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Restaurants

La Table de Leo

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Located in a small town called Saint-Avit-Sénieur, located between Monpazier and Belves in the Dordogne, is a wonderful restaurant called La Table de Leo. It is a very contemporary looking restaurant that prepares excellent cuisine. The menu was very creative and we both had the Menu du Jour, which is only available for lunch during the week.

Everything about the meal was excellent, starting with a beautiful amuse bouche, followed by an Entrée, a Plat and then of course Dessert. We also had a glass of wine at lunch which perfectly complemented our meal.

You can find more information about La Table de Leo at TripAdvisor or Michelin. Alternatively you can also contact them via their website.

La Table de Leo

La Table de Leo

Salade de Chevre Chaud, very yummy and I liked the cheese wrapped in the filo packets.

La Table de Leo

Pigeon with a chestnut purée on artichoke hearts.

La Table de Leo

Twelve hour roasted pork on a bed of home made sauerkraut and potatoes.

La Table de Leo

Exotic Fruits with a Mango Sorbet.

La Table de Leo

Deconstructed Couer du Café.

Restaurant Eléonore

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It was our last night staying in Monpazier and we decided to have dinner at Restaurant Eléonore. It was a short walk from the house we were staying at, which makes it so nice to be able to enjoy yourself and not worry about the drive home.

I had the à la carte menu with a selection of three plates while Jo Ann had the menu du jour so we were able to have a sample of both menus.

Everything we had that evening was superb and the restaurant has a good (albeit limited) selection of wines from the area and Bordeaux and which were reasonably priced.

The service was outstanding and totally matched the quality of the food and the wine. We strongly recommend this restaurant.

For more information about the restaurant you can check out their website,  The Michelin Guide or TripAdvisor.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Mimosa with Quail Egg, Citron Confit and Cavier, a wonderful Amuse Bouche.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Queues de Langoustines, with a condiment of mangue-papaye and crème coco au ccombawa.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Foie Gras Mi-cuit Eléonore, wiht fine créme carottes and walnut oil dusted with a red wine sea salt. Very Yummy!

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Choco-Caramel-Café, with a creéme glacé sirop d’érable and noix pécan.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Filet de bœf with racines de persil au beurre noisette, white asparagus and a sauce of port and Péridord truffes.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Dos de Saumon with perles de Savoie à l’encre de seiche, leeks and ginger done in papillote and a watercress sauce The Perles de Savoie à l’encre de seiche is pearls of black ink pasta

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Pears poached in wine with a speculoos ice cream and an almond cookie.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Château Terre Vieille Pécharmant 2010, an excellent choice for the night’s meal.

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Menu de Restaurant Eléonore à la carte

Restaurant Eléonore en Monpazier

Menu Edward the menu of the day

Malva Restaurante

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Malva Restaurante is a small location that seats only 24 people or so. The chef Roberto Alcocer has done a great job in developing this restaurant which is focused on food native to the Baja California area. The only difficult thing we encountered with the restaurant is that when you are coming to the entrance off of the main highway you need to take a left turn across a very busy and what looked like dangerous curve. Luckily for us there was no other cars coming down the hill so we were able to enter quickly and easily.

The restaurant is a very open layout with basically only one wall, which is adorned by some beautiful street art or murals, however you would classify it.

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Beautiful Street Art on the only wall in the restaurant

 

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More on the street art

The restaurant embraces the natural setting of the restaurant and there is only limited lighting. Since the restaurant was fairly busy I kept my flash turned off on my camera so the images are not of the highest quality that I would typically strive for, but I think they present the quality of the food and the artistic styling well.

We started with the Sopas de Carnitas.

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Sopas de Carnitas

All of the soaps we’re awesome and the salsa of parsley was very good.

We then moved on to the Platon de Queso del Rancho (local cheese platter). The presentation was very artistic and the cheeses were excellent.

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Platon de Queso del Rancho

The cheeses were very fresh, quite moist and flavorful. The smokey cheese had a dry mouth feel, but were equally good.

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Platon de Queso del Rancho

I was looking forward to the Ash and Onion cheese, but this was the only one that did not exude much flavor, so it was a bit of a let down for me.

We then moved on to our main plates, where Jo Ann had the Pesca del Dia which was a MahiMahi on a bed of mushrooms. She really enjoyed the mail and felt that the salsa was outstanding. Sadly it was too dark for me to get a good photograph of this meal.

