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CABO SAN LUCAS, LOS CABOS RESTAURANT REVIEWS - BEST RESTAURANTS IN CABO
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NICK SAN JAPANESESPECTACULAR SUSHI
SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Six thousand miles separate Japan and Cabo San Lucas. The two countries and cultures could not be more different. Yet, here in the coastal desert at the tip of Baja you'll find a little piece of Japan that even the Japanese would envy... Nick San Japanese restaurant.
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ALEXANDER RESTAURANTSWISS INFLUENCED CUISINE PLUS
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
A marina front location complimented by the culinary sensiblities of a Swiss born and trained owner and chef, Alex Brulhart, make this restaurant on of our "must visit" tables whenever we're in Cabo San Lucas. Try it for yourself and it will be one of your favorites too.
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MAMA'S & FELIXFIRST RATE BREAKFAST PICK IS ALSO AN "A" LIST DINNER SPOT
Take a Northern California chef, transport him to Cabo and what do you get? Some of the best food you can find anywhere in the Los Cabos region. Called Mama's by day, Felix by night... Spencer Moore’s restaurant is a split-personality institution of good cooking!
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REVIEW OF SPENCER MOORE'S MAMA'S ROYALE & FELIX RESTAURANT
FIRST RATE BREAKFAST PICK IS ALSO AN "A" LIST DINNER SPOT
Take a Northern California chef, transport him to Cabo San Lucas and what do you get? Some of the best food you can find anywhere in the Los Cabos region. Called Mama's by day, Felix by night... Spencer Moore’s restaurant is a split-personality institution of good cooking!
First, let me explain the duality, and this comes from the horse’s mouth. According to Spencer, people are a bit strange in their impressions often assuming something that isn’t particularly true. When he first opened his restaurant in Cabo, he came to the realization that although he knew his dinner patrons liked his food enough to keep coming back night and again, those same people didn’t show up for breakfasts. Seems that common thought is a good place for dinner can’t be a good place for breakfast as well. Spencer’s conclusion was to stop trying to sell them on both meals and instead, open “another” restaurant for breakfasts all by itself. He just did it in an economical fashion. He made another sign. So, now people were asking about this great place for dinner while having breakfast – and vice-versa – and all Spencer had to do was recommend Mama’s for breakfast and Felix for dinner. He even made it special by handing out a coupon for a free drink at the “other” restaurant to his clientele.
Started in 1991, Mama’s and Felix are marking their 18th birthday in Cabo, and if there’s any justice in the restaurant business, they’ll be celebrating a whole lot more. For my partner Dolores and I, there are few eateries that satisfy an appetite better than the dynamic-duo of M and F. I think the secret to Spencer’s success here in Cabo is that he has no secrets. He’ll share any recipe he has with whoever wants it, posting them boldly on his website for fans, and competitors, to see. And held within the words he wields in those recipes is the most important ingredient of all…. The man just loves to cook. Simple cooking… “It’s cooking, not rocket science” as Spencer says.
His dishes stay true to the basics of good cooking… good, fresh ingredients and the sense to not make things more complicated or expensive than the need to be to come out just right. Whether you’re there for breakfast, lunch or dinner you’ll find what I think is the most varied collection of homemade salsas around. Everything from very spicy to smoky to sweet and tangy – an assortment of which comes to your table at every meal.
I’ve had just about everything on Spencer’s menus – many of them more than twice – and have yet to be disappointed. Some of my personal favorites for breakfast include his Stuffed French Toast, Machaca Florentine, his Tropical Fruit Crepes and Chilaquiles. If it’s your first visit for breakfast and you have the slightest sweet tooth, the French Toast is the place to start sampling Spencer’s food. Still another favorite of mine deserves special recognition… the Smoked Pork Chops and Eggs. I don’t know how he does it but Spencer’s thin cut chops melt in your mouth with an explosion of smoky goodness. The other white meat my ass, this is the better white meat! Top off your meal with a cocktail, or for the very healthy one’s out there, leave out the booze but enjoy anyone of five or so fresh squeezed juices including an orange-coconut blend that tastes way better than you’d think.
It’s not uncommon for us to have breakfast and dinner with Spencer on the same day. We’ve even taken friends of ours who live in Cabo with us for dinner and even they’re impressed with his treatment of traditional Mexican cooking. When a local Mexican “foodie” likes it, you know it’s done right!
Here’s where I’ll make a suggestion for ordering dinner for four at Felix. Start out with a couple of appetizers and the one’s I suggest are Salpiconitas de Jaiba (crab cakes with mango salsa, a Spencer original), an order of guacamole and an order of Mexican Style Potato Pancakes with jalapeno chiles and cilantro served with sour cream. Spencer describes that one as Polish/Mexican fusion. I know there’s a joke in there somewhere, but being Polish myself, I’ll leave it alone.
Now, while you’re all enjoying my sage advice, let's move on to the entrées. Order Spencer’s Mexican Style Bouillabaise, an order of Coconut Mango Shrimp, an order of Pozolé, and finally, an order of Chiles En Nogada. Why you might ask? Simple, these are my favorites and they’ll give your table of four lots to ooh and aah over during and after dinner. First, there’s the mix of flavors in the bouillabaisse that screams Mexico but still suggests some of Spencer’s wine country cooking days rife with French influences. The shrimp dish brings that happy bit of crunch and tropical fruits in to wake up more taste buds. The pozolé is on the list because it’s a fine example of real everyday Mexican cooking done in big pots to feed big families. The flavor is decidedly chile but without the expected heat. The meats are succulent chunks of slow-cooked perfection and the whole thing comes together like some sort of miracle cure for what ails you when you add in fresh vegetables, cheese and hominy.
Last, but definitely not least, the Chiles en Nogada. This is the national dish of Mexico and it’s a mélange of completely different flavors that somehow unite and evoke lots of “damn, that’s good” type comments. What it is for those that have never had it or heard of it is once again, simple. A mixture of cooked pork chopped up with almonds, raisins, dried apricots, peaches, pineapple, onions, garlic and cloves stuffed into roasted Poblano chiles. Then those beauties get bathed in a rich walnut cream sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. You have the colors of the Mexican flag transformed into perhaps one of the great dishes of the world, and it tastes better than it looks. A couple of Mexican coffees and a fresh made flan and some Crepes Panama (basically a Bananas Foster flamed with dark Jamaican rum served with sweet cream). It works nicely to cap off a great dinner at a great, but altogether down-to-earth restaurant. And when it’s all said and done, no one will need to break out the black American Express card to pay for it!
Now, don’t feel bad if you don’t follow my advice and end up ordering something I haven’t even mentioned. Spencer’s menus are very diverse and extensive so there is no shortage of choice. Go ahead, get adventurous, it’s worth it. |
Mama's Royal Cafe earns its reputation for great breakfasts.
Photo courtesy of Mama's & Felix
Specials at Mama's are something to be on the lookout for... fresh ingredients make for special meals.
Photo courtesy of Mama's & Felix
Fancy digs, no. Great food, you bet! Photo courtesy of Mama's & Felix
A welcome fixture at Mama's is Chucho, a great singer and guitarist. Photo courtesy of Mama's & Felix
MAMA'S ROYAL CAFE
FELIX FINE MEXICAN RESTAURANT
Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
624-143-4290
MAMA'S WEBSITE - FELIX WEBSITE
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