Food in Tijuana

[Long Don Silva]

La Perla de la Mer is in the pedestrian traffic only area between the arch and the Wax Museum / Farmacia Piri. I was greeted by Panchito as I was walking by, who showed me the menu and had the respect to let me take my sweet time in the perusal thereof before making my decision. I opted for a dozen raw oysters, you know, to get the juices flowing as they say. He suggested that I go half-and-half with some mussels to which I oblige. When the oysters come out, I understand. The only other time I've had them were in New Orleans and they were full and fleshy, taking up almost the entire shell. These oysters were very scant like a drug-addled American street walker in Tijuana. The mussels, however, were solid. Panchito showed me that they're still alive, tapping a shell with a fork and watching it close up. Pretty cool. I ordered a Corona and he offered a shot of tequila, the brand I don't remember. But it was really, really smooth. Bill came out to 200 pesos.

This is a solid business that appears to be focused on providing a quality experience to create a regular clientele. Not many establishments have that long view and I commend them for that. I'll be looking forward to coming back, when I can ask Panchito if the oysters are any good this time before selecting them over the mussels.

[Long Don Silva]

I came here for breakfast on Friday since it got good reviews on Yelp. I ordered the Omelettes del Patron, consisting of shrimp, mushrooms, and a bed of some sort of cheese slightly similar to queso fresco but with a bit more of a soft mozzarella texture. It was one of the pricier options on the menu at 135 pesos plus an additional 25 pesos for a pretty good coffee, bringing the total to 160 pesos. A small quesadilla preceded the entre, which was served with frijoles, a basic form of chilaquiles, and three tortillas.

La Casa de la Esquina is located in Zona Este and provides a pleasant ambience. Service was good, as was indicated on Yelp. This came up in my search for breakfast restaurants, but it also appears to offer cuisine to accommodate meals throughout the day. This would probably be a good place to take a girl on a date.

[Captain Solo]

The menu printed on paper is la Perla's breakfast menu, which has basic eggs and ham breakfasts for 40 pesos. The breakfast menu also has various omelettes, pan cake, hamburgers, tacos and other sea food dishes etc. It's a big menu for breakfast.

The main menu is the big one in the clear plastic jacket. It was my error thinking the menu was reduced to the smaller paper breakfast menu. Instead, the dinner menu is still large, including all the old sea food dishes, hot and cold, but they have added a dozen meat dishes. The Spanish menu has all prices in pesos; marlin tacos start at 25 pesos which is not more expensive than street food.

I complained about the loud brass band making it difficult to enjoy the food. The senior English-speaking mesera, Nayva, confirmed they decided not to have brass bands to play on stage.

9 AM, I was the only in for breakfast, eggs, bacon white toasts with brewed coffee for 75 pesos. About 6 people were working the place.

La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. !

[Captain Solo]

Damn. I am glad you had your problem fixed.

The damn perverted doctor loves to stick his big finger up my rectum to check my prostrate. I am having a PSA test.

While BPH is not Cancer, I had to undergo prostate surgery which basically involved cutting a donut-shaped piece of my Prostate away to make room for my urethra to function without being constricted. BTW, the surgery was the best thing that ever happened to my health, and within a month after the operation, I was peeing and fucking like I was 20 years younger, and my kidney function completely returned to normal.

[Member #2041]

While BPH is not Cancer, it is also not truly benign. I had a case of it that screwed up my normal urination to the degree that I suffered kidney failure that nearly killed me early last year. For 2 months I had to [CodeWord134] through a catheter into a bag, and in the middle of that span, I had to undergo prostate surgery which basically involved cutting a donut-shaped piece of my Prostate away to make room for my urethra to function without being constricted. BTW, the surgery was the best thing that ever happened to my health, and within a month after the operation, I was peeing and fucking like I was 20 years younger, and my kidney function completely returned to normal.

The moral of the story is, get it checked out. If it's left unchecked, it can kill you, even if it's not cancerous. If it's detected early, the surgery is straightforward and it works.

I should add that the most pleasant part of this entire ordeal was the really cute maybe 19-20 year-old pre-med intern who had the task of showing me how to tend to my urinary catheter when it was first installed.

[Captain Solo]

All my friends from overseas were impressed with la Perla's exotic thatch-roof building and its delicious, authentic Mexican seafood cuisine.

We had many fun, exciting dinner parties at La Perla. We would have gone there every night for dinner but for their extremely loud and offensive brass band. La Perla should only aloud small groups of mariachis to perform for dining guests on request.

Their business has shrunk significantly after 2008 with a much smaller menu and very few guests at dinner time. It's a sad sign of the general decline in business health in La Zona Norte, all except the Hong Kong Zoo. Hehe.

Perhaps La Perla should put its spinner waitresses to strip on the stage and perform in lap dance booths to spice up business?

La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. Or you can walk to Avenida Revolucion to Restaurante 58 near Sorianas and the Italian restaurant for their excellent egg enchiladas with frijoles - 90 pesos, or the omelette California with green peppers and cheese for 120 pesos. This restaurant also has great breakfast smoothies. Strawberry, apple and granola blended for about 50 pesos. Or the beet smoothy (Sangron) for extra HK staying power!

[Artisttyp]

Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem. Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.

Actually I don't. Neither do I have diabetes. It has been checked every year.

[WombatEd2]

Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem.

After a certain age, most men do. From Wikipedia: "An estimated 50% of men have histologic evidence of BPH by age 50 and 75% by age 80; in 4050% of these men, BPH becomes clinically significant. ".

Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.

Very good advice, but the stats I quote above are about BPH, not cancer. (The first letter of "BPH" stands for "benign".).

[Captain Solo]

Sorry to hear about this problem. Looks like you have a prostate problem. Have good doctors test and check it out and treat it before it gets terminal.

