BajaNomad

Halfway House

tripledigitken - 6-17-2009 at 03:39 PM

Does anyone know if the restaurant is still open? The last time we went very few people were there.

The food is always excellent and the service has been cordial as well.

I hope they are weathering the current business climate.

Ken

toneart - 6-17-2009 at 03:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by tripledigitken
Does anyone know if the restaurant is still open? The last time we went very few people were there.

The food is always excellent and the service has been cordial as well.

I hope they are weathering the current business climate.

Ken


In what hemisphere,Ken?

tripledigitken - 6-17-2009 at 03:48 PM

Fair question, sorry.

In reading the thread about La Fonda the question came to mind.

Halfway House is between La Fonda and Rosarito Beach just north of the Pyramid Hotel.

Ken

toneart - 6-17-2009 at 03:54 PM

Thank you! You answered my question. Wish I could answer yours.

Dave - 6-17-2009 at 04:05 PM

The restaurant is open. Normally closes around 9-10pm depending on business. They have an excellent shrimp c-cktail. The daily special is usually good and priced right...70pesos.

Tough to get to during the cuota resurfacing. Either stay on the old road out of Primo Tapia or get off at la Fonda and head north.

tripledigitken - 6-17-2009 at 04:06 PM

Thanks, very good news.

Ken

ps Baja Nomad's own, Greg Nieman, writes about it in his excellent book "Baja Legends"

[Edited on 6-17-2009 by tripledigitken]

The Halfway House (Medio Camino)

David K - 6-17-2009 at 09:27 PM

Chef Johnny is one great guy... was the chef to Mexico's president some years ago...

Food is awesome...

I have posted several photos of the food and location in my trip reports here on Nomad over the past few years... do a search.

Here is Chef Johnny and I in 2006:

marmol 091-R.JPG - 34kB

Bajaboy - 6-17-2009 at 09:37 PM

I'll add to the positive comments regarding Halfway House...we love to sit on the back patio.

SteveD - 6-18-2009 at 08:22 AM

We had dinner there last month. Food was great. Sunset view was great. Chef Johnny is still a great person and still with a positive attitude even after the resturant was held up earlier this year and he was shot in the foot!

Martyman - 6-18-2009 at 08:54 AM

I went there a lot in the late 60s early 70s to go camping on the bluffs south of the restaurant. We'd catch cabezon and other fish off the cliffs when I wasn't chucking cherry bombs in the water or blasting off skyrockets. Great memories with my folks.

Vince - 6-18-2009 at 10:24 AM

When I started going there with my parents in the late '40's, it was very popular. I remember some fossels of huge snails, millions of years old. We would fish off the rocks. Later we would use it as our watering hole and lunch on our diving/surfing trips. In the late '50's an acquaintance of mine got into a gun battle (I wasn't there) with the federales and was fortunatly only shot in the leg and they let him return to the USA for care. Talk about luck! Good memories @ the Halfway house!

Ryan - 6-18-2009 at 10:30 AM

Supposedly, two armed men came in there several months back and demanded all the money from the register. When the bartender refused, one of the guys shot his gun at the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and shot one of the cooks in the foot. He was fine, just a bit peeed off.
The robbers got away with about $200 in cash...
True story.

bigboy - 6-19-2009 at 03:03 PM

We were there on a Sunday afternoon on our way back from our house at Punta Banda. Had a wonderful meal and visit with the chef.

The last time I was there was about thirty years ago. Every time we would pass the restaurant, I would say to the wife that we must stop there some time. Well, we did and will stop and have dinner and enjoy the sun set in the near future!

Halfway House

Gypsy Jan - 6-19-2009 at 04:12 PM

I think s a personal commitment for Chef Johnny and I guess that he is keeping the lights on and the doors open through running an evidently successful catering business and teaching cooking classes.

He has been there for more than six years, so I think that he's found a formula that works for that location.

