A pleasant surprise!

I don't review restaurants much anymore, but one of our fellow bloggers had mentioned that he had a great meal at this restaurant.  I shy away from doing restaurant reviews after one of them caused the restaurant owner to meltdown and cause concern for my health after what I had written, which I thought was a decent non aggressive and informative review.
I figured it was not worth my well being especially when  the chief/owner believes that he is the creator of the best food on this side of the world.

So now before I write about anything, I consider the ramifications of the possibile outcome especially if the food is mediocre or down right awful.

This thankfully is not the case with this place.

It was a pleasant surprise, especially considering the absence of any half way decent eateries in Patzcuaro.

My last review was over a year ago of one of the places that is supposedly the hangout for many Gringos in the town, which for me was kind of a dud, both in the food and the fact of being horribly overpriced.

We found this place based on the good instructions and parked in front of this commercial looking structure fronted by a lot of glass.  As we stepped up to the door, both doors were opened for us and we were quickly welcomed.  We selected our table and were quickly presented very well photographed menus and asked if wanted some liquid refreshments.

I ordered a nice cold beer which surprising arrived, very cold, exactly the way I enjoy my bewskies.
My wife ordered the pepino agua which was presented to her a few minutes later after hearing the blender whirring in their open kitchen, across the expansive area which is their dance floor.

Her pepino agua fresca  was delicious as was the little appetizer plate which consisted of ceviche along with some tortilla chips.

The menu includes lots of various preparations of basic items.  Items such as Arrichera and Camarones included multiple ways of preparation. The fish selection was Salmon, Huachinango, Dorado which I consider ample this far in the middle of the country.

Chicken dishes as well as children's dishes like hamburgers, spaghetti and hot dogs at prices around 40 pesos completed the menu.

My wife ordered the Brocheta ($155) which had two nice skewers loaded up with camarones, arrachera and chicken with morrones (peppers) and , cebolla.

Brocheta

I had the Fajitas Mixtas ($145) Which arrived with two plates. The first had the sizzling hot arrachera, pollo and camarones with chile morron y chile toreado.  The second plate included a heaping serving of guacamole, re-fried beans, rice and fresh lettuce salad.

 





 We actually could have made it quite well on sharing one or the other order. We both had enough to take home which provided us with a decent lunch the next day.

 The food was well prepared, fresh and extremely tasty.  The thing that excited me is the price and quality, level or service and stellar experience when compared to the places in Patzcuaro,being a night and day difference.

For half the price we were satisfied overall especially when you compare the place with the popular joint in Patzcuaro. Where the average check for dinner for two, runs in excess of $800 pesos.  This place is a shining star and is not even on the same continent when comparing facilities, quality of food, service and value received.

We were so stuffed that we didn't even consider having any dessert. Their listing for dessert included of course Flan Napolitano for $ 45 pesos and a rare seen item in these parts, Sopaipillas for $35 pesos.

They had one page devoted to Cafes Batidos, with several special Chocolate drink creations. They also had one page devoted to bar drinks and liquors. All reasonably price too.

All in all, this place is a definite return for us, which is not often that we find anything fairly close and reasonably priced. This is not a place we are going to hop in the car for dinner twice a week, but two or three times a month, absolutely!

To find them, they are on the road to Quiroga, as you are approaching Quiroga, you will see a propane gas filling station on the left, ( I think it is Global Gas ) immediately next door to them a little off the road, 15 meters, a two story commercial building with a all glass front . You will see the sign with their name EL ZAUZ.
Being on the outskirts of Quiroga it took us about 20 minutes to get there.
I wonder how hopping the place is on the weekend nights, since they have the dance floor, a nice bar, a mezzanine with seating, and and outside balcony with sliding doors for fresh air.  A DJ area with lots of speakers and video screens completes the experience.  We may venture out there to see the place in action in the evening some time.
  
If you are on the road and pass or see the big green sine saying QUIROGA, you have gone about a half a kilometer too far.

Thank you Felipe for the heads up on this place!


Being on the outskirts of Quiroga, it took us about 20 minutes to get there, which is not bad considering the quality of the place. I wonder how hopping the place is on the weekend nights since they have a nice dance floor, a mezzanine with outside balcony, nice DJ stand with TV screens around and on the ground floor a nice quaint bar with an exceptional assortment of booze.