Restaurant Reviews

Lake Chapala may just be paradise for those who enjoy dining out and eating wonderful, creative food. This guide to our favorite restaurants is just that - our very own favorites. We have ranked them according to their menu selections, service, ambiance and price and have personally eaten at them all, sometimes more than once. If you think we have left out a really good restaurant, it is probably because we haven't eaten there yet. Let us know and we will make a visit and add our review to this guide. Buen Provecho!

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Letra CH Restoran Del Mar

Address: Carretera San Nicolas #4, Chapala
Phone: 331 117 2325 or 331 007 0216
Hours: Open daily, except Wednesdays, 1:00pm to 9:00pm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/letrach-restorandelmar

Credit Cards not accepted

Directions: From WalMart, drive east on the Carretera and turn left at the stop light in Chapala. Take Madera north to the next stop light. Turn right, onto Calle Venustiano Carranza, which runs at a 45 degree angle to Madera. Turn right on Avenida Pepe Guizar.  Avenida Guizar dead ends at Calle Gonzalez Gallo. You will see Letra CH on your left, the second building on the left. Parking is in front of the restaurant.

First Impressions

Letra CH, Restoran Del Mar
If I had not read the rave reviews of this restaurant I might never have eaten here. First of all, it is not easy to find, and once you know where it is, you are still not sure if it is really a restaurant from the outside.

I have posted a picture of the outside so hungry readers will know what this place looks like from the outside.
And, you definitely do not want to bypass Letra CH. It is a hidden treasure.

But not for much longer, once the word gets out about the scrumptious food prepared inside this tiki-hut looking structure. 

Park in front of the building and walk through the front toward the back of the restaurant and then up a flight of stairs to the thatch covered dining room. There are about ten tables in the dining area, a bar and a nice view of the lake.

Fried Calamari
We went with friends on a Thursday evening. There was one other diner in the restaurant and she left shortly after we arrived. After that we had the entire place to ourselves. The weather was pleasant so we were comfortable sitting in the outdoor dining room.

This is a family owned and operated establishment, with a small boutique hotel and spa at the back of the property.

Menu

The menu is printed on material, and one of our friends found it difficult to read.

The selections were limited to about ten tantalizing selections of seafood and chicken dishes, uniquely prepared. This place has a very interesting concept. Your meal includes the choice of an appetizer and a side dish included in the price The waiter, also one of the owners of the restaurant, took our drink order and brought out a basket of bread and herb butter.

L'Orange Salmon
Starters included salmon mousse on crisp wontons, asparagus in tequila sauce, fried calamari or soup of the day. We decided to each try something different and  share between us, and found them all delicious.

The one drawback was the very small size of the asparagus, especially considering that there was an extra $20peso charge for this appetizer.

There was also an extra $20peso charge for the fried calamari. The salmon mousse was flavorful, but we were all most surprised and impressed with the crunchy fried calamari. It was lightly battered and deep fried with not a hint of the rubbery texture I have grown used to expecting.

Nutty Sea Bass
The entrees were tantalizing and it was hard to choose between them. Fortunately, there were four of us dining so we each could order something different and share.

The menu presented us with a number of tempting choices, Nutty Sea Bass, prepared with a pistachio and pecan topping, Four Cheese Chicken, Coco Shrimp, L'Orange Salmon, Octopus, Letra CH Pasta and Citrus Tuna.

The side dish selections, included scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, wild rice or a green  salad.

We ordered the scalloped potatoes and wild rice, but the waiter also brought a bowl of sweet potatoes for us to sample, convinced we would love it. And we did. It was so delicious, and sweet, almost like dessert.


Brownie with Ice Cream
I had read another diner's review, raving about the Nutty Sea Bass and so this is what I ordered. I was not disappointed. The fish was fresh and lightly cooked with a delicious nut topping.

The other hit of the evening was the L'Orange Salmon, a thick piece of salmon cooked perfectly, topped with a  light citrus sauce.

