Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Eating Mexico: Art & Beer

You've waited long enough. I can now tell you where to go to have the best drink in the world.
But first, a little back-story.


Two years ago Ed and I took an unplanned day trip from Cabo to Todos Santos to get out of the tourist clang. We liked Todos so much we decided to stay overnight.


That afternoon we swam in the ocean, then we drank beer and danced to a reggae band under the stars with a bunch of California surf dudes. And the next day, on our way back to Cabo, we stopped on a whim at a little place next to the road called Art & Beer.


That stop changed everything.

I personally believe there's a good possibility that they put "something" in the drinks. I can't prove it, and I honestly don't care. It's just that I can't figure out any other explaination for the overwhelming sense of well-being that overcame us while we were sitting under the palapas, gazing out at the ocean in the distance.



Back home, the thought of Art & Beer brought on fuzzy gazes and caused us both to go to la-la land every time someone asked about our trip to Mexico.

So it's not an overstatement to say Art & Beer was Mecca to us on this trip. Ed even said--as we were pulling up--that he was nervous that it wouldn't be everything we remembered. But the instant we entered it came back.

This is it. This is what you waited for: the Clamato.



A drink like no other, and I mean that. Seventeen (that's 17!) ingredients go into this puppy, including at least three and sometimes four clams, fish roe, worcestershire sauce, something-something, something else, and so on til you get to 17. Oh right, and there are raw scallops on the garnish.

We also ordered the deceptively simple-sounding "whole fried fish."

At Art & Beer that means a whole fried fish plus a whole crab, seven giant scallops, five mussels, a few more clams, homemade beans, fresh tortillas and five just-made salsas. No, seriously.






Another Clamato? Hell yes, senora.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Eating Mexico: In pictures


We started our trip in La Paz, which is a more "real Mexico" experience than you'll get in any of the tourist-friendly areas I've been to.


I made a trip to Mexico City about 10 years ago and the attitude of friendly indifference in La Paz reminded me of that. No one's giving you the uber-jolly "hola sir, come and drink our grande margaritas! Free shots!" greeting every 10 steps. We also never had to say "no gracias" to a small child selling Chicklets. So you get the idea.

Our first dinner was our best dinner in La Paz, at (the very unfortunately named) Tequilas Bar & Grill.


I was doubtful--can good food be served at a place called Tequilas? But we'd heard raves from several people at our hotel. Turns out they were spot on: Ed had one of the best arracharas (flank steaks) I've ever had anywhere in the world. I had a filet of freshly caught grilled bass. Oh, and the guac was pretty damn good too. So were the margaritas with fresh lime and orange juice. But I'm going to shut up about it now since we were in "we just got to Mexico!" mode and didn't take any pictures.

What we did take pictures of was a dinner at Racho Viejo, a taco stand that nearly everyone in La Paz insisted we try. Good stuff.






More pictures of La Paz:





The fishing in La Paz is a big draw, but windy weather and a stormy stomach kept us from bringing home lots of atun this trip. Oh well, guess that's our excuse to go back.



Next up: Todos Santos, including the best drink in the world.