After a very long work day, of which I will have two more in a row, but which was broken up by a brief wade in the ocean, I set off to find dinner. I headed ‘downtown’ and I had no sooner turned onto Calle Principal when I heard “Señora! Señora!” I know the world doesn’t revolve around me, but there was no else around, so I turned around and who do I see? Patricia, the owner of Patty’s defunct restaurant that I miss so much!
As it turns out, she had to close the restaurant because the rent was too high. 🙁 BUT she’s back in business with a smaller menu cooking right out of her house! Her hours aren’t as convenient in that she’s closed when I get off work at 2:00, but she is open for an early lunch on my days off and she’s open for an early dinner, too. Plus, she does things I actually eat for breakfast, like enchiladas. No burgers and fries, though.
Needless to say, my plans to troll the stands downtown for dinner were cancelled and I followed her into the front room of her house (cement bunker, essentially), where she had a few tables set up and two customers were eating. I asked her what a ‘gordita’ is and she explained that it’s a small fat tortilla topped with meat, lettuce, onion, tomato, beans, cheese, and crema, and served with caldo. Did I know what caldo is? I said yes, it’s soup juice (broth) and she burst out laughing. I agreed to have two of those and made myself comfortable watching the soap that was playing on TV! I saw a commercial for the Sin Fronteras TelCel plan and that confirmed that it includes Canada even if I can’t find any confirmation on the website yet. This is very exciting news. More on this when I have something to link to.
In between her managing the kitchen (I believe her daughter does the actual cooking or at least assembly of the food) and lighting mosquito coils, we caught up a bit. The gentleman customer left and the lady customer who was left, and who was eating a gordita (I took mental notes on her technique), suddenly opened up and started chatting with me, too. I’ll be honest and admit that I was mentally beat and wasn’t really up for company tonight or fighting another language, but this was too wonderful an opportunity to pass up to get my foot in the door of the real Mexico. I’m glad I made the effort!
My food eventually came out. I was passed a bowl of salsa and told ‘picante.’ I smiled and added a generous amount to my food. Then, I did like the lady had done, pouring the hot caldo over my gorditas, and dug in with my fingers. Dang it was messy, but so good! Last year, I rather ‘got bored’ with Mexican food because it’s basically all the same ingredients in different combinations, but I completely missed the fact that the variations and true flavour are mostly in the sauces. I told Patricia how my tastebuds have changed and I can handle the spice now, so I’m not as afraid to try new things. She said that she doesn’t like things too spicy either, but with just enough to add flavour. I think I can trust her food not to kill me, then. 😀
The gorditas were just $14 each! All her prices are very low, so, as she said, I should come and eat at her house every day. We’ll see. 🙂
For those favouring a more traditional breakfast, she does eggs as you like them with all manner of sides, like ham or chorizo, with ‘coffee’ (instant) or orange juice for just $40. She buys her food fresh every day. And she has wifi! Look for her on Calle Principal just past where the road curves towards ‘downtown’ after the basketball court. She has fluorescent green handwritten cardboard signs with her menu right by the road. That should have been my clue that she was still around!