Loreto Baja Sur Vancouver Media Event
Today we were at El Guapo in Yaletown for an informal gathering to learn more about Loreto Baja Sur. And what better a spot and way to discover a region in Mexico, than at a Mexican inspired cantina with margaritas and tacos?
We were corralled in El Guapo’s private space. A tucked off corner with its own set of tables and booths separated from the rest of the bar by a half-wall. The room centred around a colourful pop-art rendition of the last supper. A pastel pink and blue painting with cartoon aliens, robots, and other wondrous creatures. This was the perfect upbeat and lively scene for this event.
We started with a round of margaritas available in spicy, lime, passion fruit, etc. Refreshing and tangy, they all paired well with our street eats to come.
There were house fried and seasoned corn tortilla chips with a big old plate of guacamole, topped with feta and crispy carrots. This is the first time I have seen more dip than chip in any order. I happy to be able to load my plate and chip with all the guacamole I wanted, and. freely.
The Street Corn Tater Tots dressed like nachos were a big hit. Topped with a melted pool of their house-made cheese sauce, Monterey Jack cheese, jalapenos, pico de gallo, corn, feta, and green onion. It combined childhood nostalgia and everyone’s universal love of potatoes, with the comfort bar snacking of a an already dressed and baked crispy bite.
The room loved the shrimp ceviche shooters, served in a shot glass. You have your choice of ahi tuna or chilled prawns and with it green aquachile sauce, cucumber, pico de gallo, and micro-cilantro avocado. This would normally be served with corn chips, but here it offered fresh bites and could be mixed and matched added to any of the share plates above or the tacos below.
There were vegetarian options for both the tacos and the quesadillas. The Chicken Quesadillas felt simple with just pulled chicken meat and their cheese mix in a pressed flour tortilla. Thankfully the platter of it did come with sides that you can dress them up with. This included a mild tomatillo salsa verde, a spicier salsa with chillies, lime crema, and a pico de gallo.
For tacos there were a 6 different varieties to choose from off pf their regular taco list, each served on a 4.5″ corn tortilla.
My favourite was the Carne Asada which is a marinated skirt steak with Monterey Jack cheese, salsa borracha, onion, and cilantro. The thin slices of chewy steak with its crispy charred edges were the highlight.
The Al Pastor also had a lot of flavour with sweet and salty-savoury highs. This was pork tenderloin in adobo, flat top grilled with onion, cilantro, and charred pineapple.
The Carnitas was confit pork shoulder, pickled onion, cilantro, and white onion.
The Chicken was similar to the quesadillas with the same pulled chicken, but now topped with pico de gallo and cucumber.
I didn’t partake, but I appreciated how there were two different vegetarian taco options for those who needed plant-based solutions, and each read unique on to itself. The Sweet Potato had a nut mole, arbol mayo, feta, green onion, and almonds. And the Crispy Cauliflower featured sunflower seeds, guacamole, pico de gallo, pickled cabbage, and avocado dressing.
As we ate and drank we found out more about Loreto Baja Sur, designated as “Pueblo Magico” (Magical Town) by the local government. Loreto is located on one of
Mexico’s most important natural protected areas, the Loreto National Marine Park. This is home to over 800 marine life species with its 5 islands being Unesco World Heritage Sites. The area is well-known as one of the best places in the world for whale watching, specially for encounters with the Blue Whale, the biggest animal on the planet.
This presentation quickly become reasons why we in attendance needed to visit ourselves. Not for tourist traps and the path well travelled, but for what sounded like some of the most unique wonders for the world, that could not be seen else where. This included the Sierra de la Giganta, which is home to ancient cave paintings and rock carvings, where visitors can learn about the prehistoric tribes who called the area home thousands of years ago.
And this all comes at an opportune time as WestJet will be offering direct non-stop
seasonal service out of Calgary, as of early as November.
El Guano – Mexican Restaurant Vancouver
1009 Hamilton St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2R9
(604) 423-4224
elguapo.ca
