Mulege Cafe reviews - lastest post: ANOTHER GREAT DINNER AT RAY'S HABANA CAFE!! - MULEGE

CAFE REPORT - CELIA'S AT BURROS BEACH AND EL PATRON BY THE LIGHTHOUSE

Wednesday, November 11, 2009.

CELIA'S

Our Excuse for being Tardy

A couple days ago, an old friend, Celia (on right), had invited us to her new beach cafe operation, Bertha's at Burros Beach try her new cuisine special on Wednesday nights..barbequed chicken. Both fans of anything pollo, we decided to do just that and marked it down on the fridge door pad..."Wed night, Celia's at Burros." We planned to not go so early as usual, because it is still a trifle warm for us at six o'clock..we would go at seven or so.

As it turned out, we got a little later start heading over to Bertha's at Burros Beach....
..our tardiness had something to do with testing martini olives - stuffed with pimento, garlic, almond, and bleu cheese - in Grey Goose on the rocks to make the best 'Dirty Martini.' Tradition spoke volumes. 2 giant pimento-stuffed olives with just a stain of olive juice on the iced Goose won hands down. Who would put cheese in a martini?? My Maltese pitbull wants to know.

While doing the olive test, we also had to walk down the beach to inspect neigbor Joe's progress on his storm-careened sloop, Springbok. He was sound asleep in the shade of the hull...good progress, Joe. During the entire length of the beach, our companion dogs, The Maltese Bros., had to test each successive beach dog's willingness to defend his territory. As I walked, the sounds of gulls above and barking below drowned out my favorite sound...ice clicking in my glass.

So you can see that All This takes time...and that is our tardiness excuse.

Back on track....We drove from Coyote to Burros to find Celia's/Bertha's beachside cafe completely packed..

Celia had done a very good job of advertising. The parking areas were jammed with cars, but I managed to turn our large vehicle around without a nudge or crunch. (note to pick up Jeep in Mulege as soon as I remember which taller has it.) All of Celia's tables, both inside and outside, were crammed with folks munching and wiping sauce off thier chins. The place will become very popular. Celia saw us and said to wait a sec, she'd steal a neighbor's patio set.. but we thought we'd try again next Wednesday...a little earlier this time with fewer olives! We'll come back soon, Celia, we promise...hey, you're almost next door.

It really was a nice night for a drive, so off to Mulege we went...in search of a dining adventure.
I drove our scenic curvy coast road into town, the full moon shining almost too brightly off to the right...then my co-pilot pointed out I had left the big flashlight on the dash and it was shining in my eyes. Smugness is just plain rude.

We cruise on into the hamlet of Mulege. Driving past cafes that we had eaten at countless times..all good. First to come into view was Saul's La Palapa..but we had just had some shrimp c-cktails there the previous afternoon..

..it was deliciously cool and tasty..
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SAUL'S LA PALAPA



....great place and Saul IS a real gentleman, but we need something different tonight. Serinadad turnoff on the right, but I know Wednesday night is not our night for their combo Mexican plates, so we putt on into Mulege.

We waved to Dimas and his charming wife at his taco stand at the downtown square...a quick thought of Tacos?...but again we had just finished off some shrimp tacos there the other day. Good Job, Dimas! Muy bueno as always.
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Driving past El Candil my co-pilot said No Way. We had eaten there on her first night in Mulege. Unfortunately, she had tripped and fell on an uncovered trench in the cafe floor and sprained her ankle..bummer, eh? Her low opinion of the fish dinner may have been a little biased after that experience. She is still a mite PO'ed. as she had to stay off the foot and her ankle had to remain bandaged for about a week. I mentioned the floor defect to Omar and hopefully it will be corrected soon before more injuries occur.
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Suddenly I thought..Hey, great food, great proprietor, great ocean view, shrimp boats at anchor, a lighthouse, and great ambiance?....sounds like old Baja, right?

You guessed it..We will be eating at El Patron...the Old Almeja out on the north river road across from the lighthouse and harbor master.

