Dinner at El Mar Restaurant in San Carlos

When our new neighbors joined us for dinner after a hot Tuesday out fishing, we picked El Mar, a restaurant with air conditioning. No regrets.

We followed our friend's recommendation and ordered the tortilla soup, which my husband and I shared as an appetizer. It was served with a whole plateful of toppings -- cheese, avocado, bacon, onion, a chipotle chile, and a drizzle of sour cream, plus lovely tortilla strips. I definitely recommend it and will be trying that again!

We're a shrimp-loving family, and each of us ordered something with shrimp. The coconut shrimp are huge here -- highly recommend! The shrimp mignon are served sort of like a bacon-wrapped filet mignon -- they made a circle of shrimp, wrapped it in bacon, and topped it with a white cream sauce. Boston shrimp are bacon-wrapped and topped with cheese. All tasty.

Also tasty was my special-of-the-day: chiles rellenos stuffed with shrimp. Now, I am definitely one who prefers my chiles rellenos blistered, battered, fried, and dripping with melted cheese... and this was not that. The poblanos were firm and spicy, the shrimp was perfectly done and not watery, and the cheese was plentiful (yum). I enjoyed it with a glass of wine, which came with the special, but I'd order something different next time.

At the far end of the table, our neighbor was enjoying the tampiqueña, which was on my short list to try. Hopefully next time we're there for dinner! 

We'll be back for Sunday brunch buffet, too. I understand that this weekend, they'll have the mango-chipotle chicken, which our neighbors recommended. Apparently it's only served every other weekend. I also love the omelette bar.

Look, I'm not a food blogger. I didn't even think to take pictures (the one above is from a 2014 blog post by an RV traveler, but it is a good capture of the place). Here's what I can tell you. It's a nice place. The food is fresh. The service is good. The beach view is lovely. There's a bar and some not-giant TVs that are usually tuned to sports -- it's not rowdy. I've never been disappointed when we've eaten here.


Location: Blvd Manlio Fabio Beltrones Km 11.5, 85506 San Carlos, Son., Mexico

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

San Carlos Pizza Taste Test 2024

Image
Last night was a no-cook dinner night. We didn't want to go out, and we didn't want to cook. I've been waiting three years for a pizza taste test night, so we did it! There were six of us at home, including three adults and three hungry teen boys, so we decided on three pizzas. Being science-minded, I was inclined to compare apples to apples -- or in this case, pepperoni pizzas to pepperoni pizzas. We ordered from Marzetti the Pizza God (a food truck in the 420 taqueria location ), Pizza Fire , and Jax Snax .  From Marzetti's, we ordered an 18 inch New York style pepperoni pizza for 320 pesos (254 sq in, or $1.26 pesos per square inch of pizza -- I told you this was scientific). This was the largest pizza and the sauciest pizza, with a tangy sauce and a thin, seasoned crust. This location also offers Detroit style and Chicago deep-dish style pizzas, which we didn't try. This location offers a phone number for English-speakers to place their order, which I appreciat
Read more

Hiking the Tetakawi

Image
On a Friday morning in June, we put on our hats and sunscreen, loaded up on water, and headed out with plans to hike halfway up the Tetakawi trail . I was in no shape to hike to the top. But like so many of our family adventures, I decided to keep going while I felt good, and then we had gone so far that we might as well go all the way to the top! What sealed the deal was passing another group on their way down. They told us it was only another 20 or 30 minutes, so up we went! The walk back down was rough on this old mama, but I made it! The trail opens at 6:00 a.m., and for a summer hike, I recommend starting early. Bring more water than you think, and protect yourself from the sun. We had some cloud cover, and if we hadn't, it might have been too hot for me. The hike starts out as a walking path, but quickly you will find yourself stepping up a rocky trail. A quarter-mile in, there's a rocky peak with lovely views that makes a good turnaround point for a family with young kid
Read more

Visit Coralito Beach Club for the delicious dinner and sunset views

Image
Our family visited Coralito Beach Club for the first time when we were looking for a dinner restaurant in San Carlos that accepts credit cards. Tonight was our second visit. Their menu is available online in English and in Spanish , and there's a lot to choose from.  All of our kids ordered the Enchiladas Suizas from the shrimp section of the menu. Those are delicious, for sure. I asked the waiter tonight for his recommendation, and he pointed me to the Chile Poblano with Shrimp. It was delicious, and prepared with many of the same ingredients as the enchiladas. Here's a fancy photo of my stuffed poblano. My husband ordered an assortment of tacos and tostadas. My favorite was the Roca tostada, which was a pile of delicious battered and fried shrimp on a crispy wonton -- it's the one with the toasted sesame seeds on top in the picture. I might order that next time I visit. I also tried the Alhambre tuna taco, but it wasn't for me. My husband's third taco was the Cah
Read more