Tag Archives: Baja

Six more places to eat and drink in Ensenada and the Valle de Guadalupe (with a stop for coffee in Tijuana)

It had been a year since I’d been to the Valle de Guadalupe and Ensenada because clearly my brain was taken over by aliens and I forgot how much I love it there. It’s always the casual decadence that gets me: oysters many ways, an abundance of craft beer options, a morning mezcal with an uni/scallop tostada. It was overcast most days so there wasn’t much of a sunset to see but in a way that’s fitting for Ensenada, where the only measure of time should be your hunger or thirst. Until, if you’re lucky enough to be staying on the water, the sky is dark and the waves soothe your food coma into a good night’s sleep. Here are a few places I went to this time. 

TrasLomita

TrasLomita is like if someone designed a movie set of a restaurant in Valle de Guadalupe: hidden behind vineyards tables sat under fairy lights, cooks casually worked the grills, and water trickled into a lily pad-covered pond, where a little turtle perched on a rock stretched out its limbs as if in a yoga pose. The chef, Sheyla Alvorado, exemplifies the flavors of the valle: produce fresh from the garden, seafood galore, and depths of smoke.

The signature dish here is the chicken with perfectly crispy skin, tender meat (I mean who makes white meat that good?) and the essence of mesquite in every bite. But don’t miss the vegetables here— they’re worked on the grill too and the kale that came with the grilled octopus was silky and crunchy, as if put on the fire and then dipped in a layer of fat. We also started with the oysters grilled with bone marrow, pistachios, and sheep’s cheese melted on top. The dessert was tropical beach meets grandma’s kitchen: arroz con leche, cajeta ice cream and cold burts of guayaba fruit. So basically we kept it super light.

Tacos Fénix

You’ve probably visited this taco stand already as it is known as Ensenada’s best fish taco. In my many times visiting Ensenada I had not been here because my ex-boyfriend makes the best fish tacos I’ve ever had, and at the time had a Baja style taqueria in LA which I ate at constantly. I was always disappointed whenever I had a fried fish taco anywhere else. But not here. I was taking my parents on a beer crawl of Ensenada (read on) and these perfectly battered tacos were a necessary pit-stop. Tacos Fénix is celebrating almost 50 years in operation and it’s no wonder why.

Madre

Between our rum from Michoacan, locally made gin and a great bacanora, we feasted. It’s here where my parents immediately got the vibe for restaurant culture in Ensenada: it’s fine dining but without the pretension, where being a coastal city and not far from the border lends itself to a blend of pride for local ingredients and exploration.

We started with a mixed tiradito sprinkled with local seaweed, and oysters with melted chile tatemado butter. For our main I’m glad we tried the quail as well as one of my signature happy-place meals in the region is a breakfast plate of over easy local quail eggs in Rosarito. The tender meat came with a guayaba mole and a soft quail egg.

My favorite surprise of the night was the gin and tonic, a botanical treat made with TJ-based elmira gin and laced with dill, dried fruits and lime zest (the gin on its own is enjoyable too). They serve an affordable pre-fix meal for lunch, a la carte dinner, and it’s good to know that they are open Monday nights too. 

Cervecería Doble C

A new location for these guys who were priced out of their previous spot on the water, this definitely felt like a work in progress in terms of ambiance. Then again, that’s not usually why people go to breweries. There are picnic tables inside and a terrace overlooking the port on top.

They had three beers on tap: a hazy IPA, a sour mango and the cleverly named Cabrown porter. Ensenada can get cold easily, so a light porter was exactly my mood while the sun set. 

Lucky Irish Pub #4

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve found myself in an Irish pub in a foreign country next to a Bon Jovi poster, under the glow of a Robbie Williams live-in-concert video wondering how the hell I got there (although let’s be honest, probably a cute guy). But the times when an Irish pub has opened up to an oceanside beer garden with taps of the best craft beer in the region? Only once at the totally originally named Lucky Irish Pub. Located off the highway in El Sauzal, if you walk through the original pub you’ll find a garden with 80 beers on tap sectioned by brewery and a kitchen window serving Baja-style pub food (oysters, ceviche tostadas, other non-wing and jalapeño popper things). If you want to sample from Baja’s craft brewers, this might be the best place in the whole area. On Tuesdays beers are 50 pesos.

Savory

This is a health-oriented breakfast place in the same building as Barra D Cafe and Mezcaleria La Penca. I am normally not a hotcake girl because I reserve pancake time for my 4-year-old twin nephews in Topanga, but if you want something healthy and hearty to start your day I would get a verde smoothie and a stack of whole grain hotcakes topped with fruit here. 

