesa. On the side was a small dressed salad of cucumber, tomato and lettuce. There was a basket of warm tortillas, hechas a mano.
The steaks were reasonably tender. I'd eaten so much of the frijoles, that mine was too much to finish, so at the end of our meal, our waiter wrapped it para llevar.
Doña Cuevas' Alambres de Arrachera was something like a plate of rich fajitas, covered with melted cheese, and accompanied by more of the delicious frijoles.
*When la cuenta came, it was pleasantly modest. We'd had three complete dinners, 2 Cocas, 2 Cervezas Bohemia, 1 Fantasma/Michelada, and a Champiqueso; for about $300 MXN.
We hope that El Rincón del Buen Sazón thrives. It's worthy of repeated visits, if the food and service continue as good as they were yesterday.
We noted also that they serve very reasonably priced breakfasts.
We returned yesterday with two friends. Although the restaurant was busy with a private Christmas party, the service was reasonably attentive.
This time, we ordered a choriqueso with our drinks. It arrived quickly enough, and was better than the champiqueso of the previous visit, but not something I'd make a point of ordering again.
Our amiga ordered Arrachera, which looked good and came with one small papa chica and a roasted pale green chile. My wife again had the luscious Alambres de Arrachera, basically a plate of fajita meat with peppers, onions and melted cheese over all.
Nosotros los hombres both ordered the intriguing and inexpensive "Tapaditos a la Diabla", which turned out to be a few thin but o.k. slices of beef in a creamy, slightly picante sauce. It looked meager but I, at least, got full with the numerous handmade tortillas, the frijoles, totopos (they were a bit hard) and the outstanding salsas in the 4 compartmented salsera. I'd specifically rate the Tapaditos as "not bad, but not worth ordering again."
With soft drinks and a Cubana/fantasma (highly recommended), the bill was in the neighborhood of $320 MXN. Plus tip, of course.
Tancho ratings:
Food *** out of a possible 5
Service ***
Price $ (inexpensive)
From Eclipse to Chop Sticks:
Friends of ours, of the venerable Familia Parra of Pátzcuaro, have opened a Japanese restaurant in the space formerly occupied by the Eclipse coffeehouse and music venue. Sushi is featured. This is on the corner of the north side of Plaza Grande and Calle Ahumada; entrances from either side.
Incongruously it's behind the new Subway Sandwich shop, still under development on the corner formerly occupied by the family tienda, La Fortaleza. The historic tienda has been withdrawn to the interior of the vast casona Parra.
We wish them the best of luck in this daring venture. I only learned of it yesterday and haven't eaten there.
Appendix: A venerable and respected reader of this blog has privately emailed me, urging that I write in English, using Spanish only when there's the name of a food or a person. I'm wondering what other readers think about this. Do you find the occasional Spanish phrase incomprehensible? Do they bother you? Comments welcomed on that as well as the subjects of the above post.
Appendix: A venerable and respected reader of this blog has privately emailed me, urging that I write in English, using Spanish only when there's the name of a food or a person. I'm wondering what other readers think about this. Do you find the occasional Spanish phrase incomprehensible? Do they bother you? Comments welcomed on that as well as the subjects of the above post.
