Our flight from Mexico City to Guadalajara International Airport was right on time. Our driver was on time and the drive to our hotel; the Hotel Portobelo took about 30 minutes and was uneventful. The hotel is large, modern, and close to Zona Centro and all the historical sights. It is also right across the street from Parque Revolucion, which I found out is more commonly known as Parque Rojo, the Red Park to locals. Our flight had arrived at 1130 and it was just after noon when we arrived at the hotel. Check-in time was 3pm, so we decided to stow our luggage and go for a stroll. Lucky for us; there's a huge flea market, called Tianguis del Parque Rojo that occurs on Saturday.
And we spent a good amount of time exploring.
There was just about everything under the sun available here.
Something we soon noticed. Folks were quite friendly here, people would smile at us, wave us forward, we were the only Asians in sight, so I'm sure we stood out.
Soon we came across a food stall named Antojitos Sanchez. Folks seemed to be enjoying their meal, so we decided to give it a try.
One of the young men eating spoke perfect English and told us to sit next to him….folks actually moved over for us, in case we needed some help. Like I said, great people.
The Missus got a coconut agua fresca, which She loved so much and chugged down in like a minute! We ordered a second one!
We ordered tacos. The chicharron….the young man was surprised we ordered that, was so tender and full of flavor.
The fatty portions and meat basically melted in your mouth! Such porky goodness, we didn't want to spoil the flavors by adding anything….we just wanted to "pig out" if you know what I mean.
We got the quesabirria tacos. The tortillas were very good and the cheese had been expertly melted and were so crisp!
The birria was fairly mild in flavor, though quite tender. For us, this was mostly about the wonderful texture.
The folks working were just plain wonderful; as was the young man who volunteered to help us! This was such a nice start to our visit here!
Antojitos Sanchez (at Tianguis del Parque Rojo)
Americana, 44160 Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Market on Saturdays
We headed back across the street to the hotel. It was getting pretty hot and we thought we'd just wait in the air conditioned lobby of the hotel. Luckily, our room was ready early and we settled in.
As for dinner; well, it was going to be the total opposite of lunch. I had made reservations at Restaurante Allium which I had read about being a champion of local products and possibly the best restaurant in the city. To make things interesting, the restaurant was 5 kilometers (like 3 miles) away from Hotel Portobelo and we decided to walk, which was quite interesting.
Anyway, we made it to the location, which seemed to be an upscale business district with many high rises.
The restaurant is set-up in a modern, somewhat minimalistic style, with a visible kitchen. The service is warm and professional, it seems to be the place where the business elites come to eat.
Things started with an amuse sort of a aguachile bite, which was nice and refreshing.
There's only three wines by the glass, none of it from Mx, but the Missus though it fine.
And various salsas and butter are kindly provided.
We ended up ordering two appetizers and two entrees.
First to arrive was the Octopus Carpaccio.
As we would find with the other dishes, there's a lot going on here. From "tomato overload", both fresh and sun dried tomatoes, to an interesting flavor that seemed like dashi, which I later found was Katsuobushi, there was nice acidity, the avocado was nice and buttery, and the octopus very tender. The sourdough bread was a bit over-toasted, but still retained a nice balance.
The other appetizer we ordered was the Seabass Ceviche.
There was a bit too much going on here, though the texture of the fish was wonderful, it was overshadowed by all the acidity in the dish.
The Missus ordered the Lamb as Her main.
My goodness, those asparagus tips were amazing, so sweet and tender. The lamb shoulder was fine, a bit tough, we wished it was a bit more gamey, the dish gravitated to the sweeter end of the flavor spectrum.
I got the Pork Belly.
Once again, the produce was so good, those green beans had a nice, slightly sweet-chlrophyllic flavor. The frisee added a much needed balance to the sweet sauce. The pork belly was tender, but I wish there was more porcine flavor and less sweetness to the dish.
In the end, this was an interesting dining experience, the staff were so professional, yet warm and friendly.
Restaurante Allium
Avenida Providencia 2411, Plaza Leben Providencia
Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
We decided to catch an Uber back to the hotel. It had been an interesting day. Such diversity between our first two meals in the city. And yet there was one thing that seemed universal; the kindness and smiles of the folks here!
Thanks for stopping by!
what a nice day
It was a fun day Kat!