We also had the Four Cheese Chicken and Coconut Shrimp with mango sauce. Several of us ordered a crisp Sauvignon Blanc to accompany our meals.

The waiter replenished our basket of bread, during the meal, which we greatly appreciated. We capped off the delicious meal with brownies and vanilla ice cream. The brownie was made in house, rich, dense, and chocolaty.

Ambience and Price

The outdoor dining room is pleasant, with interesting decorative walls made from pallets and PVC pipes filled with live plants. There is a good view of the lake from the dining room. The only drawback was, as night fell, we were annoyed by mosquitoes.

There is a short flight of stairs to get up to the dining room, which may present a hardship to those unable to climb to the second floor dining room.

The prices are very reasonable, ranging from $106pesos to $149 pesos. The ingredients used to prepare the meals are high quality and the price included an appetizer and side dish. Our meals, including wine and dessert, came to $450pesos, less than $35USD.

Our Recommendation ****

Find this place and eat here. The food is so good and this family has a very interesting and unique concept that sets them apart from the rest of the restaurants in Chapala. Make sure to go before sunset to avoid the annoying mosquitoes.



Restaurante Delicias

Address :Ave. Hidalgo #277, Chapala  
Phone: 765-5021
Facebook: www.facebook.com/desayunosdelicias
Wifi Available
Credit Cards Not Accepted

Hours: Daily, 8 a.m. - 1 pm.

Directions: From Walmart, take the Carretera east towards Chapala for about 4 miles. Delicias is on the left, just past Hotel Monte Carlo and the Farmacia Guadalajara. Park along the street. 

First Impressions

There is a reason why Delicias is a local favorite for breakfast. You can order just about any breakfast food you can imagine. The food is simple and tasty and the prices are right.

Delicias is easy to miss. It is housed in a plain brown building that fades into a long line of other, nondescript buildings along the Carretera., just west of Chapala. 

Like many restaurants in the Lake Chapala area, you cannot judge the quality of the food by looking at the exterior of the business.

The double doors open into a large, Mexican style dining room with plenty of seating. Through the back door is a pleasant patio dining room surrounding a fountain. Smoking is not allowed on the patio.

There is limited parking along the road outside the restaurant, however, if you are willing to walk about a block, you can park west of the restaurant, on the road that runs between the Farmacia Guadalajara and the Monte Carlo hotel.

Delicias is clean and pleasant. Restrooms are just off the patio area, with separate facilities for hombres and dames. They are spotless.

We seated ourselves on a quiet Friday morning and the waitress brought our menus, took our drink order and gave us time to look at the menu. She returned with a pot of hot coffee and a basket of warm, whole wheat rolls.

Menu

The breakfast menu at Delicias is extensive, offering the most varied breakfast selection of any lakeside restaurant. Eggs are  cooked almost any way you can imagine; eggs benedict, Mexican style eggs, ranch style eggs, omelets, burritos, and American style breakfast with eggs cooked al gusto ( as you like them).

You can also choose chiliquiles, served with or without chicken or chorizo and with red or green - or both - sauces. The menu also offers waffles, hot cakes and crepes.

Many meals come with bacon or link sausage, hash browns or beans. The three page menu is  chock full of choices. What do you feel like eating? It is most likely on the menu at Delicias. Beverages include coffee, tea, shakes, smoothies and juices.

We ordered the hot cake combo, served with three hot cakes, 2 eggs, 2 sausage links and hash browns and an order of waffles, with strawberries and a side of bacon.

The scrambled eggs were cooked just right, not too dry, and the pancakes were light, served with butter and syrup packets. The waffle was crisp, the strawberries freshly cut without the juice that makes a waffle soggy.

All in all, a satisfying meal. The coffee was good and the waitress came back to the table often to top off our cups.


Price and Service

Almost all the breakfast entrees are priced between $50pesos and $65pesos. Our meal, including coffee, came to $203pesos, or about $15US.

The service was very good, the waitress did not speak much English, but we were able to make ourselves understood and got exactly what we ordered. The menu was written in English, so when in doubt, we could just point to a selection.

