Even though there are hundreds of YouTube vlogs of varying quality about San Miguel de Allende,…read morechef Pati Jinich was the one that triggered my interest in coming here through her long-running PBS travel and cooking series. She went to this particular traditional restaurant known for their signature dish, Molcajete. The term first refers to a Mexican mortar bowl made of basalt volcanic rock standing on three stubby legs. The same term also refers to the food inside.
It's quite simple because it's all about the ingredients and the execution. Jamie W and I ordered the MX$550 Mix Volcanic Bowl where they grilled large amounts of arrachera (skirt steak), chicken, and cecina (cured beef) while heating up the molcajete. The meat was then layered in the bowl along with nopales (cactus), green onion, chiles, peppers, and queso blanco cheese. A spicy green chile verde sauce was drizzled all over the gluttonous mix (Photo 7).
Fresh guacamole and creamy refried beans were served on the side (Photo 4). A stack of freshly made tortillas was provided in order to gorge on all of the hearty indulgence which continues to stream well after its arrival at the table. The total amount could've easily served four ravenous people with both the arrachera and nopales the delectable standouts. Out of blissful ignorance, we both ordered salads as if the volcanic bowl wasn't going to satisfy us.
Jamie had the MX$135 Mixed Salad with lettuce, grape tomatoes, cucumber slices, red onion, pasilla chiles, mushrooms, and a rosette of avocado slices (Photo 8). I went with the MX$200 House Salad with lettuce, hearts of palm, cubes of chihuahua cheese, green olives, grape tomatoes, and red onion (Photo 9). Both were more than freshly satisfying as we were filling up on housemade tortilla chips with red salsa and fresh pico de gallo (Photo 5).
The space was cavernous with plenty of room for large parties as families converged on this place. We could totally envision live music performances in here, especially with a long, fully stocked bar beckoning. Although I've seen mocajetes on random Mexican menus around San Francisco, I agree with Pati that this type of place would be quite successful stateside. If you're planning a trip to San Miguel de Allende, I recommend following Pati's advice.
FOOD - 5 stars...a deliciously eruptive volcanic bowl
AMBIANCE - 4.5 stars...huge space, plenty of room during off-peak hours
SERVICE - 4.5 stars...efficient and quite accommodating
TOTAL - 5 stars...trust Pati on this one
RELATED - Exploring San Miguel de Allende? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/fUKxOmWUmr