And Back To Pipi

Well, not back as in I went back to Pipi, just back to posting about it.

As always, Pipi is kind of one of those fun touristy kinds of places that even the locals love.  The food is decent, the drinks are big and actually contain significant amounts of alcohol, and everyone, including the staff, seems to have a great time.

Now I know the Mysterious Chinese Woman always claims that I manipulate the photos of her to make it appear that her drinks are larger than they actually are.

You Be The Judge


They have a lot on the menu, but their fajitas are always a popular choice, and they flame them up right at your table.

Flaming Fajitos, A Good Name For A Band


The chicken and steak fajitos are probably the most common, but Bella prefers the fish fajitos.

Fish Fajitos, Another Great Name For A Band


The Mysterious Chinese Woman ordered a "small" vegetable burrito to go with her "small" Margarita.

It Just Looks Big


To be fair, though, almost everyone had big drinks and big meals.

Big And Colorful




And, again, let's keep it clean. It is the drinks that are big and colorful.

Because it was Peter's birthday, he once again (we did this last year) has to endure the humiliation of being fed a cake and somehow having the waiter miss his mouth but hit his nose. And all while being serenaded by a Mariachi band.

Usually we shoo the Mariachi players away, but in Pipi it just feels right to have them serenade you.  Especially if they can sing love songs to Peter.

Beso Mi Beso Amore


He was somehow consoled, though, because he said his birthday shots were stronger this year.

A Just Reward


And no, I don't know what "beso mi beso amore" means, but it sounds romantic.

And, too soon it was over and we packed up our leftovers and headed home.  You may have been wondering about those pink plastic bags on the table.

Plenty For Tomorrow


And Marcie found a special prize.

Ohh, Shiny


Rich Beyond Her Wildest Dreams


Well, it was a five centavo coin, almost a nickel.

Another great time and we some a few interesting sights on our walk there as well.

The Sand Man


That guy reminded me of the spooky rock men in those old Flash Gordon movies, the ones that came out of the cave walls at you.

And we saw a whale frolicking in the bay.

A Super-Sized Flipper


Of course the whale is being encroached upon by a private yacht and a party-boat, neither of which should be anywhere near this guy.  There are laws here against this, but I have never seen any attempt to stop it.  Only licensed whale watch boats are allowed to approach the whales, and even they are not supposed to get this close.  Next time I read Moby Dick I am definitely rooting for the whale.

More On Pipi

Sheesh, too many pictures at Pipi to cram into just one post so you will have to suffer through a two parter.  I will concentrate on what ended up being a hot sauce eating contest between Bella and me.

Pipi usually has some pretty good guacamole that they make right at your table.  Who cares if it looks vaguely like pelican poop.

Whipping Up A Batch


Now even though we asked for it to be made spicy, it turned out to be pretty bland, so Bella decided to soup it up a bit by mixing in some hots sauce and a bowl of salsa.  It really did make it much better.  Of course Bella didn't think the hot sauce we were given was picante enough.  I made the mistake of saying it I thought it was pretty hot.  At this point Bella starting flapping her arms and making chicken noises in my general direction.  Of course I couldn't just take this abuse so we had to have a hot sauce eating contest

Piling It On


And Here We Go


Hmm, Just Yummy


And The Stare Down


Now, I didn't think there was any clear winner because, quite frankly, the hot sauce really wasn't that hot.  But you be the judge, who seems to be suffering the most?

Press I For Bella


Press 2 For Bar Man


And please, no lewd comments about how you would much rather press two for Bella.

Next year I will bring down a bottle of my own home-made habanero-garlic sauce.  And maybe a bottle of Dave's Insanity Sauce.  I have personally witnessed Dave's Insanity Sauce put grown men down for the count.

A bunch of us are heading out to Boca de Tomatlan today for a beach lunch at one of my favorite little restaurants, Boca del Mar.  Always a good time.  But before I post about that I promise to finish up my Pipi posting.

Drinks Well With Others

The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I went over to our friends Wayne and Marge's place yesterday for some cocktails and snacks before heading out to have dinner at Fusion Gourmet.  Wayne and Marge had a surprise, a cap that they had customized just for me.

I Will Never Take It Off


And what made the cap so special?  Well, Marge was a teacher and do you remember when you were little and one of the categories on your report card was "Plays Well With Others"?  You know, that whole share the toy dump truck when you were playing in the sandbox thing.  Marge decided that I needed an update.

So Glad I Got Out Of That Sandbox


At least I didn't get a dreaded "N" for needs improvement.  Nothing worse than getting held back in kindergarten.  I have seen what a lifetime of the sandbox can do to a man's (girls never get held back in kindergarten) lungs.  Of course that chalk dust from clapping erasers is something that nobody ever talks about.  The dreaded white-lung disease.

Anyway, for the second time I never got around to taking any pictures at Fusion Gourmet.  And it is a shame because it is a really lovely place that serves delicious food and has very attentative service.  I think we all just got to talking and having a good old time and the whole picture thing was forgotten.  I promise, though, I will go back again and I will wear the bloody camera around my neck to remind me.  I had a wonderful flank steak and will probably order it again it was so good.  And the Mysterious Chinese Woman said her shirmp was delicious.

