Dinner at LaFrida's

The restaurant chain is named after Frida Kahlo, an artist who was popularized in Mexico during the 1980's, almost three decades after her death, and also in the movie Frida, naturaleza viva (1983), directed by Paul Leduc with Ofelia Medina as Frida and painter Juan José Gurrola as Diego, which was a huge success at the time.

Jey-hu had been to the chain's restaurant in Puerto Vallarta a few years ago and had a very good memory of dining there, so we made a reservation at the one at Pueblo Bonita at Sunset Beach for Wednesday night. The photo of the 'painting,' probably a reproduction of the original, is at the entrance to this establishment and the decor is all about the colorful aspects of Mexican heritage - very well done.

And it was not the only good thing, thankfully. The service was close to being 5 *****, and although clearly the menu was the chef's platform for his creativity, my only suggestion would be to offer at least one item which could be tastefully presented but which doesn't require using every spice in the Mexican kitchen.

My choice was the Sea Bass (shown to the left) which was delectable, just barely encrusted from the searing and appropriately moist inside - very tender. The chef from another restaurant in Cabo (recently reviewed) could take a few lessons here. It was perched (no seafood pun intended) on some diced pieces of shrimp with assorted thinly sliced vegetables in a sort of Mexican-style Ratatoille. Some people might like this sort of fish on soup deal; it was a little too slurpy for me. However, it gets a huge plus for being a really good eating experience overall.

Jey-hu selected the blackened chicken smothered in sage which he proclaimed to be tasty and also moist enough to be enjoyed; he prefers dark meat as a rule. Accompanied by a mashed potato, restructured to look like a potato without skin, and hominy grits and vegetables in an exceptional hot spice sauce, it was too much food for even the usually very hungry Jey-hu.

Still, we were persuaded to try their desserts: caramelized creme brulee for me and homemade chocolate ice cream with a sort of donut-style cookie for Jey-hu - hard to explain - and which were both unique in their own right. The added caramel in the brulee did not appeal to me; in other words, I would not order it again, but it was certainly delicious in all respects. Jey-hu said that his dessert met his expectations - cool and sweet but the chocolate ice cream was more chocolate than sweet; he liked that.

The added attraction was a Spanish/Mexican singer accompanied by a pianist which made the entire dinner event very special. Sometimes when entertainment is offered it is so intrusive it is difficult to hear your dinner companions. This was definitely not the case, even when she came over to our table, making the rounds to all.

We came away fully stuffed and satisfied, if a little undone by the large peso bill... over $1500 including the tip. No wine, no drinks, just an entree and dessert. If the dollar drops any more, we could be looking at just this kind of fee for a really good meal just over the border... yikes!

Restaurant Review - Lorenzillo's in Cabo

Look for the giant lobster crawling up the side of a building...

Located in the heart of the Cabo San Lucas marina, the seafood restaurant called Lorenzillo’s professes to have originated somewhere around 1638 when the first Lorenzillo, a pirate, went looking for something to eat.

Unhappy with what he was served, he burned the place down and killed all the upper-class members of that society.

So, for our last night "in town." as we move over to the destination resort of Pacifica (a spa) tomorrow, we ate at this ‘historic’ place, actually re-established with the intent of keeping newer pirates happier with their meals and I will say that the service is superb - top notch!

The Perrier water was served with fresh limes - to prevent scurvy I am certain - but the bane of my personal existence, and a reason why I might be inclined to set fire to this establishment, is that the rolls were hard. Perhaps they were trying to re-create hard-tack to add to the shippy decor. Sadly what should have been a treat as sea bass is in season here, I found it dry and wrapped around lobster and shrimps that quite likely had been caught in 1638. Using a little sea salt would have corrected the sea-sick broccoli and kept it looking cheery as well as adding beneficial elements for the sailor’s diet.

The other item, identified as linguini, could have been toredo worms for all I knew. Heavily covered with something that resembled sawdust, it was slimy and mostly tasteless - sad to say it didn’t add anything to the meal.

But the piece de resistance, the dessert, redeemed some of the earlier failures. The chef went to some trouble to create a ‘signature’ chocolate ice cream treat using a familiar dutch-named product, but perhaps the freezer isn’t working as well as it should since there were ice crystals in it. Anyhow, I took a picture of it, and could recommend it - sort of.

Charm gives Lorenzillo’s a star, location gives it another star, presentation- one more - and service could push it over toward four stars. But when I have to subtract two stars for the poor quality of the outcome, Lorenzillo’s drops to a dreary two-star dining event and offering it up as a free meal as an enticement for sitting through a time-share selling endurance run only makes both experiences more painful.

CAVEAT: It is NOT my intent to destroy any business, especially in these hard economic times with so many wonderful people working so hard here in Cabo to make everyone's visit fun and pleasurable. But it is not fair to trap people to spend their time and possibly pesos or US dollars on inedible food. With a few changes, Lorenzillo's could be a fabulous place to eat....