One of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling in another city is going to their local markets - super markets, flea markets or farmers markets, really any market. You get a great view into more authentic local life and usually there are lots of fun unique local food stalls there. Ignacio Ramirez Mercado in San Miguel de Allende is no different. It's a pretty huge local market with your usual tchotchkes but they also have a decent food scene in the middle of the market. Mind you, it's Mexico so it's not a nice fancy food court but more laid back stalls. We didn't really know what was what so we randomly picked a place that looked good and had a few locals eating there. I don't really know what it was called except there was a sign that said Birrieria 71 next to it (which I read is a spicy Mexican stew - which makes sense because there were a lot of locals eating some kind of soup dish).
We got there early enough for breakfast but I went with a chicken enchilada and Kevin and Jen had chilaquiles. It's a small stall with one communal bench outside but you can see them making the food so you know it's fresh and homemade. It was a solid enchilada with verde sauce, although the shredded lettuce and tomato slice was kind of meh - the dish tastes similar to some of the other Mexican food I've had in the States. While I was totally happy with my meal, I felt like compared to the other food we had while in Mexico, I wasn't overly in love with it but I did love that it was a very local and authentic place. Total bill: $10 USD for 3 people
Aperi Quebrada 101, Zona Centro, 37700 San Miguel de Allende 4 Forks
Another day, another fancy tasting menu. This one was in another beautiful boutique hotel, Dos Casas Hotel where dinner was in their gorgeous open air courtyard. Of course we came here for the tasting menu but in hind sight, we all wished we had ordered a la carte because the 8 courses ended up being waaaay too much food.
We started with a lovely beet salad, moved on to an artichoke and fennel dish, an entire hunk of duck foie gras (note that if you plan on tasting all of your dishes, don't finish all of them like we did. Eating all of the foie gras was a big mistake for stomach space), an octopus tacos with black bean pure, corn fungus with smoked trout, an enormous piece of pork belly with sweet potato puree and roasted zucchini, and THEN another giant piece of pork with scalloped potatoes and carrot puree - this is where we all pretty much felt like we were going to keel over and explode. We were so full, it was actually painful. Being this full prevented us from really enjoying most of the dishes that came after the smoked trout dish. Of course, they ended with dessert which was a piece of chocolate cake but at this point, they could have served anything and I would have wanted to throw up.
In the end, we all felt like we had pushed our stomachs to the limit. That being said, I really enjoyed the octopus taco and the pork belly. Similar to the other tasting menu, they really need to reduce the portion sizes so that people can fully enjoy all the dishes. I think 5 dishes is the right amount for a tasting menu otherwise it's just too much. We all thought that the tasting menu at Moxi was a bit better but it might have also been because it was a few courses shorter. That being said, Aperi is still worth a visit. One note, since Kevin doesn't eat seafood, he got a brown butter sage pasta dish that was out of this world - so if you come, definitely check out the pasta dishes here. Total bill: $396 USD for 3 people including tax, tip and cocktails
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