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BOBBY'S LA TERRAZZA


gringal

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And I think it's amazing food, presentation, ambience and service by Bobby who is again healthy and doing what he loves and has been doing exceptionally well for many years. Sunday was his Mother's Day Special Event. Each to his/her own.

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Thank you Gringa Gal for your lovely review and to everyone else for your thoughts. When you have spent as many years in this industry as I have (over 50 )  you realize that listening to feedback both good and bad is important. I came to Mexico in my 30's. First in Puerto Vallarta, then Guadalajara and 30 years ago began coming to the Lake to cater private parties and then opened my first restaurant here. I have learned you can not please all of the people all of the time but that you do need to be flexible and adapt. That was the case when I opened La Terraza as a Mexican Modern concept originally. A year ago no one was doing that type of food and now in Ajijic alone there are 4 to 10 (depending on your interpretation of the term). I admit I like to stand out from the crowd and in talking to customers I had a lot of people asking for recipes they remembered me doing 25, 15 even 10 years ago. As a side bar let me say it is humbling to have people remember your cooking so vividly. That is when I began considering La Terraza Gourmet and going back to my roots in the California French Restaurant Revolution in the 70's. One of the challenges of doing that quality of food in a retirement community is menu price. I knew I could not provide the quality without raising prices which would be a deal breaker for many on a retirement budget. My solution was to give value with that price instead of the trend in restaurants (and airlines) of charging a la carte for every little thing). So the menu is a price fixe in the evening. You can relax while browsing the menu with a table appetizer (included with your meal), You can enjoy a choice of at least 2 of my popular soups, you have a salad course and then your choice of entree. AND I have tried to offer a range of entrees depending on appetite and budget. Gringa Gal the dessert is not included in the entree price it is a la carte since many of my customers either don't do dessert or eat lighter after a 4 course meal (many chose to share a dessert with their dining partner). My vision for La Terraza Gourment was a casual elegant relaxed dining experience different from other restaurants in town - a niche not being served. In answer to just serving a single entree I do continue to offer that as a lunch option all the way up to 5pm. I hope that this explains a little bit of the theory behind the menu and as always I understand a restaurant is only as good as the last happy client. PS Computer Guy: When you are as old as I am there are some days that you do dream of retirement; but I have learned after retiring a few years ago that cooking for people is in my blood and I thrive on the interaction of customers and their feed back (it is like hosting a dinner party every day). When I am ready to finally step down I will let you know 🙂 )

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On 5/14/2019 at 3:24 PM, gringal said:

  Do you seriously think that the owner should change his menu to suit that person?  That person has a choice of many other places to go that do things his way.

Reminds me of a restaurant I leased out.  The operator had a friend who could not have salt in his food so he didn't salt anything.  Two months later he was out of business.

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Thanks for the clarification, Bobby. Sometimes, people need it spelled out.🙃

BTW, how about posting your new hours and days open?  I was planning on having dinner there today, but you are now closed on Sundays.   I understand how, when you love to do something,  total  retirement just doesn't satisfy.  Wishing you the best of health and hoping you can carry on for a long time.🖖

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  • 2 weeks later...

Went for dinner on Saturday (June 1). I have to say I may have finally found a restaurant that fits all of my picky criteria, from service to presentation and quality of food. From his early days at la Terraza, with all the changes and questions, Bobby has had time to settle in to something solid.

Bobby's menu was a nicely printed page, not a permanent menu, which certainly makes it easier for him to change things up. There are a number of interesting dinner items, some of which you can read about in the upcoming Eating Out In Ajijic by Jerry Mundel, which will be available locally and on Amazon later this month. We opted for the sea bass and the Crepe al Mer. We had a long conversation with Bobby about the local "game" of serving basa and calling it sea bass. We are on the same page when discussing those thin, slimy pieces of fillet that many places serve. Bobby's was over an inch thick and a huge portion, which gave it plenty of time to sear properly.

First, the professional service staff brought out an appetizer plate, lovingly presented, with a paté with croutons and a guac with chips. Also delivered quickly were warm corn muffins, but not just any corn muffins. Really tasty and served with a generous helping of herbed butter. Three types of soup were also included, and we chose crab bisque, which was delicious and must have had an entire carton of cream, so watch out if you are sensitive to that much richness. A toothsome salad of mixed greens, black olives and a fruity vinegraitte came before the meal proper, and by now even I was feeling like I might have to take some food home.

I know Bobby reads these pages, and I have to say for the bass, while the sauce and the flavour were excellent, the fish was overdone, lacking that shiny, fall-apart meaty feel. An easy mistake to make when cooking such a large piece and not wanting to under-do it, and it was still flakey. Not a deal killer.

My Crepe al Mer was stuffed with shrimp and scallops. We also had quite a discussion about how hard it is to get decent scallops that aren't injected with chemicals to make them appear fatter. The crepe was perfect, swimming in a luxurious flavoured white sauce, and also stuffed with spinach. Altogether a real treat, although at the smaller size, somehow the scallops were underdone.Possibly because they get cooked with the sauce rather than sauteed first. The crepe itself was thin and lovely.

