Taking a deeper dive into Puerto Vallarta’s dining scene

I’ve been to Puerto Vallarta four times, and while that hardly makes me a regular — particularly compared with the scores of snowbirds who flock there each winter — I’ve definitely settled in to a routine when it comes to dining out. 

Breakfast is usually chilaquiles or huevos rancheros somewhere along the hotel zone. For lunch, it’s a visit to the vendors along the malecon (waterfront esplanade) for some street corn or grilled marlin. Dinner is fish tacos at Joe Jack’s or al pastor at a downtown taqueria, because how else would I replenish my supply of pics for #tacotuesday on Instagram?

So other than hotel site inspections in Nuevo Vallarta, most of my Puerto Vallarta exploration has been confined to the southern end of the hotel zone. On my last visit, Vallarta Food Tours showed me another side of the city, a neighborhood with a burgeoning population and a culinary scene to match.

The neighborhood, Versalles, is only about a quarter-mile or so inland from hotel zone properties such as the Sheraton Buganvilias, which hosted me during my Puerto Vallarta trip last winter. But the neighborhood feels far removed from the pedestrian traffic one finds closer to shore. 

Our first stop was Hidalgo Barbacoa, a three-walled taqueria in a modest strip mall. This is where my group of fellow travel writers met up with our guide, Amanda Selitzer, for our three-hour culinary exploration of Versalles.

Kicking things off in indulgent fashion was the restaurant’s signature dish, barbacoa de borrego (slow-cooked lamb). On its own, the rich, fatty borrego was a bit bland, but a trio of sauces helped spice things up. Similar was birria, stewed goat meat, which we had just a couple of blocks away at Mar y Tierra, which has been open for more than 20 years and, as one might garner from its name, offers a menu that draws from sea and land. 

Considerably newer was Llamara, which opened about two years ago with a seafood and vegan menu that has proven to be a big hit with the locals. Here we sampled a tuna ceviche, with peanut and cilantro combining to lend some Asian-inspired flavor to the proceedings.

For me, one highlight of the tour was Bocachica, where we had tacos filled with octopus, mashed black beans and longaniza sausage. The lightly charred octopus balanced perfectly with the spicy longaniza, cilantro and onion. No additional condiments were really needed, though I would have been remiss had I not taken our guide’s recommendation and added some mulata sauce, an earthy, peppery concoction hailing from Michoacan state. 

At Abulon, we tried another seafood dish: shrimp al pastor tacos. Selitzer pointed out that since al pastor is traditionally roasted on a vertical rotisserie, the dish might be more accurately named shrimp adobada (marinated). Nevertheless, the grilled shrimp seasoned with a combination of achiote paste, pineapple and other flavors was delicious by any name — and all the better washed down with a round of frozen mango margaritas, which were a huge hit with the group.

In contrast to Abulon’s alfresco ambience, we next visited the upscale Ajo Negro for short rib tacos and bone marrow sopes. I had been pacing myself by taking just a bite or two at each venue, but I couldn’t resist scarfing these down. Besides, we were entering the homestretch of our tour, and for our final stop, La Lulu, it was not food that took center stage but a beverage — specifically raicilla, a sort of Mexican moonshine that originated in the region.

Like tequila and mezcal, raicilla is distilled from agave, but its alcohol content, which ranges from 50% to 80% (100 to 160 proof), dwarves that of its siblings. We tasted two varieties: pure raicilla and a version flavored with cuastecomate fruit, which gave it some sweetness as well as an aftertaste reminiscent of licorice. I preferred the scotch-like smokiness of the pure version. 

I thought about the first time I drank raicilla, about six years ago, when it wasn’t quite as ubiquitous; back then, the bartender poured it from a disposable plastic water bottle. Clearly raicilla’s profile was on the rise, much like the Versalles neighborhood. 

Regularly scheduled tours handle a maximum of 10 people. The Discover Versalles tour is $55 per person. For information on Vallarta Food Tours’ other offerings, visit vallartafoodtours.com.