And I haven't forgotten Pipi, but once again, that will have to wait for another post.

Still Having A Good Time


Okay, I didn't take any pictures while I was at Fusion Gourmet, but when I broke out the leftovers to make an omelette this morning I took a couple.

The Leftover Flank Steak And Trimmings


And The Resultant Omelette


As Alton Brown would say, "Good Eats."

Gary's Groupies At Epoca

The other night we went to another one of Gary's soirees and joined his groupies for dinner at epoca.  I don't know why we keep following this guy around.  Maybe because he is so adorable.

The Adorable Gary


As usual he had quite a good turnout.

Some Of The Crowd


More Of The Crowd


Could This Be The Missing Lorenzo?


Our friends Randall and his wife Andrea were there as well.

Andrea And Randall


You may recall that I met Andrea and Randall at the Fusion Gourmet at another one of Gary's affairs.  That is a great thing about Pureto Vallarta, you are always meeting interesting people and making new friends.  And Gary's little get-togethers are a great way to do this.  You may remember that Randall was playing the mandolin at the art show I went to awhile back.  This Tuesday he is playing out at La Cruz, a small town a little north of Puerto Vallarta.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman and I are going to hook up with him and his wife at their place out by the marina for a cocktail and then heading out with them to see him play.  Now that should be fun.

Of course the Mysterious Chinese Woman was there slurking down her Margarita.  She always complains that my pictures make her drinks look big and are giving people the wrong idea.  I tell her she should order smaller drinks.

But Does She Listen?  No!


And you will notice that her drink is empty.

We got a pretty good deal at epoca, just 165 pesos for a three course meal that included your choice of tortilla soup with panela cheese, avocado and pasilla chili, a sweet potato salad with orange slices, arugula, goat cheese, caramelized pecans and sweet peppers or nut encrusted panela cheese with mango salsa and mixed greens for an appetizer.  Now if those don't make you hungry nothing will.

Our entry choices were mahi-mahi with Veracruz style salsa, rice and veggies, herb chicken with a chipotle-saffron sauce, mashed potatoes and veggies or a braised beef shank in a mild birria sauce, mashed potatoes and sweet corn.  The sweet corn prompted me to descrbe the inefficiency of a pig's digestive system and how Smithfield farms are able to reclaim about 70% of a pigs waste and feed it back to them.  You can imagine where this conversation went.  Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Andrea And Her Chicken


You can see that the portions were more than adequate and Andrea said it was very good.

I had the braised beef shank and it was very good as well.

Ooh, And It Comes With Corn


And, again, the portions were very generous.  I couldn't finish my meal, but I did save room for dessert.  I had the key lime pie and it was really good.  Plus I love key lime pie.  The other choices were a flan de kahlua and either chocolate, strawberry or vanilla ice cream.

The Mysterious Chinese Woman had the fish but, for some reason, I didn't get a picture.  I think her super-sized margarita was always in the way..  All and all another great time was had by everyone.

Yesterday a bunch of us went to Pipi to celebrate Peter's birthday.  Pipi is always a crazy place and, as you can imagine, everyone had a fun time.

Some Of Us Had More Fun Then Others


But I shall post about that little party another time.

Catching Up On Things

There is always so much going on down here in Puerto Vallarta that it is hard to keep up with everything on my blog.  But I will try to do a bit of catching up.

Last night a bunch of us went to dinner at epoca, a beach-side restaurant just a little bit down the beach from us.

Epoca


But, before I get to that, and it may very well require a separate post, here are a few of things we have done over the past several days.

The place where we stay has a monthly pot-luck deck party and, as always, I made my much beloved deviled eggs.  The Mysterious Chinese Woman made her soon to be famous chili.  I didn't take too many pictures, but I had to have one taken of me with Marge, an old and dear friend who color-coordinated her outfit and her lipstick to go with what I was wearing.

She Also Planted A Big Kiss On My Cheek


These parties are always a nice way to re-establish old friendships as the same people tend to come down here year after year.  As always we had plenty to eat and drink and just generally caught up on everyone's gossip.

Several of us also hit the River Cafe again and this time I did get the Lamb Osso Buca and it was, indeed delicious.

Our Dinner Party


Then our friends Sharon and Paul who are staying out at the marina until their unit here is available at the end of the month invited us over for cocktails. 

Sharon And Paul On Their Deck


They have a very nice view of the marina and you get to gaze out at the fancy yachts moored there.

Views From The Deck




The lighthouse that you see has a nice bar up on the top.  I have had drinks up there before and you get a pretty nice view.  It used to be nicer before some of the relatively recent construction of towering timeshare, well, towers.  Not the kind of places I would ever want to stay, but to each their own.

A Great Place For A Drink, Or Two (Two If By Sea, After All)


But Sharon and Paul's deck was a pretty good place to have a cocktail as well.

