Thursday, December 20, 2012

Zihuatanejo, December, 2012, Part 5: The wrap up

"Flowers" made of hojas de maíz, on Calle Cocos. Available during holiday seasons.

PART 5: The wrap up

It's always hard for me to wrap up these extended visit posts without an anticlimactic feeling. So, I'll keep this brief.

In our last days of our stay in Zihuatanejo, we ate at Fonda Doña Licha, on Calle Cocos, a couple of blocks east of the Mercado Municipal. Doña Licha's is a great place for nicely prepared, economical meals in simple but pleasant surroundings. I had an omelet a la Mexicana con queso and mi esposa had a plato de frutas con yogurt y granola. See my review from a visit earlier this year.

I also made sure to walk the block or so tho the street market on Calle Tamarindo, which runs north-south between Calle Cocos and Calle Mangos. I bought a couple of kilos of the tasty tomates criollos for $15 pesos a kilo, since risen to $20 pesos.

Tomates Criollos. Good even when underripe
On our last night at Bungalows Madera, we stayed in our neighborhood for a pleasant dinner at Rufo's Grill, on the corner of Calles Adelita and Nuestra Señora de Los Remedios, if I recall correctly. Rufo's opens at about 6 p.m., and during the day, the same spot is occupied by Patio Mexicana.
Here's a Google Street View.


View Larger Map

Rufo's is like a friend's backyard grill, good food, very simply prepared. The accompanying charcoal grilled vegetables are a favorite. Moderate prices. Yes, there is live music, but it's always been tasteful and restrained and in the background, not table side.

See my earlier review of Rufo's Grill.

Ribeye steak at Rufo's Grill
Filete de atún a la plancha. Four french fries seems to be standard.

On our morning of departure, we returned to Carmelita's Cafe for breakfast and a farewell.

These were the blackboard menu specials of the day:

Click to enlarge
Doña Cuevas had an Ensalada Carmelita's, a variant on a Chef's Salad.

Ham slices rolled in egg white omelet
I had Costillas de puerco en Tomate verde, a very well made dish.

Costillas en Tomate Verde
We left satisfied and happy.

I don't want to finish without mentioning the Panadería La Boquita, on Paseo La Boquita, between Plaza Kioto and Centro. It's a small bakery with above average pan dulces. I especially like the fruit or leche empanadas as well as their little loaves of nut and coconut breads.  Apparently, they do not sell pan salado or bolillo.
Closed Sundays. 
Fasten your seat belts. Street View Location.

This concludes our Zihuatanejo series. We hope to be back in the future.

3 comments:

John Calypso said...

Being a Blogger too I know how much work goes into the effort. It has been a great ride. the December in Zi with you. What fine 'work'. You have provided a wealth of information in your always entertaining way.

Thank you for the effort. Have a safe ride home (not too far is it?)

Don Cuevas said...

Gracias, John. Itt was fun.

We've been home for two weeks already.

Saludos, Don Cuevas

Tancho said...

thank you also, we talked about running to Zihua for years and last year finally made the jump, loaded up the dogs, cooler and bags and went there. That was the first time we had driven and not flown there. Now that we know it is a hop, skip and a jump we have been there several times to thaw out. We have even met friends there who have flown down for extended stays. Now that the auto piste is almost done, I am sure that we will enjoy the escapes even more. We appreciate the restaurant rundowns, it saves us time in wandering around looking for a decent joint to patronize. Really appreciate the legwork you do!