A bro in the a site found prostate cancer too late and has only 6 months to live. Damn.

I find when I eat a good meal before drinking I have to peeeee less, which is a plus for me since many of my sessions are interrupted by bladder issues.

[Phordphan]

Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.

That's because a breakfast burrito is primarily an American invention. You'll be hard pressed to find one in any place that serves anything close to traditional food. I've never seen one in Tijuana. Although, as I sit here writing this from Uruapan, I did notice a cafe last night that served a sort of breakfast burrito, so they exist in some form or another, but nothing like you're thinking of.

Foodie, indeed.

[Artisttyp]

I like pork if properly prepared. How do they prepare the 10-inch thick pork chops? Deep fried or grilled over charcoal may be? Are the chops tender, flavorful and juicy? I have to try out this place.

The problem though, a heavy meal would kill off the libido for the whole night while the stomach tries to digest. That's why I prefer only light dinners with a single taco or a coctel of half dozen raw clams or oyster or cooked shrimp, eaten with crackers or crisp tostada. That way I can hang out in HK drinking, flirting with pretty girls all night, screwing 2 to 3 girls a night.

If I get hungry, I can order take out food with 2-for-1 coupons from Azul and treat my favorite girls to decent meals. Believe me the poor, hungry chicas are grateful for those caring gestures.

Pretty sure they are over charcoal on a grill. They truly are a sight to be seen. I've never seen a decent pork chop in Tijuana until I saw these. The entire menu needs to be explored.

I highly recommend this place. Not everything is superb but the menu has wonderful choices.

I find when I eat a good meal before drinking I have to [CodeWord111] less, which is a plus for me since many of my sessions are interrupted by bladder issues.

[Travv]

La Perla for some reason does not show its breakfast menu. You will have to request the scrambled eggs and bacon for 40 pesos which comes with frijoles and tortillas de maiz, with which you can make breakfast tacos with the best fresh made salsa in Tijuana. The fresh squeezed OJ is good too. Or you can walk to Avenida Revolucion to Restaurante 58 near Sorianas and the Italian restaurant for their excellent egg enchiladas with frijoles - 90 pesos, or the omelette California with green peppers and cheese for 120 pesos. This restaurant also has great breakfast smoothies. Strawberry, apple and granola blended for about 50 pesos. Or the beet smoothy (Sangron) for extra HK staying power!

Rest Monaco next to Adelita serves good, lean breakfasts with brewed coffee. I hate the tasteless breakfasts and instant coffee served in Azul.

La Perla also serves good breakfast with brewed coffee but it opens late at 9 and the service is usually slow.

OXXO stores have hot brewed coffee 24/7.

Or you can walk to the McDonald's on Calle 1, corner Constitucion, in the plaza South of Hotel Nelson and the Arc. Fried eggs in most other places are very greasy.

[Captain Solo]

Rest Monaco next to Adelita serves good, lean breakfasts with brewed coffee. I hate the tasteless breakfasts and instant coffee served in Azul.

La Perla also serves good breakfast with brewed coffee but it opens late at 9 and the service is usually slow.

OXXO stores have hot brewed coffee 24/7.

Or you can walk to the McDonald's on Calle 1, corner Constitucion, in the plaza South of Hotel Nelson and the Arc. Fried eggs in most other places are very greasy.

Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.

[Captain Solo]

I like pork if properly prepared. How do they prepare the 10-inch thick pork chops? Deep fried or grilled over charcoal may be? Are the chops tender, flavorful and juicy? I have to try out this place.

The problem though, a heavy meal would kill off the libido for the whole night while the stomach tries to digest. That's why I prefer only light dinners with a single taco or a coctel of half dozen raw clams or oyster or cooked shrimp, eaten with crackers or crisp tostada. That way I can hang out in HK drinking, flirting with pretty girls all night, screwing 2 to 3 girls a night.

If I get hungry, I can order take out food with 2-for-1 coupons from Azul and treat my favorite girls to decent meals. Believe me the poor, hungry chicas are grateful for those caring gestures.

Order the Pork Chop (they have their own farm. Cuts are thick like a NY Steak) and Pizza Jamon Serrano (small size). Banana Pudding for desert and Roasted Garlic for appetizer. Afterwards take a nap!

It takes 10 minutes to get there from the Zona Norte by taxi. A meal will run you maybe $30 with ALL the trimmings. Appetizer entree drink Etc.

Well worth it. One of my favs.

[JBoarman]

Sounds good.

Any good breakfast places near HK, I mean in a walking distance of HK? Last time, I asked guys at HK (the security guys at the gate) and the guys as reception in Cascadas, they had not clue which joint serve breakfast burritos.

You only have 4 hours to spend in Tijuana. It's not smart to cab half hour to some alleged restaurants in the boon dock and wait another half hour for them to serve their food. Traffic in Tijuana can be congested in many places during the day time. If you want to taste Mexico's basic cuisine, holes in the walls taco shops on Revo and various seafood and tacos carts on the streets serve their popular food. Find the shops or stands with lots of people and you will have fresh, tasty food.

Walk South on Constitution then East on Art123 towards the Arc. In the hotel Nelson's plaza half dozens sea food restaurants have touts, some very good-looking young girls, out front luring in tourists. Hotel Nelson serves a good menu of food and stiff drinks with tables out in the plaza, where you can sit and watch natives' performances and the locals who shop the area. Ave Revolucion has stores for tourists; Ave Constitucion has stores for locals, packed with pedestrians and shoppers on weekends.

You definitely want to cab 2 miles South to Plaza Rio on the nice, clean, leafy Ave LOS Heroes, to see how the middle class lives, with their nice, clean, artsy stores, clubs and restaurants. Afterwards just hail a cab back to the border or back to La Zona.