{"id":256,"date":"2018-07-23T04:43:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T04:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=256"},"modified":"2018-07-23T13:34:06","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T13:34:06","slug":"baja-cuisine-rosarito-beach-to-ensenada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2018\/07\/23\/baja-cuisine-rosarito-beach-to-ensenada\/","title":{"rendered":"Baja Cuisine: Rosarito to Ensenada"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the best parts of the Baja riding experience is the cuisine. Yep, there are great roads, the scenery is breathtaking, there\u2019s whale watching like no place else in the world, the ancient missions and cave paintings are amazing, and the people are wonderful. \u00a0 But what might be the best-kept Baja secret is the cuisine. In fact, if you need an excuse to head south (not that anyone ever needs an excuse for a motorcycle ride), you might want to ride Baja just to sample the food. It\u2019s that good.<\/p>\n

One of the things Baja has going for it is that no matter where you are, you\u2019ll never be more than a few miles from the sea. That means great seafood, and lots of it. Fish tacos are a Baja staple, but there\u2019s more. Lots more. We thought it might be fun to share with you a few of our favorite Baja restaurants in a series of blogs organized by area. This first one will be the Rosarito Beach-Ensenada corridor. With that as an intro, here we go…<\/p>\n

Rosarito Beach<\/strong><\/p>\n

Located about 35 miles or so south of the border, Rosarito Beach is a tourist town, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s all refrigerator magnets and velour Elvis portraits.\u00a0 There are two spots in this town that we love: The Rosarito Beach Hotel, and Susanna’s.<\/p>\n

You can spot the Rosarito Beach Hotel from the cuota<\/em> (the toll road heading to Ensenada).\u00a0 It’s one of the tallest buildings to your right.<\/p>\n

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Not your typical tourist trap, the Rosarito Beach Hotel has a great restaurant.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Rosarito Beach Hotel’s stained glass lobby window.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A typical breakfast at the Rosarito Beach Hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re thinking that hotel restaurants are both overpriced and mediocre, you\u2019d be correct most of the time, but the Rosarito Beach Hotel is the exception. If you stay at the Rosarito Beach Hotel you get one meal free (they\u2019re smart, you may not want to go anywhere else after that first one) and if you\u2019re there on a Sunday, you don\u2019t want to miss the brunch. It\u2019s awesome.\u00a0 If you stop on the way south just for a meal, there’s ample protected parking and the hotel is biker-friendly.<\/p>\n

Another best kept secret in Rosarito Beach is Susanna\u2019s. It\u2019s literally a 5-star restaurant tucked away in a small group of boutique shops at 4356 Benito Juarez Boulevard. \u00a0\u00a0 Folks, trust me on this:\u00a0 Susanna’s is one of the best high end restaurants in the world.\u00a0 I’ve been all over the world.\u00a0 I know what I’m talking about here.<\/p>\n

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Ah, Susanna’s…the dining is as elegant as the owner!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I always make it a point to have at least one dinner at Susanna’s whenever I\u2019m passing through Rosarito Beach, and there have been more than a few times when I made Rosarito Beach a stop just to eat here.\u00a0 It\u2019s that good, and Susanna is an absolutely gracious proprietor.<\/p>\n

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Shrimp, steak, and more. You cannot have a bad dining experience at Susanna’s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ensenada<\/strong><\/p>\n

As one of Baja\u2019s larger cities, Ensenada has many dining choices. My favorites are any of the street taco stands (I love Baja street tacos), Los Veleros<\/em> for breakfast, and a family-style place I just learned about called Birrieria La Guadalajara<\/em> for either lunch or dinner (it\u2019s on Macheros Street a little off the edge of the tourist area).<\/p>\n

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Good times ahead: Susie and I starting our trek south at Los Veleros in Ensenada!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Los Veleros Restaurante<\/em> is next to the Hotel Corona on L\u00e1zaro C\u00e1rdenas (it\u2019s on the right as you head south, just a few blocks past where the cruise ships dock). Los Veleros has the best breakfasts in town, confirmed by the local business folks who regularly dine there. Breakfasts start with a plate of pastries that, all by themselves, are worth the trip to Baja (I\u2019ll say that a lot about my favorite dining spots in Baja, and I\u2019ll mean it every time).<\/p>\n

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Pastries at Los Veleros, the start of every breakfast. They taste as good as they look, maybe even better!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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An awesome Los Veleros spinach and mushroom omelet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Chilequiles, a wonderful Mexican specialty.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My preference for street tacos in Ensenada is any taco stand along the waterfront.\u00a0 Even though many folks who have never been to Mexico might be hesitant to try these, I haven\u2019t found a bad one yet. \u00a0 Head toward the embarcadero<\/em> if you’re in the tourist area, and take your choice.\u00a0 You can’t go wrong.<\/p>\n

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Street tacos near the docks in Ensenada. They sell the sizzle and the steak!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Fish tacos, a Baja specialty, in Ensenada.\u00a0 Watch for our upcoming Baja dining blogs; we’ll have a lot to say on this magnificent Baja treat!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For either lunch or dinner, there are many choices in Ensenada.\u00a0 I’ve tried many of them and they are all good. \u00a0 Here’s the hot ticket:\u00a0 The family-style dining at Birrieria La Guadalajara<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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A veritable feast at Birrieria La Guadalajara in Ensenada. Tim, I owe you for taking me to this wonderful restaurant!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A meal at the Birrieria La Guadalajara<\/em> is a treat not to be missed. I\u2019m embarrassed to admit I only found out about this magnificent restaurant on my most recent trip to Baja (and I have my good friend Tim to thank for that).\u00a0 Bring your group and bring an appetite, make your own tacos or burritos, and try the goat (you can thank me later).\u00a0 It\u2019s the best meal in Ensenada!<\/p>\n

That’s it for our first installment on Baja’s gastronomical delights.\u00a0 If you know of a great place to eat in the Rosarito-to-Ensenada corridor that we haven’t mentioned, by all means please leave a comment and let us know about it.\u00a0 And watch the Exhaust Notes blog; we’ll be adding to this series with a focus on each Baja area of interest. \u00a0 So what’s up next?\u00a0 Hey, our next set of dining delights will be in the stretch south of Ensenada all the way to El Rosario!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the best parts of the Baja riding experience is the cuisine. Yep, there are great roads, the scenery is breathtaking, there\u2019s whale watching like no place else in the world, the ancient missions and cave paintings are amazing, and the people are wonderful. \u00a0 But what might be the best-kept Baja secret is … Continue reading “Baja Cuisine: Rosarito to Ensenada”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,57],"tags":[3,58,59,60,61],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-baja","category-baja-cuisine","tag-baja","tag-baja-cuisine","tag-baja-restaurants","tag-ensenada-restaurants","tag-rosarito-beach-restaurants"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}