On your way out: Pichino’s in TJ

If you read my blog regularly you know that I am a sucker for a cold elaborate coffee drink in Mexico— something about always being hot and in a food coma. There’s a damn good one here called the espresso fizz: espresso, lemon juice, simple syrup, pineapple shrub and soda. It got me through TJ and over the border line after a long day (and weekend) of food and drinks. This is a new spot by the cocktail guys at Nortico, which you should also visit but more on that in another story coming soon. 

Necessary Beverages: Mezcal, Beer, and Coffee in Ensenada


Ensenada stole a small piece of my heart recently. I have long treasured my ritual breakfast at La Guerrerense, the popular seafood street cart where eating a sea urchin sofrito tostada piled with scallops, avocado, and charred peanut salsa slays all beginnings to the day. But as for the rest of the city, I’ve only had the opportunity to take it in bit by bit, in passing. A walk up the hill that overlooks the city and the Pacific, where a chef friend pointed out the edible plants that sprouted after a fire. A ceviche and beer at Boules, where the magnolia trees shaded chain-smoking women with raspy voices who shared a drink and the gossip around town with me. Birria after a night out, the fried tortillas dipped in a cup of stew relieving my hangover as it coated my lips in deep red oil. I realized on my last visit, a 24 hour mission for a dinner celebrating the region’s indigenous foods, that the more I’m there the more my experiences coalesce into meeting people who like me live for good food and drink. People who dig into obscure corners of food history or plant life. People who find serenity in the extra spicy salsa, the messiness of a tostada as it rolls down their chins, the “last” glass of wine, the shade of a century-old winery in the middle of the city on a sticky hot day. This is a true food city, and the path to it is an easy coastal bus ride from right over the border in Tijuana (which might be one of the nicest two hour bus rides possible). Here are three places for essential beverages while you’re here. A place for a green juice is in this post, don’t think I’d forget to drink my veggies.

Mezcaleria La Penca

Housed on the grounds of the Santo Tomas winery, this mezcaleria feels like you are indeed drinking in one of the secret crevices of a century-old building (more accurately, the former fermentation tank for aguardiente, brandy and cognac). High ceilings are rimmed by garafones and mezcal bottles on the tall shelves, and table-top candles illuminate the cracks that creep up the walls. They carry a few familiar brands like El Soledad and Amores, as well as some special seasonal offerings: a pechuga and an espadin in clay for example. To me, this place is a game-changer for Ensenada as all I usually need to love a city is a no-frills, cozy bar with good taste in mezcal.

Aguamala

I think it was the sip of the Aguamala Sirena pilsner at a local restaurant that sparked my interest in Baja craft beer. It was golden-tan, citrusy and toasty like freshly baked bread. I liked it even more after realizing that when I go to Aguamala it doesn’t necessarily feel like I’m around a beer obsessed crowd (as I would in a California brewery), but maybe just a crowd that likes to have a good time.

You could easily miss this taproom of shipping containers off the highway leading into Ensenada. I did, frustratingly many times. The brewery is built with elevated shipping containers and looks out onto the coast. During sunset the light glares in, but it’s still a great time to go. There is seating on an outside patio, around the bar, and at a row of tables with ocean-views.

Here you can enjoy drafts and taste flights from one of Mexico’s most well know craft breweries, and they usually have guest beers on tap as well. A small bar menu from Valle de Guadalupe chef Drew Deckman is available, and Mondays they have guest chefs. You’ll find staples from the area: oysters, mussels, and ceviche, with some more bar-leaning snacks like a Sonoran hamburger and buffalo wings.

Barra de Cafe

Tucked in the same building as Mezcaleria La Penca is a small café with specialty coffee from Mexico. The staff is super friendly, gladly giving me a whiff of the espresso grain of the day from Nayarit. A small roaster sits in the corner where they roast on off hours, and you can grab 200 gram bags of coffee starting at $96 pesos (about $5 USD) from Nayarit, Oaxaca and Chiapas. The space feels like a cool refuge on a sunny day, with high ceilings, cool concrete walls and light shining in from the glass doors. Black and white tiles border counters and benches, and pops of color come from ceramic artwork and murals that decorate the hallway. There’s comfortable seating in the narrow café or across the hallway in a larger room. You can also order pastries or breakfast from the neighboring restaurant down the hall.

Alta Baja

The new kid on the same block as La Penca and Barra de Cafe, Alta Baja is a rooftop bar and restaurant. The space is split up into several sections creating a number of nooks suitable for a romantic moment or a group hang while feeling like you have the place to yourself. The west side was my favorite: a balcony overlooking sixth street with a small bar, a few high tops and lounge area. The red and blue hand-painted facades of the stores and taco stands are right below, deepening in color as the sun goes down behind the hills of Ensenada. My Wendlant pale ale, the cobalt walls and golden mirrors all looked glorious in that light. They have a great beer list of Baja craft beers plus a few on tap from California, a cocktail list and a full dinner menu (I didn’t try the food but hope to be back to do so).