We headed out on the river road, passing Antonio and Lorena's Danny's carnitas cafe..which everybody knows is famous for Saturday brunches of delicious pork carnitas and my favorite..rancheros soup.
And yes, we had been there last Saturday! Let me just say...YUM.
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But we on the scent now...and I forge ahead past Saul's Market, past Gringo's boat repair, past the detour to Loma Azul......what? past the detour?..carumba!..we back up after coming to a dead end caused by the flooding of Jimena...bump up over and around a few blocks and find our way throught the dark to come back down on the river road. Past some burning palm logs ..leftovers from the flood. Now past Pancho Villa cafe and bar...to finally throw out the anchor at El Patron...Almeja...the site of many a great night for the last 30 years.
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We are in luck, because there was only 2 other groups ahead of us..and we quickly had drinks and food in front of us...thanks to our host, Tim and his lovely cook.

I ordered Almejas naturally...3 large scrumptuous and waistline deadly half-shell clams baked to perfection with a tangy cheese, spinach, and some cognac. Pacifico or course. Co-pilot had broiled shrimp in ajo sauce. I tried to cavalier a couple, but was unsuccessful. She said they were "divine and mine."
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What a wonderful night with good old Baja amigos. Truly what it's all about. Bravo, El Patron!

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We drove home with those thoughts to Coyote Bay. A gorgeous Baja Quarter Moon was shining in the dark sky. AND..it showed that it would hold water...ergo; I should fish manana!

Ah..that Moon...reminded me of this description: The moon looked like a discarded toenail clipping submersed in a puddle of saliva on a black formica countertop.

Well hey, so I had a little extra cognac.

Buenas noches y buen apetito wherever you dine.[/b

[Edited on 3-5-2012 by Pompano]

Tradition?

I guess it would be the same guy that puts Vodka in a martini.

Yes, Dave...in my opinion good vodka makes the perfect martini. Gin: I remember... you've never gotten over the undelivered bottle of that foul-flavored bottle of ..ugh..gin from across the pond.

Good News:

Quote:

Originally posted by Pompano Yes, Dave...in my opinion good vodka makes the perfect martini. Gin: I remember... you've never gotten over the undelivered bottle of that foul-flavored bottle of ..ugh..gin from across the pond.

Bols is again importing Genever.

Bad news:

They changed the bottle design. No more ceramic crock. Doesn't seem to get as cold in the freezer.

But, somehow, I'll manage.

Another plus to eating in Mulege..

At Danny's the other day.

While having some great carnitas, you can...

Be a quick goalie for a street soccer game. It was a fluke, but I managed to snap this pic and kickreturn the ball at the same time.
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And get your windows washed by the local CREAD crew.
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..walk across the street to see Manuel's grandson, who's anxious to help out in the store. Now that's a fine family I am honored to know.
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Plus you can do some handy veggie shopping....
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VIVA MULEGE!
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[Edited on 11-14-2009 by Pompano]

EL GECKO - FOR THE BEST TORTILLA SOUP!

A ‘tasteful’ way to resurrect this 2009 Mulege café thread is to applaud the roadside internet cafe south of Mulege. It’s was good before, but’s it’s VUNDERBAR now!



EL GECKO TORTILLA SOUP...FINEST KIND!

I can’t say enough good things about this place...and the wonderful soup.



My current ‘Numero Uno’ in Mulege. I had a honest-to-goodness Gastronomic Holy Happening there yesterday during the Omaha poker game…at El Gecko’s.... the very accessible-with tons of parking for any size rigs-roadside restaurant-

…….and internet café....whew, now that was a mouthful!


Get online while having breakfast, lunch, or dinner rom anywhere in this large and roomy cafe.




It was the best tortilla soup I have ever the pleasure to eat…con mucho gusto! It’s a light meal in itself and by far the best homemade soup in town. Can you tell I love this soup??



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I would have passed it by, because it is NOT on the menu, but a poker buddy, Dennis, said to try it, as he thought it was muy sabroso. Gracias, Dennis, you were right on!

Made and served by the chef AND bartender, Jesus,(pending approval, I'll get his photo here soon) ..that luncheon soup was a surprise treat for me…as I don’t often order tortilla soup these days..after so many disappointments.

Note: Jesus is the son of Saul – below - who was owner/manager, chef of the old Palapa café next door to El Gecko’s.

Saul, who now operates a flourishing taco cafe in La Paz, owns the El Gecko building and leases it to the new & charming El Gecko café operators, Hugo and Josefina.

Here’s Hugo with his normal happy face…but this time it was a bit different…he was grinning like a Cheshire cat….like he had something special to share?

