BajaBlanca
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La Cocina de Doņa Esthela - Valle d Guadalupe
I am spending the day in Ensenada with a Punta Abreojos family and they invited me to go out to breakfast at a restaurant that is quite famous around
these parts....I had never heard of it, not surprising since I don't really know much about Ensenada/Valle de Guadalupe at all. Here is the road we
took to get there and some signs we saw along the way:
the sign on the far left is restaurant sign:
Here is the outside - the parking lot is huge. When we got there the restaurant was full, 30 min. later it was PACKED. The story is that a novela
/soap opera was filmed not too far away and the famous actors all came here to eat ... which put the place on the map for locals:
When I looked up the place online, it says that it was voted the best breakfast in the world by someone in the UK. And I gotta say: they make their
own corn tortillas that are soft and bigger than usual and very tasty. Apparently, the have a special oven and bake a bread (we didn't try it) that
is wonderful. One in our group had the
HUEVOS RANCHEROS:
I had SPINACH N MACHACA OMELETTE:
however, the house specialty (which I am not fond of) is the beef birria and the lamb barbacoa:
They make a café de olla that is so tasty! I don't even drink coffee anymore but it was so highly praised that I tried it...ohhhhhhhhhhh if you like
coffee, give it a whirl:
I forgot to mention that the first thing they bring you is chips,salsa and fresh homemade cheese. The queso fresco is not as salty or chewy as some
are. My mouth drools as I think about it!
and here are some random photos I took today around town:
and the whole reason I am on this trip is that I went to visit my son who is in the air force and just bought himself a house in Texas. My
granddaughter is so cute and somehow convinced me to give her a piggy backride. I was laughing so hard because I knew I should say NO but who the
heck can deny a kid who is begging for a ride? Not this grandma! I thought I would be incapacitated but God watches out for us grannies:
and back to the thread, I found this on the internet:
La Cocina De Doňa Esthela
4.7 out of 5
71 Google reviews
Address: Rancho San Marcos el Porvenir, Domicilio Conocido S/N, El Porvenir, B.C.
Phone: 01 646 156 8453
I was told the area is called EL TIGRE
and here is more of what I found:
LONDON, UK On Sunday, May 31, Valle de Guadalupe restaurant La Cocina de Doņa Esthela was awarded Best Breakfast in the World by international
culinary website and mobile app FoodieHub. The award was presented at the organizations third annual global awards ceremony held at famed eatery, St.
John Bread & Wine in London. Soho chef Martin Morales presented the award, which was accepted on behalf of Doņa Esthela by Nicholas Gilman of the
website Good Food in Mexico City.
La Cocina de Doņa Esthelas traditional Mexican cooking was discovered by the hungry cast and crew of a telenovela (soap opera) filming at the
nearby Hacienda la Lomita vineyard a few years ago. Word of her traditional Mexican breakfasts spread and tables have been packed with locals and
hungry day-trippers from Baja and Southern California every weekend since
[Edited on 9-24-2016 by BajaBlanca]
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basautter
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La huh? 
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rts551
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Blanca, the beef birria and the lamb barbacoa looks great. Thanks for the review. I will definitely try it our next time through.
La huh huh?
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BajaBlanca
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hahaha lalala I somehow pressed something in the computer laptop that made the thread start when I had only written La
hence the la la la LOL
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TMW
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The guy in the seventh picture down before the food is on one of the TV cooking channels. He eats a lot of weird stuff usually.
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BajaBlanca
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I have seen him on TV but don't remember exactly what he does. Nothing weird on the menu that I can recall.
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Whale-ista
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thanks for the review. I've heard wonderful stories about this place, haven't made it over there yet.
Enjoy the family time!
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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Santiago
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I know breakfast as my father was a short-order cook. I've eaten at Dona's and it is outstanding. Not sure about the best in the world, but damn
fine.
Mustafa's on the paved road is good and there is a place on the south side about a half mile south of SolYBarro winery that is somewhat like Esthelas;
very family operated. Can't remember the name but there are signs as you wind your way down the dirt road.
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Whale-ista
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Thanks for mentioning Mustafa's.
When I lived in San Miguel in the 90s, Mustafa's was one of the few places to eat in GV/San Antonio. They offered a good reason to head out to "el
campo" for scenic Sunday drive and meal, along the narrow, winding 2 lane road.
How things have changed!
\"Probably the airplanes will bring week-enders from Los Angeles before long, and the beautiful poor bedraggled old town will bloom with a
Floridian ugliness.\" (John Steinbeck, 1940, discussing the future of La Paz, BCS, Mexico)
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David K
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Loved Mustafa's! Roy (The squarecircle) took us there in 2006... I love lamb!
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Udo
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That is Andrew Zimmer of the Travel channel where his show normally airs. Every so often a rerun of his old travels pop up on the Food Network and the
Cooking Channel.
Quote: Originally posted by TMW  | The guy in the seventh picture down before the food is on one of the TV cooking channels. He eats a lot of weird stuff usually.
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Udo
Youth is wasted on the young!
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Don Jorge
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| Quote: Originally posted by Whale-ista | | Thanks for mentioning Mustafa's. When I lived in San Miguel in the 90s, Mustafa's was one of the few places to eat in GV/San Antonio. They offered
a good reason to head out to "el campo" for scenic Sunday drive and meal, along the narrow, winding 2 lane road. How things have changed!
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Before Ali and Nellie built Mustafas the place to eat in San Antonio de las Minas was "El Meson."
It was built, owned and operated by Jorge, a retired aerospace engineer from El Segundo and his wife. They were both dual citizens, good looking
people and had a very nice place. It was very popular on the weekends with the Ensenada crowd. I remember Jorge played good music, served good food
and disdained chilangos.
Chilango bashing was popular in those days as Baja felt disconnected from Mexico and in some ways resented Mexico's treatment of Baja. Jorge's wife
passed away much too young and El Meson eventually became employee owned due to a lawsuit settlement. El Meson still operates today in the same spot,
first up in the queue on the south side.
Then came Mustafas just up and across the road from El Meson.
Next to open, about a klick up and back on the south side was "Corre Caminos." It was opened by Pancho, proprietor of "Pancho's Llanteria," which
conveniently was located next door west.
The joke in el Valle was when they threw nails out on the road at least you got a place to eat while they fixed your tire.
Soon enough Jouquin, who was a regular at the morning liars club meetings at Mustafas, opened his place. Los Naranjos was 2-3 klicks up Hgy 3 and
on the north side.
It was after that I noticed they all did a nice business. Noticed too more entrepreneurs were arriving and they had ideas and money.
As the social disorder caused by Salinas de Gotari and currency devaluation began to subside a parallel economy emerged. This parallel economy uses
cash. The Valley changed. Adios Valle.
30 years ago I remember being at El Mesons and first noticing the construction beginning on Mustafa's. We were laughing at the thought that anyone
could think the area could or would support another restaurant. Oh well, wrong again. 
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