Los Telares - Ajijic

[jkgourmet]

In our three visits to Lakeside, we've always meant to get around to at Los Telares. But never have. I'd read very little about this place on the forums - and what is around is very mixed. In retrospect, I think I may have developed some deep seated feeling that, due to it's location, it was a restaurant that was just getting overflow from those who did not want to wait for a table at Tango. Sort of like a date for the prom that was the second girl you asked, because the first girl already had a date. So you have a bad time regardless of how pleasant that girl turned out to be. So this year we visited, and was VERY conscious about being objective and fair.

The service was excellent. Friendly, professional - we never touched the wine bottle for refills and there was a sincerity to their desire that we enjoyed the food. The restaurant is very pretty, smaller than we realized, in a beautiful garden. A few tables are under cover, but it's probably not a good choice if it's raining. Nice background music, not too loud. Citronella candle delivered to shoo away the bugs. This was a lovely atmosphere and setting.

The rest is a mix of good and not so good. The wine list is overpriced, with the cheapest bottle of red starting at $170 for a Mexican cab that I'd never heard of (but I'm not familiar with Mexican wines). It was just okay, and I probably wouldn't order it again, but if memory serves, the next bottle was at $220 pesos and was a brand I know the retail price - the markup was more than the oh-so-reasonable 2X we found in other restaurants.

Chips and three salsas were delivered to the table, a red, green and a sweet salsa. All were bland, with the sweet being really bad (but I admit to not enjoying MOST sweet salsas). We ordered a shared appetizer of the roasted garlic with toasts at about $50 pesos. Three large heads, beautifully roasted and sweet. Pop out the cloves and spread it on the thin toasts. I might have preferred some untoasted bread for this spread (think of the bread you get at Tabarka), but this was a really nice dish. And easily to make at home, which I'm sure we will do.

Husband ordered the Osso Bucco, which was one of the entree items that attracted us. Usually a too expensive dish to order in the states for us to accept, it was here for about $110 pesos. Arrived in a red wine sauce on top of smashed potatoes. Pretty presentation. The meat was perfect. The red wine sauce was fine, but more like what a home cook would make rather than a professional chef. The smashed potatoes were the real hit, mixed with a bit of green chile. Give me a bowl of those to take out and I'm a happy camper.

I ordered the chicken Axixic. In a green sauce of cilantro, garlic, and (I think) parsley with pumpkin seeds to thicken it. This was a good sauce, though still a bit thin. Rice to soak it up would have been a good idea. The chicken was, truthfully, the most moist chicken breast I've ever had. Bar none. Maybe they brined this meat - but it was damn juicy and delicious.

We were the only Gringo's in the place - the rest Mexican families, perhaps on holiday or celebrating special occasions.

so - mixed feelings about this place. Would be interested in other people's experiences.

[Bisbee Gal]

We've been going to Los Telares weekly for two years.

In addition to the Osso Bucco with its rich rosemary gravy (we agree it is different from the traditional presentation), their salads are excellent (for light meals) as is the salmon carpaccio appetizer.

We also find their garlic heads a fabulous treat; enough for a light meal for one.

Their former (they did it in high season, not now) Seafood Monday menu had some great items: oysters Rockefeller, a tuna stack with phyllo (tuna was similar to Hawaiian poke).

Usually whatever their special is, be it fish or carne, is great.

For dessert, it's not on the menu, but ask if they have pan de elote...it's a sweet corn cake, with a fruity liquer sauce; very traditional Mexican dessert.

[Atlas]

We too like Los Telares. One of the nicest features is that the staff has been there a long time and they're very good. It's nice to see a stable staff, it tells me the place is well run. We enjoy their buffet nights, last Weds. of the month thru the summer, the pasta dishes, and the veal to name a few. When they give away the Oso buco it's OK to pay $1 more for the wine. Jeanette I'm curious why you said your feelings were mixed, your only negative comments were about the wine prices and type of salsa you're predisposed to not like. I read your review as quite positive.

[jkgourmet]

We too like Los Telares. One of the nicest features is that the staff has been there a long time and they're very good. It's nice to see a stable staff, it tells me the place is well run. We enjoy their buffet nights, last Weds. of the month thru the summer, the pasta dishes, and the veal to name a few. When they give away the Oso buco it's OK to pay $1 more for the wine. Jeanette I'm curious why you said your feelings were mixed, your only negative comments were about the wine prices and type of salsa you're predisposed to not like. I read your review as quite positive.

mixed feelings because ALL the salsas were bland - the sweet salsa was bad (husband's words - he often likes the sweet salsa),. the wine sauce on the osso bucco was like a home chef would prepare (not what I would expect in a restaurant) and if there was supposed to be Rosemary in the sauce, we couldn't detect it. The wine list was not just a matter of $1 extra. Most of the red wines were in the $220 to $300-something range. And the markups were higher than other comparable restaurants.

Those are negatives - but I agree with you about the service, as I noted when writing about our visit. It's certainly a place worth a return visit, albeit one where we might not order wine due to the inflated markups more than the prices themselves (we are the same way in the states, btw. Assuming the food is good, There a place that has a 2x or 2.5x markup gets frequent visits, 3x markup is acceptable, too. But when they gouge us for a 4x markup, we don't go back. And places that have NO selections in the lower price ranges - in the states that means $22-35 USD - get no attention at all except for special occasions.)

Do they have lunch specials?

[slumdog]

I've been for their Wednesday buffet, and would not go back for that. I've been for their Christmas buffet, and would not go back for that. I have had their vacio steak once, and it was superb. But I find that generally, while the atmosphere and service are great, there are parts of the meal that get so screwed up they don't make any sense. It's not like the whole experience is always bad; it's more like it's good/bad every time.