This Will Certainly Do


There are a lot of nice restaurants surrounding the marina and after our cocktails we went out for dinner at Rincon de Buenos Aires, a very nice Argentinian restaurant.

A Happy Group


I don't know what everyone had, but I had a really delicious flank steak and the Mysterious Chinese Woman had beef chunks and vegetables on a skewer.  She had more than she could eat so we brought the leftovers home and I had a couple of chunks the next day.  Even cold they were still tender and juicy.  Certainly a place to which I would return.

And, of course, a dinner at Que?Pasa, formerly Sweeny's, is always a favorite.

Pork Chops And Meatloaf And Drinks


You probably already recognize Peter and Maria.  We were joined by friends of their's Irina and Mike.  Mike was kind of tucked away in the group shot so I figured I better make up for it.

And Here Is Mike


Actually, I wasn't in the mood for either the pork chop or the meatloaf so I ordered the shrimp special.  It comes in a large bowl shaped glass and you are supposed to get fourteen shrimp.  They are served in a warm broth and it is usually pretty good.  This time, however, I only got six very small shrimp.  When I complained and showed the waitress the six tails she said that not all of the shrimp had tails.  When I assured her that all of the shrimp did have tails she didn't seem to believe me.  She went into the kitchen and returned with the cook who apologized and said they only had six shrimp left.  Hmm, you would have thought they would have said something before serving them to me.  Oh well, they didn't charge me for them so who cares.

Just a couple of days ago our friends Bill and Marcie arrived in town.  They are staying at our friends Tom and Bella's place until their unit is available at the end of the month so we went out to Tom and Bella's with Pete and Maria to greet them and have a nice little barbecue.

Greeting The New Arrivals


Well, you can't really see much of Marcie, she is in the group hug.  Bill is the guy in the middle of the picture.  We got so engrossed in catching up on our vaious physical ailments (this is what old people do) and having a jolly good time that I didn't get around to taking any more pictures.  A pity, really.  We did have some mighty fine chicken and a delicious key lime pie type of dessert that Bella made.

And that pretty much ahould bring you up to date on the recent events here.  I guess I will save epoca for a separate post, but I will leave you with a picture from my balcony.

You Can See Why I Love This Place


Today a bunch of us went to Pipi to celebrate Pete's birthday and that will have to wait for another post as well.  You will see that we had a great time there as well.  But then having a great time here is pretty much par for the course.  And it sure beats the hell out of the cold rain and fifty mile-an-hour winds that they are having back home in Brooklyn.

Breakfast At Mama's

Well, it wasn't at my at my mama's that we were having breakfast.

Mama Rosa


This is a semi-hidden gem that is a bit off the beaten track, but getting to be fairly well known among the gringos.  It has long been a favorite of the locals.  It is up from the malecon and across the street from Cafe des Artistes and then up and up and up a set of stairs.  I mention Cafe de Artistes only because it is probably the most expensive gourmet restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.  I have been there a few times and have had experiences that have ranged from sublime to so-so.  And for the prices they charge so-so is totally unacceptable.  Unlikely that I will ever return.

But this is about Mama Rosa's, a place I would most certainly return to again and again for truely authentic Mexican food in a lovely setting and friendly service.  I think Mama has passed to the great beyond, but I think it is her son runs it now, but don't quote me on that.  It used to be open only for breakfast, but they now have a dinner menu as well.

Breakfast is buffet style and, sorry to say, I didn't get a very good picture of the offerings.  I did get a picture of part of our crew lining up for the food, though.

Dig Right In


It is all you can eat and this was my initial selection.

A Hearty First Course


I had two kinds of tamales, green beans and eggs, which is a Mexican breakfast specialty, and I don't know what the other thing was.  Very good, though.  They also served an excellent coffee.

They also had a nice selection of deserts that included, according to the Mysterious Chinese Woman, a most delicious rice pudding, flan, of course, some other stuff that I am not sure about, and fried bananas in a sweet caramel sauce. 

Breakfast Without Dessert Is Like, Well, Breakfast Without Dessert

It was the fried banannas that I had, and they were exceptionally good.

The Whole Crew, Ready To Dig In


From where we sat you also had a nice view over part of the town and the bay.

Breakfast With A View


There table decorations were these interesting tomato plants.  Not like the tomatoes that you see in the United States.

I Can Say Tomato In Spanish


"Tomato" is one of those words, of which there are many, that are the same in English and Spanish.  I think "banana" may be another one.  Also "no."

As you can see from this picture that I took on our way out, you do go up a lot of steps to get here.

Really, Do Watch Your Step


Mama Rosa's might be a bit out of the way and require a climb, but if you are in Puerto Vallarta and don't make it here you have really missed out on a great place.  The combination of delicious authentic Mexican food and reasonable prices in a family run and home-like atmosphere simply can't be beat.

Now Clean Your Plate

Princess Letizia of Spain, French first lady Carla Bruni and Michelle Obama. 

Guess which one is telling our children about fitness and how to eat?

Three Guesses

I know, I am going to hell for this.