Leaving Eloy, we headed east again through miles and miles of “next facilities…” beautiful scenery,
some dust storms
and a unremarkable stay in a God forsaken hunk of Texas called VanHorn Texas (why exactly does that town exist?—sorry Mike) just sort of plunked in the middle of nowhere, and maybe “middle” is the key, as it provides a stopping point in a long journey…
We finally put the long stretch of desert behind us with a visit to
We’d never been there before but knew of the famous creation of those clever civil engineers
Known as “river walk” and in fact secured a night’s lodging in a Courtyard that backed onto the walk where in fact you can walk
Or ride
A relatively short travel day allowed time for our own stroll. It’s a pretty nice place. There are several little cafes and restaurants along the way where you can sit, sip, munch and stare at the never ending parade of tourists..
After doing a bit of “the walk” we retired to a balcony overlooking the water and enjoyed a glass of wine. It’s always hard to do a one time visit to a city you don’t know much about, and it seemed that this was the right place to sample some Mexican food. A little scouring of the internet led me to eschew some of the river walk places, and we selected a place called Rosario’s, which seemed to have pretty good reviews of appropriate food. It was just beyond walking distance so we opted for another cab ride.
A few short blocks got us to a corner restaurant that was almost storefront with lots of windows looking out on a non-descript street. It was obviously a popular spot as the large bar area was pretty much filled with the people you would pretty much expect to see, having a good time. We were shown to a table in the back room where most of the dining was done, and shortly moved to another table when it was discovered that the top of our first table appeared to be held on with only one fastener as it rocked precariously. Our server (name unknown) said they needed to fix that. The ceilings were very high, one of those where the support structure is exposed and painted black. But, along the ceiling there was a neon snake like light that continually changed hues. It wasn’t the only source of light however so reading the menu was easy. The standard bowl of salsa and chips were delivered, and it was some of the best I’ve had. Probably ancho chilies and it was more of a sauce than salsa with a delightful smoky taste with just enough heat to tickle the tongue and not sweat the neck. I ordered a “standard” margarita, which turned out to be fishbowl size. I never get frozen, and this was nicely prepared with a salted rim.
The menu had a bewildering number of choices, starting with (about ten) Antojito’s, then running through Especialidades, Parrillas, Sopas y Ensaladas, Platos de Enchiladas, (sic) Favorites, with each category containing 8 or so options. What’s a tourist to do? Well, we started with a split order of Angelica’s Ceviche Fino: Delicate white fish, thinly sliced red onions and jalapeño peppers marinated in fresh lime juice and tossed in an oregano vinaigrette, served with avocado, cilantro and homemade tostadas. For the main plates, after much thrashing I took the Chile Relleno: Poblano pepper stuffed with spiced beef, potato and raisins topped with our delicious ranchero sauce and white cheese. The nuance of the raisins sort of tipped the scales to that. MFO opted for a little more adventurous Carne de Puerco en Chile Cascabel: Tender pork tips in a chile cascabel sauce. All of course were served with rice and refried beans. Other dishes available were beef tounge, grilled sweet breads, crispy tripas, chicharrones guisados, many preparations of shrimp, fish, pollo, etc., on and on. It would take a long time to eat your way through this menu…
About this time the Ceviche arrived, and it was just great. “Fresh” is the word that came to mind throughout the meal, and the starter certainly embodied it. The fish was indeed delicate but had flavor, and the onions and peppers were “just sliced” fresh. A great starter. Another (small) margarita later, the main dishes arrived. I wished I had the camera gear (and the nerve) as each plate was just gorgeous. Beautiful colors, nice aromas, and everything tasted just great. Service remained attentive; the clearing staff were dressed in all black and carried on conversations in Spanish. Sometime I gotta learn that language. By the way, the raisins in the fresh stuffed chile were just great touch..Other diners were in various stages of DFD, but in this very informal place it didn’t matter. Everybody seemed happy.
I’m sure there are other more upscale places to eat, but this meal capped off a wonderful afternoon and evening in San Antonio. I think that town deserves a longer visit. If you do go, put Rosario's on the schedule, and you wouldn't have to consider how you
DFD
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