IMHO, GJ

Barry A. - 6-28-2009 at 10:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Vince
When I started going there with my parents in the late '40's, it was very popular. I remember some fossels of huge snails, millions of years old. We would fish off the rocks. Later we would use it as our watering hole and lunch on our diving/surfing trips. In the late '50's an acquaintance of mine got into a gun battle (I wasn't there) with the federales and was fortunatly only shot in the leg and they let him return to the USA for care. Talk about luck! Good memories @ the Halfway house!


Yep, many good times at the HALFWAY HOUSE back in the '50's--------that story about the gun battle rings a bell-------amazing how lucky we ALL were back in those days, as I now look back on it. :lol: Just be very thankful you WERN'T there that night, Vince. :o I still have scars and bumps on my head from that night, and I wasn't even shot. Our mutual friend never fired a shot, tho, so it really was not a "gunbattle"------the Federales just shot him because they did not know what else to do, I suppose. What a night!!! I still make it a point to stop by there and have a beer for old times sake whenever I pass by (even tho the memories make my head hurt). :rolleyes:

Nuff said on THAT subject!!! :lol: Long, long ago------

Barry

MICK - 6-29-2009 at 06:25 AM

He has always had great food We stop their every chance we get
Mick

David K - 2-8-2012 at 11:54 AM

Bump!

Halfway House, Rosarito

Gypsy Jan - 2-8-2012 at 03:40 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjdB1xLX0ZA

Vince - 2-8-2012 at 04:04 PM

Thanks, makes me want to go right down there. I has been too long.

Bajahowodd - 2-8-2012 at 04:49 PM

What's an excellent shrimp c-cktail? Not like a chef has to sweat in the kitchen. He thaws some frozen shrimp and opens a bottle of c-cktail sauce. :spingrin:

Hook - 2-8-2012 at 05:15 PM

Maybe in New England, home of the sickly sweet shrimp c-cktail. But that's NOT how GOOD c-cktail sauce is made in Mexico.

Personally, I think the secret is to poach the shrimp WITH THE SHELLS ON and then use the broth in the c-cktail sauce. If you want to de-vein the shrimp, just make an incision along the back and lift it out, leaving the shell on. Then, remove the shells after cooking.

Many good recipes for the Mexican style c-cktail sauce itself.

I know of restaurants and stands that go to the trouble of cooking with the shells on and retaining the broth. But very few remove the veins.

Woooosh - 2-8-2012 at 07:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
Maybe in New England, home of the sickly sweet shrimp c-cktail. But that's NOT how GOOD c-cktail sauce is made in Mexico.

Personally, I think the secret is to poach the shrimp WITH THE SHELLS ON and then use the broth in the c-cktail sauce. If you want to de-vein the shrimp, just make an incision along the back and lift it out, leaving the shell on. Then, remove the shells after cooking.

Many good recipes for the Mexican style c-cktail sauce itself.

I know of restaurants and stands that go to the trouble of cooking with the shells on and retaining the broth. But very few remove the veins.

I don't see how the poop-chute vein adds any flavor to the party. You can buy shell-on deveined shrimp. The secret to a great shrimp c-cktail is cooking the shrimp shell-on quickly and then immersing them in an ice water bath right away until they are ice cold. They stay crisp. Then you peel. c-cktail sauces are a regional thing like BBQ sauces. My CT family used equal parts of prepared horseradish and ketchup with a lemon squeeze- on shellfish raw or cooked. Simple. My Baja c-cktail sauce is more complex. :)


[Edited on 2-9-2012 by Woooosh]

bigzaggin - 2-15-2012 at 10:51 PM

Just stumbled upon this thread here at the end and have to say it is EASILY my favorite heated debate about shrimp c-cktail in Nomad history.

To de-vein or not to de-vein has always brought out the worst in people. :biggrin:

DENNIS - 2-16-2012 at 08:28 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bigzaggin
To de-vein or not to de-vein has always brought out the worst in people. :biggrin:


If you're serving it to guests, it's just the right thing to do. Wars have started over lesser disrespect. I mean....what's the difference [other than volume] between the contents of the G.I.tract of a crustacean and a big, steamy pile of dog crap on a plate? :o