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This article was submitted in September 2009
One of our goals during this trip to Vallarta was to venture out and try new eateries we had not been to before. There are certain venues here that we dream about when we are back home in the States, and look forward to visiting again, imagining some of our favorite dishes and talking about them with friends. But despite certain favorite locations, I can still safely say that I have never had a BAD meal in Vallarta…until today. Not all our restaurant favorites are the exotic, fusion, high-end eateries. Sometimes it’s just fun to eat good Mexican food and mingle with the locals, as well as tourists. So we have been venturing out into the unknown, stopping into smaller restaurants that are not widely advertised or well-known.
For years, The Margarita Grill has occupied a smallish space on Basilio Badillo, Vallarta’s sort of “Restaurant Row.” We noticed that people often went there for breakfast, which we are prone to skip or eat in our condo, but it seemed nice enough. Recently they moved to a larger location, previously occupied by Fajita Republic, with a fun outdoor atmosphere, and interesting lighting at night. There is apparently a new owner. So what the heck! We decided to give it a try. Walking past last night, the guy out front gave us a card for a free drink if we came back tonight (last night, we had just left one of our favorite eateries, Café de Olla). When the drinks came (margaritas on the rocks, and they forgot the salt, but did sprinkle some pomegranate seeds into the mix), we could barely drink them, as they were syrupy sweet with some sort of overly lime-flavored margarita mix, and tequila that was notable for its absence. Not a good sign, if you can’t make a good margarita in Mexico! But we decided to forge on (bad choice). They made the salsa table-side, apparently their attempt at a “signature item.” It was nice…and made with roasted tomatoes, for a slightly different approach. But the chips were too thick, too darkly cooked, and too hard. Moving on to entrees, I ordered cheese enchiladas, which seemed safe enough, and Pam ordered shrimp tamales. Her tamales were so hard (deep-fried?), so dark brown, and so drenched in a mole sauce (the menu didn’t mention this last detail, and mole is not among her favorite food items) that she took a bite and grimaced. It was, all in all, so bad she sent it back after a bite or two. My cheese enchiladas were stuffed with slabs of cheese, unmelted and barely warm, and drenched in what tasted like canned tomatillo sauce. I tried, I really tried, but I sent it back, and neither one of us drank our margaritas. To their credit, they did not charge us for our meal, which is nice, since we didn’t eat it. Sending food back is just not something either of us does, but suffice it to say that we will not be back, and I can no longer truthfully say that I have never had a bad meal in Puerto Vallarta. Basilio Badillo is known for good restaurants; this is not one of them. Pass it up.
Still hungry (obviously), we went strolling north towards the Malecon in search of an interesting-looking restaurant. As we walked through the Centro district, and along some side streets, a young man approached us to invite us to another restaurant. They were enthusiastic, eager to please, and enthralled with their restaurant, where most of the tables were filled. It is a small spot, but nicely decorated, clean, and friendly. It is called “The Fusion Gourmet,” which is sort of funny, because the byline cites “Mexican food.” I guess they just liked the name. These margaritas did have tequila…boy, did they have tequila! Hard as this is to believe, a tad less tequila would have actually been a little better. But that’s not the worst thing to say about a drink. I again ordered cheese enchiladas (one of my favorite meals, so I intended to keep trying until someone got it right.) These were much better…not quite warm enough (true for the entire meal, although the plate was hot), the green sauce was very nice, and the guacamole was good as well. The plate was nicely garnished, and the beans weren’t bad. Pam ordered chiles rellenos, and reported them to be tasty. The only problem is that they were not careful enough about removing the seeds from the chiles, and the abundance of remaining seeds impacted the heat of the dish, and not particularly favorably. She too reported that her beans were cool, and the meal should have been hotter. All in all, we would rank this eatery a medium. Nice, clean, decent food, STIFF drinks, but not a place we would rush to on our return trip. We still favor Café de Olla by a mile!
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