Even though the Fiesta Americana had morphed into an "all inclusive" format, we knew we would still be eating most of our lunches and dinners in town. Plus, the advance press had not been positive regarding the dinners offered at the hotel's new Italian, Asian and Mexican restaurants. However, what surprised us was the quality of the Fiesta Americana's lunches. In addition to the ubiquitous hamburger, hotdog and French fries bar, there was a ceviche bar, which offered flash fried fish tacos with a chipotle mayo, which Marlene could have eaten every day. Not only was the mahi-mahi fresh and delicious, but the flour tortillas themselves were near perfect.
There was also a rotating poolside lunch option, ranging from freshly made paella to grilled fish, chicken and meat. One day, freshly caught mahi-mahi were laid out on tables, cutup into chunks and grilled on a large open pit, seasoned only with salt and pepper.
We hungrily ate the freshly grilled fish with our fingers; the sweet white flesh was amazing. Many of Puerto Vallarta's restaurants have been around for a long time, although that doesn't always translate into quality. We had been to Barcelona Tapas multiple times, but until this trip we had never ordered their seafood paella.
Seafood paella, with red snapper, shrimp, calamari, scallops, mussels, octopus and chorizo It was the best paella we'd ever had. The seafood was fresh; the saffron rice wasn't gummy – there was so much, we couldn't finish it. We won't miss it next time around. We returned to Archie's Wok for their incomparable barbecued pork riblets, glazed with hoisin sauce. And then there's Daiquiri Dick's, our Puerto Vallarta lunch and dinner hangout. This time around, there was a yummy grilled yellowfin tuna sandwich on their lunch menu, served with perfect sweet potato fries.
We also had an outstanding seafood pasta for dinner – spaghetti noodles with octopus, shrimp, and romaine, in a light creamy lime garlic sauce.
But while we enjoy returning to old favorites, we're always on the prowl for new venues, particularly for dinner. This time around we found a gem. Copyright © 2015 TwoForTheTable.com |