Indeed...He then told me something very special about that tortilla soup I'd just savored. He swore it was an old family recipe courtesy of Jesus, and Family Legend has it that eating it makes you irresistible to the opposite sex. Me? I was a little skeptical….at first. But later…..


Shazzam! Whammo...out of the park! Home run!

(note to self: get soup sample analyzed asap.)


Simply a great place to eat and have fun….tortilla soup or not!
All fine & happy people, which makes the place a WINNER! After all, who wants to be served by some grumpy & surly putz? Hah! Yeah.. "…b-b-bad to the b-b-b-b- BONE! "






Oh yeah...This place rocks!

Great stuff ... thanks for sharing ...

By the way .... What kind of vegetables were you holding in your right hand when checking out at the market while "veggie shopping" ... strange looking ..

Your too much .... outstanding


[Edited on 11-23-2011 by wessongroup]

[Edited on 11-23-2011 by wessongroup]

Yup... that's Pompano!

HUNGER ALERT! ANOTHER GREAT DINNER AT RAY'S HABANA CAFE - MULEGE

QUE LASTIMA! I truly feel sorry for those Baja fans who cannot eat at Ray's Habana Cafe every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. A genuine gourmet experience in fine dining.

We who live here are fortunate to have this talent available at all times...

…[I]and so it was we went again to Rays on Saturday night.[/I]

Here is a photo-story of our past and present dinners. Come join us ..and Bon Appetite, amigos!

Since some of you are going to be first-timers, you may be asking: How do you get to Ray's Cafe?

Well, it's as easy as my prom date...just take the Ice Plant Road...ask anyone where that is..."Planta de Hielo"


Some history: 'Back in the day' this ice plant was about the only place to get a large chunk of ice for our beach camp coolers. We would back our pickups up to the loading dock and for a whooping 75 cents fill up a coffin cooler with a huge chunk of ice that the ice plant workers would chisel down to fit whatever size cooler you had. What a deal that was! You needed help to load that sucker into your pickup.

Of course, chopping ice cubes for your mixed drinks was mandatory... to get that good salty taste. A blast out of the past..All hail Baja of Olde!

Now if you are still going to Ray's, take a left right there at the Ice Plant...see the signs? See...?, Told you it was going to be EASY!



Left, right, left, right, etc...and you are soon there. Try to remember how many turns you made going out...you will be ahead of the game for your return after a few c-cktails at Ray's.

Success! You found it, O' great trailblazer..hope you missed those farmyard chickens back there?





Hey! Look who's here?...My old Prom date! Hola, babe! Loookin’ GOOOD!


Ray is the perfect host...and remembers what your c-cktail of choice is..and greets you with that at the door. Ah...my glass of red! Muchas gracias, amigo Ray!



Abandon Diets, all ye who enter here.

A large and easy to read menu board is always ready for your perusal.








Of course, you ALWAYS start with those wonderful time-release Viagra treats… Oysters Rockerfeller appetizers.

He:” Right, babe? Mmmm.?....I think they are working already..!” …….. She: “Wow…great news, hon!”






Shrimp Papagayos…muy excellente!!


Si como no! Eat ‘em ..or wear ‘em! It’s all Good!



A special treat this last Saturday night was our band…featuring Mulege’s delagado (mayor) on guitar and another Mulege local amigo on drums…both singing and playing muy bueno musica!…BRAVO AMIGOS!!
Salud!



Great dancing music, too…as Pier and Norma find out.




“Hey! Should we try out for “\’Dancing With The Stars’, sweetheart?”


Another nice thing with dining at Ray’s is the beautiful sunsets seen over the peninsular mountain range. Hint to tequila drinkers:….. look to the West.


HISTORICAL FLASHBACK! Does anybody recall the times at Ray’s when he was at Santispac? Here’s a couple of pics from then:


The food then was superb, also! As were the dinner dates.




That's all for now, folks.....


....And if you forgot dessert, try whipping something up at home!







Saludos....and stay hungry, my friends.

Gotcha..I have none now..But I am still better looking than you are....

Quote:

Originally posted by chuckie Gotcha..I have none now..But I am still better looking than you are....

Congratulations there, chuckie,... wishing you and yourself every bit of happiness for the future.