Mexico

Tasting your Way Around Versalles, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Article and photography by Steve Gillick

Versalles is a friendly, relaxed, walkable neighborhood of Puerto Vallarta, located across the main boulevard from the Hotel Zone. This culinary paradise is known for its trendy restaurants and bars that feature upscale taste at reasonable prices. Certainly the line-ups testify to the drawing power of taste bud bliss.

And a great way to meet the chefs and sample the food is to sign up, with Vallarta Food Tours. Miel Garcia met us at Abulón Antojeria Del Mar (Abalone, craving of the sea), the first of several stops we would make. The specialty is Chef Sebastian Bautista’s Shrimp Taco Al Pastor where his personal touch includes a dollop of avocado sauce, fresh cilantro, pickled red onions, pineapple, salsa negra and hot chile arbol, served in a hand-made blue corn tortilla. Miel explained that “corn has been in our lives for thousands of years. It’s part of our intangible heritage. Sauce is the flavour enhancer and, well, Mexicans care about Salsa”. It was a great taste sensation.

El Puerco de Ora, the Golden Pig, is a short walk away. The menu features one food item: Pork Belly Tacos. After you order your choice of carnitas style (pulled pork), pork with salsa verde, or pork with bean and cheese, you add your own toppings: Chile Morita, Cremosa, Salsa Verde, Habanero Pepper, plus a selection of fresh onion, coriander, cabbage, radish, pickled onion, cucumber and japapeno pepper. Facebook reviews give El Puerco de Ora 4.8 out of 5 with the typical comment, “the best pork belly tacos you’ll eat in Puerto Vallarta”. (We agree)

Down the road is Grill El Chinelo, where Chef Jose Gonzalez, led us through the ‘make your own tortillas’ exercise. He told us that the rule of thumb was to press hard on the handle of the tortilla press and then throw the tortilla on the grill. “If the tortilla puffs, it means the corn dough is fresh…if not, then change your corn”! We had the marinated Longanza taco (beef, pork and cured meat), along with Horchata, an agua fresca (fresh water) drink blended with fresh fruit. The tastes were remarkable!

And then we headed for Cervecería Los Cuentos. The three featured beers include Biguidibela (Bat), a Chocolate Stout, Kumúkite (Wolf People), a Tropical IPA, and Atotolin (Pelican), a Lager Dorada. Patrons can scan the label of each bottle on the app, to learn about local legends. Fascinating! The snacks at the bar are pretty amazing too. The Shrimp Broth is thick and tasty, and the Guacamole with optional dried crickets, is creamy, crunchy and scrumptious. To add to the ambiance, Chef Noe Gonzalez and Beer Sommelier Diego Castillo are very friendly. Highly recommended!

The restaurants we visited were only a sample of the culinary bliss found in Versalles. It’s definitely an area to explore when in Puerto Vallarta

www.vallartafoodtours.com