Guadalajara

Casa Fuerte - Tlaquepaque

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4vee50gx0w/

I was glad to see this longtime favorite made it through Covid. In contrast to the somewhat international / European-influenced cuisine at a lot of local restaurants, the menu’s traditional local dishes, with some modern touches but sticking to the traditional flavors. Video linked above has good shots of the lovely atrium dining area.

Butter is wrapped in corn husk. Tostadas are as thin as pappadum.

That red salsa is seriously hot.

Ensalada de nopal: the cactus is cooked and served warm, reminded me of green beans.

Torta de elote, savory version with chile sauce, similar to spoon bread.

Chile relleno con queso. No batter so lighter than the usual. The crunchy masa bowl for the beans was a nice touch.

They also have a cold chile relleno filled with squash blossom and topped with salsa de nuez that’s a riff on chiles en nogada.

Tamarind frozen margarita, free with main course. Refreshing.

Torta de elote, dessert version. Same cake but with a sweet sauce and some sweet crunchy bits.


Guanabana mousse with black sapote sauce. Nice. Not going to get that at home!

Service is good and friendly. English menus if you want / need one.

5 Likes

Cenaduría Doña Guille - Villaseñor

Neglected to take photos. Apparently a favorite among locals. Funny modern decor, some people complain that it’s not funky like a typical cenaduria. Flauta, sope, boned pig foot, pan de elote all good. An agua fresca of jamaica (hibiscus) and guayaba was surprisingly good, refreshing and not too sweet.

3 Likes

Cenaduria Victoria, Tlaquepaque

cheese enchiladas

potatoes

potato and bean sope

Classic regional cooking, all good. The meal was 78 pesos / $3.80 US before tip.

6 Likes

Bruna’s an upscale place that started out as an art gallery (there’s still one upstairs plus the sculpture garden you can see in the back) and it has correspondingly arty decor. Nevertheless the food’s fairly traditional. We got there early so it was pretty empty. There’s a second large dining area around the corner through the garden.

The cocktail program’s artier than the rest of the menu. Some of the drinks come with theater. This was an Antartik Tonic.

Complimentary rolls. They brought out more as we ate them.

Mole tasting was fun. Came with plenty of excellent tortillas.

Pork jowl with if I remember right huitlacoche.

Place filled up fast.

Seafood flautas.

Duck tamal.

Short rib en su jugo.

Carafe wine.

Cheese board. It was interesting because they were all modern artisanal domestic cheeses, I think all sheep and goat, but they have a way to go to match the quality of French or US.

Crema de elote brulee. Quite good and an original twist on a traditional dessert.

Exchange rate was around 20 pesos to the dollar.

Fun time. I liked getting the upscale arty Guadalajara atmosphere without having the food be an attempt at a Michelin tasting menu.

4 Likes

Cutzalan, sort of a celebrity chef place, Maru Toledo collects obscure recipes from all over Jalisco and has published them in various cookbooks and pamphlets. Not sure how involved she is, might have just consulted on the menu. Basically a breakfast / brunch place. Has a lot of dishes I’d never heard of before. It’s in on a pedestrian plaza with a small indoor market in the next block.

Wixárika: chilaquiles with a sauce of epazote, mushrooms, and wild greens.

I can’t remember what this was, some other dish I’d never heard of.

2 Likes

Went to Quelite for brunch on Sunday. A lot of interesting things from their dinner menu weren’t on offer, but my friends talked them into letting them order some anyway.

Quesadilla de huitlacoche: really good though I didn’t care for the tried squash blossoms.

Huazontles fritters: new to me.

Tetela.

Pork tongue from the dinner menu. Good. None of us had had it before, the usual is beef or veal tongue.

Enfrijolada with tasty chorizo.

Blue corn pancakes. I had thought maybe it would be savory but there was a jam or compote that made it not too sweet. Nice.

Pan de elote: a more custardy / dessert-y version than most, especially with the sweet sauce.

This place is really good and deserves more business. We drove past a bunch of places that were packed on our way there. Looking forward to having dinner on my next visit.

2 Likes

Mignardise from Volaris. Five years, first time I had a positive test. Would have thought it was a mild cold.

oh no! hope you avoid the worst of it and recover quickly.

Wasn’t that bad and I was better in six days.

2 Likes