Tacos y Tortas el Chino

At $.50usd ($7 pesos) a piece, these tacos are impossible to beat. Eliseo is the chef and his nickname of El Chino comes not only from his appearance, but his ability to chop an onion in 5 seconds. There are seats inside and you are welcome to bring your own cervesa, as we did. We had planned on just trying a taco and then finding dinner elsewhere, but after the one we decided to enjoy 4 more. Each night his offerings change a bit. We had beef, chorizo and salchicha tacos and they were all overflowing with toppings. Tripe tacos were being offered the following night. The sandwiches were also a hit with the locals and looked equally delicious.

This taco stand is a must-try if you’re in Sabancuy. And if you speak Spanish, Eliseo is a great raconteur as well as host. He lived in Houston for 10 years before coming back to Sabancuy to raise his family, so he doesn’t mind practicing his English a little too.

Plaza Mirador

Xavi’s birthday was on Monday and all he wanted was a fresh fish dinner — it took us until Wednesday to find exactly the place. But it was indisputably worth the wait.

Plaza Mirador, located just at the entrance of town, right on the water, has both an incredible setting and incredible fish. We entered and asked for a menu.

“Una carta? No tenemos una carta” replied the teenage girl greeting customers.

“Pues, que tiene? Pescado? Pescado entera?” I asked

She replied with a few names of fish they had, and we recognized none of them. As I began asking for a more descriptive explanation, she beckoned us to the cook’s quarters. Once there she opened a deep freezer that was absolutely filled with fish, all of which were at least a half-meter long. Xavi and I exchanged glances to mean, OK. Perfect.

Once seated we asked how much it cost. (The following exchange is translated from Spanish.)

“Well, that depends what you want,” she replied

“OK, so what are our options then?“

“Well, that depends on the cook,” she said, as though that were obvious.

“OK, so can we share a whole fish or fillets? We’d like it grilled though.“

“So you want a whole fish or fillets?” she asked.

“What’s the price difference?“

“I don’t know, it depends on the fish,“ She said matter of factly.

“Well what’s the price of the pargo then?” I asked.

“I don’t know, it depends on the size,” she said.

So finally, I decided to end this cyclical conversation, which as I’m sure you can tell by reading it — was painful.

“Can you ask the cook what the price difference is for an entire fish and how big that is?” I said.

She complied and walked away. She returned moments later with an enormous snapper to say:

“This is the smallest pargo we have. It’s $19usd ($250 pesos) for the entire fish, or $7.50usd ($100 pesos) for one order.”

Xavi and I looked at each other and then I replied that we would just like the one order to share. We thanked her for taking her patience and she thanked us for our’s.

We sat on the patio shaded by a palapa roof and looked out at the lagoon where we could see rain falling on the beaches in the distance. Seagulls, pelicans and cranes swooping in and out of the water eating their final meals for the day as we enjoyed ours: a feast of fresh fish. This birthday dinner was certainly worth the effort and the wait.

Take me to MAP: SABANCUY

 

 Take me back to SABANCUY // Take me back to MEXICO // Take me HOME