Our Recommendation ****

We tried Restaurante Delicias last year and thought the food was quite good. We have not gone back since then because during our research, we read some bad reviews on a local expat forum. None of the negative comments we read mirrored our own experience at this restaurant, so I would caution visitors to take the information gleaned from these forums with a grain of salt. If you are looking for a delicious, hearty breakfast, at a reasonable price, we recommend Restaurante Delicias to you.





Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Los Laureles

Los Laureles Restaurant at Hotel Villa, Monte Carlo
Hidalgo 296, Chapala
376-765-2120
www.hoteles.udg.mx

Hours: Open 7 days; Monday through Thursday 8:00a.m. through 9:30 pm; Friday through Sunday 8 am through 10:30 pm; Sunday Breakfast Buffet
Credit Cards Accepted: Visa and Mastercard

Directions: From Walmart, follow the Carretera to Chapala. Hotel Villa Monte Carlo is on the right, as you cross the hill. Park along the street, next to the hotel.   

First Impressions


I had no idea that this restaurant existed until we joined the swimming club located at the Hotel Villa Monte Carlo in order to take advantage of their wonderful pool. This is a hidden place, without much advertising or promotions of any kind.

Sometimes a sign indicates that the local Rotary Club meets there, but otherwise, the restaurant seems to exist for the weekend hotel guests - mostly from Guadalajara - that stay in the hotel. This hotel is affiliated with the University of Guadalajara.

The restaurant is located in a nondescript building that fronts the Carretera. The indoor dining area is spacious, clean and inviting, but we always sit outdoors, under the ancient trees that surround the café, beneath the white canopies. The outdoor tables are covered in crisp white and red tablecloths. It is a pleasant  place to have lunch on a bright, not-too-breezy  afternoon.

Menu 


We have eaten at Los Laureles several times. The food and service is consistently good. This time, we arrived in the late afternoon for lunch. The waiter appeared promptly, after we had seated ourselves. He took our drink order and gave us  menus, written in Spanish with the English translation just underneath each entry. He came back with our drinks, and shortly thereafter, a basket of freshly baked rolls.

The lunch menu is extensive. There are a number of appetizers to choose from, including ceviche, to start the meal. Soups include tortilla, cream, and a ham and cheese soup, served in a bread bowl. Several salads are also offered.  


The menu includes small plates, and larger meals. Choose from a variety of sandwiches such as club or vegetarian, steak sandwich or chicken "hamburger" as well as traditional hamburgers. 

Mexican specialties include enchiladas, tacos and tostadas. There are several seafood and steak plates as well as pasta dishes such as spaghetti and fettucini. There is something on the menu for every taste and every size appetite.

We ordered a salad with shrimp, club sandwich with French fries and ham and cheese soup served in a bread bowl.  Everything was quite good.

Ambiance and Price


The service at Los Laureles is good. The waiters are pleasant and accommodating. Entrée prices range from $36 pesos to $120 pesos.

There is no loud music playing here, only the sounds of the birds in the canopy of trees, and there is a good view of the lake from the outdoor dining area. This is a very pleasant place to enjoy lunch in a lovely, quiet setting.

Our Recommendation  *** 


Los Laureles is a nice destination for lunch. The prices are reasonable and the service is good.

The food is not unique or creative, by any means, but rather standard dishes prepared well and served by attentive staff in a beautiful setting.






Friday, October 10, 2014

Donas Donuts

Address:  Carretera Oriente 52-B
                Across from Farmacia Guadalajara and Actnivar Bank
Phone:  376 766 1996
Hours of Operation:  Daily from 7AM - 8PM
WIFI Available
No Credit Cards Accepted

Directions: From Walmart head west on the Chapala - Jocotepec Carretera approximately 1 mile. Donas Donuts is on the right (on the cobblestone road that runs parallel to the paved road) across from the Farmacia Guadalajara and Actnivar Bank. Parking is limited on the road in front of Donas Donuts. There is a stop light at the intersection to help get back onto the Carretera.