Everything was delivered in good time; we never felt that we were waiting too long, nor that we were rushed. Bobby's comfortable chairs and upscale surroundings (as much as any building like that can be upscale) with the whimsical ceiling umbrellas added to our overall enjoyment.

I want to go back to try the beef stroganoff and a few other dishes. Even abalone is on the menu, something I've never tried. I'd say the price was very reasonable considering all that was presented to us, and the evening was about as flawless as I've experienced around here. He's open Wednesdays through Saturdays til 9. I was pleased there was no live entertainment this particular Saturday, and because of the overall design, street noise was at a minimum.

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

We went back this Saturday, August 24.  I think we've finally found a restaurant where the quality of food and service is so pleasant that one could actually start to be nit-picky about the finer points of each dish. But I won't, because that kind of talk is reserved for big cities where there are dozens of high-end, super-expensive restaurants... not a little place like lakeside, where we are very lucky to have Bobby.

Of course, first off you are treated to a lovely-plated set or hors d'oeuvres, followed by a fine soup, and then a small, delicious salad. Each course served in a timely fashion. That hasn't changed, and that should be enough for a newcomer to sit up and take notice. The crab bisque (choice of three soups) in particular is real crab bits and is much more than just a lot of heavy cream and sugar.

The alcachofa (artichoke) and crabcake main course is delicious. Beautifully plated (looked like a quiet explosion of some primordial flower) with giant shrimp and a crabcake in the middle of a bed of perfectly-steamed artichoke leaves. Not only was the heart intact and cooked, but every leaf yielded a sample of that plant's native food. Shrimp were smothered in a great sauce. A sweet bit of sides with rice, French beans and veg accompanied the dish. The shrimp were cooked the way they should be, after having been deveined... not a small feat. (To compare, La Ceiba makes delicious shrimp, but always just a bit too long on the grille.) To have real crab is a treat at any price, but I actually preferred the crab stuffing on my companion's shrimp. That dish was very-much enjoyed, and for the smaller appetite, left enough to take home for a great follow-up snack.

Little touches like handmade beet and yam crisps add to the enjoyment. (Sorry the photos are a bit unsharp.)

After, always fun to chat with the owner, and of course you can't stop him... he just keeps brimming over with ideas and memories and connections. Earlier, I said something about his retirement, but since then he's also talked about selling the place, too, and the thing is I know he enjoys what he does to such an extent that he will probably keel over in the kitchen before that happens.

Bobby's 1.jpg

bobby's 2.jpg

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5 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

We went back this Saturday, August 24.  I think we've finally found a restaurant where the quality of food and service is so pleasant that one could actually start to be nit-picky about the finer points of each dish. But I won't, because that kind of talk is reserved for big cities where there are dozens of high-end, super-expensive restaurants... not a little place like lakeside, where we are very lucky to have Bobby.

Of course, first off you are treated to a lovely-plated set or hors d'oeuvres, followed by a fine soup, and then a small, delicious salad. Each course served in a timely fashion. That hasn't changed, and that should be enough for a newcomer to sit up and take notice. The crab bisque (choice of three soups) in particular is real crab bits and is much more than just a lot of heavy cream and sugar.

The avocado and crabcake main course is delicious. Beautifully plated (looked like a quiet explosion of some primordial flower) with giant shrimp and a crabcake in the middle of a bed of perfectly-steamed avocado leaves. Not only was the heart intact and cooked, but every leaf yielded a sample of that plant's native food. Shrimp were smothered in a great sauce. A sweet bit of sides with rice, French beans and veg accompanied the dish. The shrimp were cooked the way they should be, after having been deviened... not a small feat. (To compare, La Ceiba makes delicious shrimp, but always just a bit too long on the grille.) To have real crab is a treat at any price, but I actually preferred the crab stuffing on my companion's shrimp. That dish was very-much enjoyed, and for the smaller appetite, left enough to take home for a great follow-up snack.

Little touches like handmade beet and yam crisps add to the enjoyment. (Sorry the photos are a bit unsharp.)

After, always fun to chat with the owner, and of course you can't stop him... he just keeps brimming over with ideas and memories and connections. Earlier, I said something about his retirement, but since then he's also talked about selling the place, too, and the thing is I know he enjoys what he does to such an extent that he will probably keel over in the kitchen before that happens.

Bobby's 1.jpg

bobby's 2.jpg

M., are those leaves from an aguacate Hass tree, or can it be any variety of aguacate? and what is the heart?, the fruit?

I´ve been eating the wrong part…..LOL

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8 minutes ago, kam said:

Slainte -- pretty sure we were talking about artichokes - Gawd, I hope so  -  I am  confused.

No, aguacate leaves are edible, sort of, but I always thought they were used for tea or some herbal, medicinal remedy, but you could be right, makes more sense.

aguacate o alcachofa…..hard to tell from the photo.

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9 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

You are all so correct.... that was a very weird substitution of words. For sure, artichoke/alcachofa. My post has been edited. Thank you.

It still says avocado leaves, CG.  

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