For my main course, I had the Castilla Carjada (Beef Short Rib). This meal was absolutely perfect and I do not rate mainly plates at restaurants as a 5 out of 5. Well done.

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Costilla Carjada

We finished our meal up with a plate of ice creams which included Popcorn, Smoky, Rosemary and Goat Cheese. The smokey was very good, but the others were a little icy almost like a sorbet.

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Plato de helado

The wine list was complete and represented a number of the wineries in the area. We did share a bottle of Amando IV from Viñas de Garza. The wine sold for MX$800 and was very good. However it really should have been decanted but we had to pour it from the bottle. The wine is very complex and a full body taste.

Overall I found Malva to be the best restaurant in the Valle de Guadalupe.

The service was great and I enjoyed being able to watch the line working away in the open kitchen.

Direccion: Km 96 carretera Ens Tecate, 22755 San Antonio De Las Minas, Baja California, Mexico

Reservas: +52 (646) 155 30 85 / (646) 190 72 78 o por correo a ralcocer07@gmail.com

Facebook: MALVA Cocina de Baja California

Restaurante Laja

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Our first night’s dinner was at Restaurante Laja, one that comes highly recommended. It’s location is very difficult to find and there are no lights and the signage is very hard to see at night. Luckily we had driven by the restaurant during the daylight hours so we knew where we were going.

The evening was getting cooler so it was nice to be able to sit near the fireplace where there was a nice fire burning.

When we walked into Laja last night for dinner we knew were going to enjoy the meal as there was a fire in the fireplace.

When we walked into Laja last night for dinner we knew were going to enjoy the meal as there was a fire in the fireplace.

The ambiance of the restaurant is nice and not overly opulent.

The bar at Laja

The bar at Laja

Any good restaurant must have a good capaccinno machine and Laja did not disappoint.

Any good restaurant must have a good capaccinno machine and Laja did not disappoint.

Before we ordered we were given a basket of warm home made bread that seemed to be fresh from the oven. The olive oil was from Rancho Cortez, a small family run farm that we were planning to visit in the next two days or so.

Outstanding French Intergral bread and local olive oil from Rancho Cortez.

Outstanding French Intergral bread and local olive oil from Rancho Cortez.

The menu consisted of a four course tasting menu (you can go with the longer version but that was beyond our appetites).

Jo Ann started with the Oven Beet Salad, which was beautiful, colorful and very tasty.

Not only was the presentation beautiful but the flavors outstanding.

Not only was the presentation beautiful but the flavors outstanding.

We also also had the Warm Carrot Salad. The carrots were almost burnt but were outstanding.

The next course was the Salmon Tartar, which was actually bland but very well presented and colorful.

Very beautiful presentation but the dish was not very bold or tasteful.

Very beautiful presentation but the dish was not very bold or tasteful.

My second plate was the Burdock Ravioli, which is served in a consume with spinach, parsley and chives. The consume was excellent as was the Burdoc Ravoli. My only disappointment was the presentation was not very exiting. Overall it was outstanding.

Sorry that this image is not very sharp, I must have been excited to taste it. The consume was excellent as was the Burdoc Ravoli. My only disappointment was the presentation was not very exiting.

Sorry that this image is not very sharp, I must have been excited to taste it.

The third plate was the Pan Roasted White fish, which was very tender, very flavorful. It was nicely cooked as the vegetables were crisp but tender.

My pan roasted white fish was excellent and very flavorful.

My pan roasted white fish was excellent and very flavorful.

The other third plate that we had was the oven roasted local quail was also excellent and very well presented. The quail was moist, flavorful with a nice rub.

The oven roasted local quail was also excellent and very well presented.

The oven roasted local quail was also excellent and very well presented.

We ended our meal with the Chocolate Cream with Cardamon ice cream and tulip pastry. It was absolutely wonderful.

Absolutely delightful

Absolutely delightful

For our wine selections we also went with the paired wines. Many of these were nice but not many we would have searched out. The only one that was truly good was the late harvest Chenin Blanc from Monte Xanic. We are already planning to visit this winery so I know that there will be some of these bottles coming home with us.

Serve seemed stiff and somewhat pretentious especially as the evening unfolded. Some times the wines would not be served with the meals and some plates came early or late.

