Raíces Restaurant In Mazatlán, A Review

As we do from time to time, we make our way down the Centro area of Mazatlán. Today we, or more specifically Lori, were on threefold mission. First lunch, then looking for an object at Michaels Gallery and third, an ice cream cone.

Step 1 was to grab a pulmonia for transport to the Centro area. Somehow this turned into me getting a haircut, funny how that happens. Anyways, slightly delayed we found our chariot and headed down to Plaza Machado. This central square is a major heartbeat in this city. Circled by boutique hotels and fine dining, mixed in with some pizza places and many vendors, it is a wonderful thing to do on a beautiful afternoon and a great experience at night. It and the surrounding streets are beautifully lit and filled with music. There are many shops and bistros and stunning buildings and interiors.

On this journey we decided to lunch at Raíces De Mar Hotel which has an outdoor restaurant. It specializes in Mexican style dishes and is reasonably priced. For ourselves, we started with Lori having her favourite tool to judge a new place to us, a margarita on the rocks. As I had tested several locations over the past few days, I opted for a cappuccino. They passed our test on both beverages.

Photo by Is It Possible To See It All
Art Gallery Photo by Is It Possible To See It All

Now to the food. I chose the Al Placer Shrimp Tostada. A light lunch, listed as an appetizer. Shrimps, cooked and fried, red onion, Persian cucumber, cherry tomato, toasted tree chile, clamato, avocado, lemon juice, pepper and watermelon relish. It was great, ate it a bit quickly, it was just that good and only 150 pesos.

Lori contemplating the menu.

Lori had the Zarandeado Shrimp al Caimanero. This consisted of Zarandeado style shrimp served with mashed potatoes and garlic thyme roasted vegetables, watermelon radish and coriander. The vegetables served were green beans, broccoli and zucchini. She was satisfied with her choice. This was more of a meal and was priced at 320 pesos.

I would recommend Raíces to anyone wishing to try some Mazatlán cuisine without being to adventurous. One of many fine restaurants that both circle the Plaza and are scattered on the streets nearby. Mazatlán has over 4000 restaurants with many types of cuisine and every price range. We are rarely disappointed.

As for the rest of the day, the items we were looking for were nowhere to be found at Michaels. Counting the other locations, she cleaned them out of this particular product series. And we did get some cookies and creme ice cream cones at a place near the cathedral.

Gringo Lingo in Mazatlan

I promised to do some restaurant reviews and figured I’d start with the new addition to the Gold Zone, an old favourite starting up again in the same Gold Zone location as it was before.

Yes, Gringo Lingo is back. It’s not quite what it was, but it is open and is making strides towards being a significant player in the area. Our experience there was good; the staff was terrific and seemed to be enjoying themselves and working to make being there a memorable experience. I mean, how many bars/restaurants start up random line dances. It was the Macarena, but I’ll forgive them.

A highlight is the terrific happy hour, every day, from 4 until 6, on vodka, rum, tequila and gin. This includes margaritas, so all is good. A round looks like this;

What 8 margaritas look like from above.

As for the food, let’s say it will not be Michelin quality. The menu appears to be a work in progress, but the staff knows it and can assist with any questions. It was served hot and promptly. It is a good bar and grill style and did not disappoint. We had the Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti, the BBQ ribs and the fettuccine. No major complaints, although the ribs weren’t a hit with my partner. We will return before too long and will attend their happy hour occasionally.

The Menu

All in all, it was a good experience, and I would recommend giving it a try.

Paladin Restaurant in Winnipeg Burns Down

My favourite place to eat in Winnipeg, the Paladin Restaurant on Des Meurons in St Boniface burnt yesterday morning.  We made a stop here on every trip back to Winnipeg.  Very sad, although I understand they will rebuild.

http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/26/million-dollar-fire-in-st-boniface

Bookers BBQ Grill & Crab Shack – Calgary

Lori and I went for dinner tonight at Bookers BBQ Grill & Crab Shack here in Calgary with some friends, Bill and Betts.  We had never eaten here before but had heard lots of good things, and Bill recommended as they had live music  on Friday and Saturdays.  On their website they were advertising duelling pianos, which is fun.

I had the catfish creole, very good. Food is a step up from pub fare, yet not quite fine dining.  Atmosphere is great as was the service.  We finished up and the band came on.  Imagine our surprise when it was not duelling pianos, but renowned blues artist Sonny Rhodes.  Even better, we are in the front row.  He was playing an unadvertised evening at Bookers.  Absolutely incredible, and unbelievable luck.

Links

http://www.bookersbbq.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Rhodes

http://www.sonnyrhodes.net/

The Sonny Rhodes website is currently down, lots of links on the Wiki page though