Today we went to a little rinconcito, or little corner, to have some really good Mexican food, but I also had to deal with my bratty little kitten, Michi.
Hello, again. My dad and I, and sometimes my mom comes along too, have been going out on the town to find some of the best not so well known cheap eats, mostly family-owned, restaurants that we can find. We go out almost every day, finding some new little place, or big place, to tell you about and review the food and prices.
My dad has been driving around without proper license plates for a long time, and for just as long he’s been looking at how he can obtain Jalisco plates. Well, a little bit ago he found a guy, Pat, who could do that for him, and today he had them ready, so we decided to go have lunch with him. I’ll be writing an article about Pat’s business at a later time, but for now, Imma gonna focus on the food. We actually went to a place a couple people have requested me go to before, and it’s called Rinconcito de Lorena, or just Lorena. It is located on Emiliano Zapata 298 in Valentin Gomez Farias, and the longitude latitude location is 20.63024332698356, -105.22563454442422. Also, I brought my cat, Michi, with us!!
Lorena isn’t necessarily comida corrida, but they do serve traditional, authentic Mexican food for a somewhat low price. On top of that, they have a different menu for each day of the week with a variety of delicious meals. Today they had caldo de res, chicken enchiladas, ribs with squash, ribs with nopals, machaca, and lengua in a green sauce. To drink they have water of the day, regular water, sodas, coffee, chocolate milk, and smoothies. And today the water was guayaba!!
I got the enchiladas, because of course whenever I see these on the menu I have to try them and see how good they are. If you can’t tell by now, I really like enchiladas, and I am always looking for the best ones. I have to say when these enchiladas came out, I was disappointed. Why? Well, they had no sauce on them. That’s right, no sauce. Not a little bit, not a tiny puddle, no sauce. Zero, zip, zilch. And, because of that I wasn’t expecting much, but as I tried my first bite, I was super shocked! I actually loved them, and took bite after bite! They were super moist, as the tortillas were soaked in sauce, and the chicken itself was too, but on top of that it was just really juicy chicken that had really good flavor; with Mexican oregano and other spices.
The enchiladas also had some cotija cheese sprinkled on top, which was moist, super salty, and in big chunks. So that added a nice touch, and gave it the perfect amount of saltiness in my opinion. I really like that cheese, because it seems like it can make any Mexican dish just a little better, and add another layer of deliciousness. I also got a strawberry smoothie to drink, which was creamy, sweet (yet not too sweet), very fruity, and frothy!
My dad got the machaca, which came with scrambled eggs and a small portion of chilaquiles. Actually, the machaca was mixed in the eggs, yet it was still super meaty. Some machaca doesn’t have a lot of meat flavor, yet this one really did, and it was super filling too. My dad couldn’t even finish half the portion, none-the-less the chilaquiles. He ate the machaca with homemade tortillas, on top of some super yummy beans. Also, he used the whole dish of the chunky cilantro salsa, and didn’t even offer any to Pat or me. He ate it all!! And most of the other salsas, too. The cilantro one I’m talking about is cold with cilantro, some tomato, onion, a tiny bit of spice, and seeds of some sort, not sure what they were though. The other salsa was hot like soup with tomato, maybe a little garlic, and even less spice than the other, and, actually I would drink it as soup if I could! The last sauce I wasn’t very fond of, but it was good none-the-less. It was green tomato, aka tomatillo, and probably some peppers, as it had some spice. It had that bitter, sour, and very green flavor of tomatillos, which I’m not a fan of, but I have to admit this salsa did have pretty good flavor.
The restaurant is actually quite a good size, and has lots of tables. It is near the tourist zone so it isn’t super-low cost, but still well-priced for the area. When we went there were a few groups of people there, and they all looked like they were having a great time, enjoying their great meal!! So, you should come visit, have a great time, and enjoy your great meal!! I sure did! And so did Michi, who kept trying to steal my food, and got her claws stuck on the bag/carrier she was in a few times, and kept meowling about it. She was making a lot of ruckus at the restaurant, but it was pretty funny! I take her everywhere with me, since she never had a mother or anyone to take care of her. She's a fun and exciting cat, but a pretty spoiled one too.
Lorena's Phone Number: 322 224 4036
If you enjoyed this article, and would like to recommend a place that you know about, then please let me know. Or, if you are an owner yourself of a place that you would like to see written about, contact me.
And to see the rest of my food reviews go to the Dining Out section here in Vallarta Bay Times.