Overall my rating for Laja was a 3.0 out of 5 with a price ranking of $$$. I don’t know if I would return to Laja.

Troika Food Truck

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Our first lunch in the Valle de Guadalupe was at the food truck on the vineyard of Vena Cava called Troika.

Today's menu at Troika

Today’s menu at Troika

 

The Troika Food Truck

The Troika Food Truck

 

Grilling Tomatoes for lunch.

Grilling Tomatoes for lunch.

 

Walking home through the vineyards of Vena Cava

Walking home through the vineyards of Vena Cava

We started out with the Tacos de Cameron’s, which had a very smokey aroma and were outstanding (sorry no photos).

We then has the Tacos de Lechon which were also outstanding, very tasty and tender. They are cooked for six hours in leaves so the meat is very moist and tender.

The Lechon was cooked for six hours over a slow fire wrapped in leaves and both tacos were excellent

The Lechon was cooked for six hours over a slow fire wrapped in leaves and both tacos were excellent

We then moved on the Ensalada, which was a beautiful salad although the taste was somewhat plain as the dressing was bland.

The garden salad was very tasty and enjoyable.

The garden salad was very tasty and enjoyable.

We then ended our meal with the Sliders de Chiquials, which were outstanding.

Amazing sliders to start our lunch

Amazing sliders to end our lunch

I really liked sitting outside and enjoying the weather of the Valle while eating at Troika. I rate the restaurant a 3.0 out of 5 and the prices are very reasonable. This is a definite repeat location.

Day One in Tijuana – Dinner at La Querencia

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As we kicked off a week long adventure of the Valle de Guadalupe. We flew from Pátzcuaro to Tijuana we spent the first evening at the Hilton Place – Tijuana. Other than the credit card machine not working properly at the car rental facility, the trip from home to the hotel was everything you want, no hassles and no problems.

Our first meal in Baja California was going to be at La Querencia and we headed off to find the restaurant. However for some reason Google Maps did not have the correct location and we knew we were close but we could not find the restaurant. So Jo Ann called the restaurant and her is something that I have never ever experienced before, the maître d’ said he would come and find us. Well about two minutes later we were greeted and had a personal guide to get us to the restaurant and to our table. Amazing.

The facilities are nice as you can see below.

La Querencia Candles and Bar area

La Querencia Candles and Bar area

 

Stuffed Animal Heads at La Querencia

Stuffed Animal Heads at La Querencia

As typical of Mexican restaurants, we were served a plate of various salsas.

Salsas at La Querencia

Salsas at La Querencia

We started with two appetizers, the first was Salmon carpaccio. The plate was presented well but we found that the salmon carpaccio was light and delicate. Not too much flavor other than the capers.

Salmon carpaccio at La Querencia

Salmon carpaccio at La Querencia

The second appetizer was the Sashimi Querencia. Paper thin slices of sea scallops blanketed with black and white sesame seeds, sesame seed oil and soy sauce. Yum!

Sashimi Querencia at La Querencia

Sashimi Querencia at La Querencia

We then had a Mixed Salad with Balsamic. This salad was young escrole leaves bathed in a sprupy balsamic reduction sauce topped with blue cheese crumbles and toasted almonds. It was excellent.

Mixed Salad at La Querencia

Mixed Salad at La Querencia

For our main courses we decided to share two entrees, the first was the Duck Taco, which consisted of crispy slices of duck confit. It was also excellent.

Duck Breast Taco

Duck Breast Taco

The second of our entrees was the Grilled Salmon with Rossoto. The presentation was outstanding and the Rusoto was very tasty but the salmon was slightly overcooked. I really enjoyed the pesto sauce topping the salmon.

Salmon at La Querencia

Salmon at La Querencia

We finished our meal with a Creme Brûlée. Smoky burnt caramel top with orange zesty topping. Very Yummy.

Creme Brûlée at La Querencia

Creme Brûlée at La Querencia

The wine we shared that evening was from Alximia called Gaia 2013. It is a blend of  Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo. It has a deep red color, clear and lots of legs. Started very aromatic like fresh out of the barrel but then softened quickly. After being opened for a while it’s aroma was light fruit and musty. Overall rating for the wine was a 3.0 out of 5.0.

Over all rating for the entire experience was a 4.0 out of 5 with a price tag of $$$.