As I mentioned in my previous post, we were pretty full after our food tour and ended up not eating dinner. The next morning we decided to grab some breakfast before heading out on our explorations for the day. There was a bakery and restaurant named Boulenc on my list and Betsy from Me Encanta Oaxaca recommended it as well. It was just three blocks up the street from our hotel and pretty much on the way to the sites we'd be visiting.
The restaurant had a few folks waiting for seats when we arrived, but things moved quickly and we got a table upstairs in about 15 minutes.
Service was efficient and the folks here work hard, running up and down the stairs. The Missus got a Machiatto and I got an Americano, both serviceable.
The Missus, who had never really enjoyed avocado toast, strangely ordered the Aguacate y Cilantro ($70/MX – $3.50/US).
This was love at first bite! First off, the toasted sourdough bread at Boulenc is outstanding, wonderful yeasty-sour balance, nice and not overly chewy bread, it's a perfect foil for the perfectly ripe and abundant avocado and the wonderful hints of chloropyllic-citrusy tones from the cilantro and microgreens. The Missus loved the inhouse fermented, pickled beets. She loved this so much that we returned two more times during our stay!
I wanted some fruit and yogurt so I got the Turkish Yogurt with Fruits ($80/MX – $4/US).
Loved all the fresh and ripe fruits, nuts, and the yogurt. A perfect breakfast for me and just what I wanted.
Like I wrote earlier; we both really liked Boulenc and ended up coming here three times during our stay. That sourdough bread is fantastic.
Boulenc
Calle Porfirio Díaz 207
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Here's an interesting post on Boulenc.
After breakfast we headed up to Plaza Santo Domingo. We had already checked out the Cathedral and wanted to do the same with the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
Construction on this church started in 1551, but the final construction was completed in 1666.
The interior and ceiling were very impressive!
No wonder it took so long to complete.
I was fascinated by the bas relief of the family tree of Santo Domingo de Guzman (aka Saint Dominic), who founded the Dominican Order.
Along with the temple is a structure that used to be a Convent and is now a museum. We didn't have enough time to visit, but I'm sure we'll go the next time we're in Oaxaca.
From here we headed over one block and walked past the plaza.
And came across this…..
It was a cute little organic market and food stalls.
I decided to get some cucumber-lime juice from this stand.
It was quite refreshing.
Cheers!
Mercado Organico La Cosecha
Calle Macedonio Alcalá 806
68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico
Refreshed and revived we walked thru Plaza Cruz de Piedra.
To Calle de Manuel García Vigil and the aqueduct that we had seen the previous day.
We headed up the street to where it turns into Rufino Tamayo and took time to admire the street art that we had only glanced at the previous day.
And then we came across this fella' hanging out at the gate of one of the courtyards.
Little did we know that he was just the "lookout". When he spotted another pooch ambling up the street he sent out "word" and the whole "gang" appeared for a "bark session".
It was hilarious.
There was so much to see if you took your time.
I had planned checking out Xochimilco later on the trip so we'd be heading further up Rufino Tamayo then. So we cut back thru the plaza, then back down Macedonio Alcalá, taking a left down Humboldt.
And came to a park named Parque Juarez El Llano, with a Monument to Benito Juárez in it's center.
We passed folks relaxing in the nice green space as we crossed over to the opposite end. I was looking for a specific street. There is a neighborhood that I read about that was called a "secret jewel" and was named the 17th coolest neighborhood in the world by Timeout in 2019….Jalatlaco. I had seen photos of the street art and it looked so very charming. Betsy had also told us we would enjoy the street art and the "vibe". Two blocks past the park, at the corner of Republica and Miguel Hidalgo, there it was.
Barrio Jalatlaco!
So how was it? Well, you'll have to stay tuned and I'll cover that in my next post on Oaxaca!
Construction of the Cathedral commenced in 1535 and was reconstructed several times because of earthquakes.
The menu used a QR code something that we found everywhere in Mexico. The food seemed a bit of a modern, lighter affair. The service was a bit of hit and miss. As you can see, the customer base seemed to be more tourists/ex-pats though nothing wrong with that if the food is outstanding. 
For some reason I thought this would be compressed watermelon, which intensifies the flavor and gives it textural "heft", but it just cubed watermelon, seeds and all. Since it was just cubed watermelon, the ponzu style sauce and orange "gel" overpowered the dish. Spherification was used to create ikura looking strawberry spheres. The best part of the dish were the tomatoes which were sweet and acidic.
This really looks like something out of a movie, doesn't it? Touring the estate, the Duke of Argyll and family still occupy part of the structure, was very impressive. The foundation stone of the castle was laid in 1746 and the castle has gone under renovations after two fires. After the fire in 1877, the third floor and the four conical roofs were added. In 
Of course every castle has at least one ghost, right? Inveraray is noted to have several. The most well known one occupies the MacArthur Room. It is said that a young harpist was murdered by the Duke of Montrose's men in 1644. The the ghost of the harpist is attached to this bed, must be one heck of a bed! And 
I like the fact that they have QR code menus; otherwise you'd have to ask at the window since there's no menu posted. I'd gotten so used to doing QR codes when visiting Mexico that I got kinda thrown off when we returned home!
I must say that the bowl looked quite good. The seasoning for the sisig was on the milder side in terms of sour tones and I didn't get much spice until I had a bite with three hidden slices of what looked like Thai Bird Chilies. Whoa…. I came across "groups" of chilies in the bowl. I guess they don't like being alone?
Most problematic for me was the rice, after all this place is named "White Rice", right? It was terribly hard, dry, and there was hardly any garlic flavor at all. I mean, in addition to being called "White Rice", this was a silog, right? The "si" in the "silog" stands for 
This was a lovely looking bowl! And that fried sunny side egg was even better this time around with wonderful crisp edges! I loved the atchara and the almost VN style pickles as well.
The place was empty except for two "regulars" who were joking around (quite loudly) with Boo, the gentleman who has taken over running the place from his mom and dad.
When my Bun Bo Hue arrived he said "time to eat" and left me to enjoy my scalding, spicy bowl of Bun Bo Hue. It used to be that I'd have to add chili oil to my soup, but these days it's more than spicy enough. I think my tolerance has waned over the years. The veggies are added, I give things a good mix…….I love to track the change in texture to the veggies as the hot soup slowly works its magic. I do still add a bit on mam tom for that savory "kick". 
So, first the good; man were things fried here good! The batter on the shrimp was crisp and light; the shrimp plump, moist, and tasty. The poblano chile likewise. Sadly, the MarlinTun was dry, fishy, and not very smoky in terms of flavor. The tortillas were decent and up to the task at hand.
Sadly, I'd have to say I've had better tacos de marlyn here in San Diego!
Tacos Hola specializes in Tacos Guisados, braised and stewed ingredients for tacos. So, even though it says bistec; it's actually braised beef; really tasty braised beef, with a very bright pasilla chile-tomato based sauce. The Missus really loved the beans here…She still mentions those beans, as in "why can't you make beans like those." The chard was quite tender, but quite mild in flavor….man, I could imagine this with collards! The tortillas were excellent.
Andres met us and after introductions and an overview of what was going to be covered in the tour today, he went over 
And yep, if you're thinking that's Tlaloc above, you'd be right. Check out the eyes and the fangs! 
As I stared at our food, take a look at the photo to my right, I was suddenly reminded of something. Back at the end of August, we went to CDMX and Oaxaca. The Missus had really enjoyed 
Add to that the wonderful, gracious service of Jesus and his gang…..well, I'm sure we'll be back again soon.