 

First Impressions

Donas Donuts is a popular coffee and donut shop in the center of Ajijic. It is located in a quaint corner shop with a patio that offers outdoor seating for those interested in people watching.

The interior looks like a traditional bakery and has  a display case of donuts and some small tables. A community bulletin board holds all kinds of information about local events, houses and apartments for rent, classes, garage sales.

This is one of the few places in town that does not need to "approve" every ad that is posted, so you can find lots of information on just about anything.

The local buses stop near the front and there is limited parking available right in front of the cafe and across the small side street to the left.

Menu

This is mostly a traditional donut shop, with a small number of breakfast sandwiches also available.

The coffee is very good, and hot, and the donuts are the best that I have ever tasted. They are fresh and delicious, never stale or greasy. The best are the cake donuts, in my opinion, but the glazed are also very good.

 

Service and Price

Walk up to the counter and place your order. There is no table service at Donas Donuts. This is a traditional coffee shop. The prices are very reasonable, cheap in fact. Two cake donuts and coffee, $66 pesos.

Our Recommendation ***

On those mornings when you just want a good cup of coffee and a donut, then Donas Donuts is the place to eat. Read the morning newspaper. Check the bulletin board and watch the people streaming in and out of this popular shop.



La Casa del Waffle

Address:  Carretera Poniente #75
Phone:  376-766-1946
Hours of Operation:  Sunday - Saturday  8am - 2om
Web Page:  www.lacasadelwaffle.com.mx
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/lacasadelwaffle

WIFI Available
Credit Cards not Accepted

Directions:  From Walmart head west on the carretera approximately 2 1/2 miles. Casa del Waffle will be on your right just past the car wash and Roberto's restaurant. There is parking available in front of the restaurant.

First Impressions

La Casa del Waffle is located on the western edge of Ajijic, on the right side of the Carretera, when headed west. There is a small, but adequate parking lot in front of the restaurant.

La Casa del Waffle offers outdoor seating and some indoor seating, with a large open door onto the patio. This is a clean and pleasant little breakfast café. Free wifi is available for customers.

I almost did not review this restaurant because I thought it was a chain. But, turns out that the "chain" started in Ajijic, and this La Casa del Waffle is the original restaurant. The other two restaurants in Guadalajara and Talaquepaque are based on the Ajijic model.

When we arrived at about 10 am on a Friday morning and there were plenty of available tables. Very loud American rock music was playing, almost too loud to carry on a conversation.

Menu  

We have been to La Casa del Waffle several times since we have lived at Lake Chapala. This is as close as you are going to get to Denny's or IHOP in Mexico.

La Casa del Waffle offers a variety of fruit topped Belgian waffles, pancakes and traditional eggs, potatoes and bacon, but also has a few traditional Mexican breakfast specialties.

They also offer a children's menu, so this is definitely a family friendly restaurant. On Sunday mornings, after church, lines form outside Casa del Waffle, waiting for a seat.

This morning we ordered the Good Morning Breakfast - sausage and eggs on toasted English muffins, topped with gravy -  and a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and refried beans, accompanied by an a la carte order of biscuits.
 
Our meals were served hot and were good, almost like a real American breakfast. The biscuits were not really biscuits, qua biscuits, but rather breakfast yeast rolls, cut open and toasted.

I was a bit disappointed that they were not real, southern style biscuits but I realize that not every place in the world interprets biscuits like this southerner.

The coffee was very good, and a waiter came by the table to freshen our cups almost as soon as they were empty.

 Service and Price

The service is very good at La Casa del Waffle. We were waited on immediately, and served coffee while we read the menu. When we have visited previously, we were served a small basket of bread, but not this time. I am not sure why.

The waiter kept our coffee cups filled and was a little anxious to remove our plates before we were finished with our meals.

Our meal, without tip, came to $222 pesos,  or about $17US, about what we pay in the US when we visit a breakfast chain restaurant.

Our recommendation ***

La Casa del Waffle is a good place for breakfast if you want traditional, familiar, breakfast food. This is a nice, clean restaurant with a pleasant atmosphere and good food at a fair price.

