Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
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Cafe Catavi?a (?)
Might have missed the actual name of this place. First saw it touted on Nomad general board.
Sited between junkyard, pirate gas outlet, and highway.
Pleasantly landscaped patio. "Chicken Onyx" very tasty and filling, despite floating in a pool of greasy saute juice. Combo plate standard issue, but
well-priced. Service friendly but typically slow. Worth trying, as La Pinta is notoriously spotty. Good alternate to Santa Inez.
Food: 3/5; Service: 3/5; Value: 4/5; Ambience: 3/5
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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You found a good one!
Last year we took our whole tribe (14) in there, they were reasonably efficient, food was excellent.
Added touch, since we were on the way North and had some supplies left we took a case of "Two Buck Chuck" into the cafe and treated every table there
to a bottle, on us.
Interesting, and very mixed reviews from the mostly local customers.
One table actually turned up their collective nose at our wonderful offering.
(proves that Mexicans have pretty good taste, I would say.)
Baja Arriba!!
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
Member Is Offline
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Hell's Bell's, with a bottle of comp vino tinto, I might have loosened up the ol' review...
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
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Catavi?a update
Following a week of snipe hunting in the Lesser Shag, we flew across the Blood Meridian in a cloud of moon dust and atomized tire rubber. The Chapala
road had not been kind, and nerves were raw. "Famished" wasn't figurative, it was for real.
Pollo de Marmol (Onyx Chicken) was required.
"Mande?," I asked the waiter. "No cervesa?"
A scamper up to the Aborrotes for a sixer of XX.
Ah.
Country Club living.
The Onyx Chicken was right on time--tender, sweet, and bursting with flavor.
Tucked into a flour tortilla with frijoles and salsa mexicana, the day's tribulations melted away.
We steeled ourselves for the run north...back to Babylon.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3718
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy amable
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Thanks for the update, we are headed there in about a month, and planning to again invade them with 12 or 14 scruffy NorCal guys.
Glad the food is still on top...
That place is a real oasis for the hungry traveler.
And yeah, we probably need to take along some more 'comp vino' just for the tradition.
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Slowmad
Nomad
Posts: 243
Registered: 3-24-2005
Location: Alta California
Member Is Offline
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N.B.
There's a gringo hobo living on the stone bench there, and he'll shake you down for change. Given a chance (don't--trust me) he'll tell you how Howard
Hughes stole his idea for reel-in dog leashes and gave it to Marilyn Monroe.
Also, note the super soul handwash basin they built in front from old onyx blocks, complete with clorox bottle dipper.
The "rich pageantry" of the Valle de los Cirios...
[Edited on 2-16-2006 by Slowmad]
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