If you sit in the patio area you can lessen the effects of the blaring music, which will improve your experience significantly.
  

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Monte Cristo Restaurant

Address:  Carretera Chapala-Jocotepec #920A
                 Ajijic, Jalisco
Phone:  331-768-1063 (cell)
             376-106-2063
Hours of Operation:  Monday - Saturday 8:30 AM - 9 PM
                                  Sunday 8:30 AM - 2 PM
Facebook Page
WIFI:  Available
Credit Cards not accepted

Directions: From WalMart head west on the carretera towards Jocotepec approximately 3 miles. Monte Cristo is on the left just past the La Huerta Event Center. There is ample parking in front of the restaurant.

Update: Now Serving Breakfast, 8:30am daily. 59 peso special.  

First Impressions

We had heard nothing but good things about the new addition to the Lake Chapala restaurant scene, Monte Cristo Restaurant, so added it to our list of restaurants to review.

We arrived for lunch at about 1pm on a Wednesday afternoon. There were already diners inside the open air restaurant and seated at the umbrella covered tables on the front patio.

There is plenty of room for diners at the Monte Cristo, which also features a large patio dining area located just off the bar. Though the smaller patio is near the main road, the noise was not bothersome on the day we visited. The landscaping is beautiful and designed to block much of the road noise.

We recognized friends dining on the patio  and asked if they had been to Monte Cristo before that afternoon. They assured us that they had, and that Monte Cristo had become one of their go-to places to eat. The patio is dog friendly and wifi is available.

The décor inside the restaurant is fresh and modern, with wooden tables and wrought iron chairs. There was upbeat, Latin music playing softly in the background.

The interior is spacious, with tables placed far enough apart to provide some privacy for conversation. The Monte Cristo also has a full bar.

Menu and Service

Our waiter brought the menus, took our drink orders and informed us of the specials of the day, in English and in Spanish. He was friendly and knowledgeable about the items on the menu.

We ordered two glasses of the house red wine, a good Merlot. The waiter brought out a basket of freshly baked bread with garlic spread and even offered to bring more after we gobbled the first basket down.


The menu offers a number of tempting appetizers that include shrimp and cream cheese spring rolls, salads, seafood chowder, avocado stuffed with shrimp or smoked oysters and fish and chips.


Entrees  included salmon with herbs, Spaghetti Monte Cristo, paella, mahi-mahi Monte Cristo and shish-kabob. A variety of hamburger plates are also available.

We decided to start with the shrimp and cream cheese spring rolls. These did not disappoint, served hot and cooked perfectly with a plum dipping sauce. The simple descriptions in the menu were tantalizing, making it difficult to choose what to order.


Everything about the Monte Cristo communicates the owner's concern for the customer's dining experience. Finally, we decided on the special of the day, which was a seafood, chicken and steak shish-kabob, served with either four or five skewers. We also ordered the pear and goat cheese salad. We did not wait long for our meals. The presentation was lovely, the interpretation of these simple dishes, sophisticated.

Price and Service

The price for our meal was $535pesos, for an appetizer, large shish-kabob plate, huge salad, dessert and five glasses of house wine. That is just a little over $40US.

We returned to Monte Cristo Restaurant recently to meet their chef, Humberto Hernandez. Hernandez brings a new direction to Monte Cristo, including the addition of breakfast served until noon. Hernandez has been in kitchens all across the country and in the USA, from Portland, Oregon to Baja California, Mazatlán and Ajijic.

We ordered from the $59peso breakfast which offers your choice of 2 eggs, bacon and hash browns or eggs, bacon and pancakes, French toast and more. The coffee was hot and freshly made and the waiter kept our cups full.

Our Recommendation ****

Eat at Monte Cristo Restaurant in Ajijic. The food is prepared well and served as if the owners and staff really care about your dining experience. Now you can have breakfast, even if you are a late sleeper. Monte Cristo is one of our go-to restaurants in Ajijic, where service and food are consistently excellent.