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WORLD FARE: Rosarito steakhouse is a carnivore’s delight

July 24, 2014 MAG 2 Comments

El Nido tropical forest room 2

It was a set of images recalled dimly from the early Jimmy Carter years: A restaurant with rustic décor over-stuffed with miscellaneous antiques, saguaro cactus bodies repurposed as lighting fixtures in one room and a faux-tropical garden in the next; an elegant and courtly proprietor who never quite seemed to smile but nonetheless was supremely welcoming; a restaurant in Rosarito, Mexico, that didn’t exactly seem like a Mexican restaurant but, rather, the best steakhouse this particular carnivorous kid had ever enjoyed.

And I had not been back for years. Years of school, a career, a family and a drug war later, that changed when a Rosarito Tourism Board promotional tour stopped at El Nido Restaurant for lunch (67 Blvd. Benito Juarez in Rosarito). One step in the door and the memories started flooding back: the same funky interior, same owner-host (looking hardly a day older) and the same menu. Within a week, I’d be back again, this time on my own nickel.

It somehow seemed more Mexican now, perhaps because I’d been too young for the margaritas. But had I missed the mariachis? If chips and salsa are not a giveaway that you’re in Mexico (and they should not be, because Mexicans don’t eat chips with their salsa—that’s a gringo thing), the mariachis should have been. Cheesy? Yes. But it really is quite pleasant to sip a margarita while listening to good mariachis who are being paid by a guy at the next table over.

The steaks at El Nido are still the main draw. The carne asada is justly famous, with the bacon-wrapped filet mignon perhaps a step behind. I particularly liked the rib eye, tender and flavorful both from the high temperature sear and from the marbling of the meat. (It’s generally a good idea to order rib eye at a steakhouse.)

Perhaps my favorite steak was not beef but, rather, venison from El Nido’s ranch on the outskirts of town. This farm-raised venison had just a hint of the wild stuff’s exotic gaminess. And El Nido’s wood-burning-grill set-up is a tool superbly adapted to the task of searing venison, which, because of its leanness, absolutely must be cooked rare lest it dry out. El Nido’s venison was perfectly cooked: just caramelized from the high-heat sear on the outside and rosy on the inside.

The dish of the evening, though, was the grilled quail. On the flavor-profile spectrum from chicken to duck, quail is on the meaty duck side. Cooked quickly over high heat, the semi-boneless birds were nicely charred on the outside with a juicy interior. There’s something brilliantly carnivorous about stripping the meat off the bones of a little bird. It’s good, clean tasty fun.

Rosarito’s changed quite a lot in the last 30 years. Its spring break ended long ago. Fears—both rational and irrational—of narco-violence saw to that and have forced the place to appeal to a different demographic. But returning to El Nido was an opportunity to step back in time and find a piece of the old Rosarito that, it seems, never went away.

Americas, Baja, Mexico, North America, Publications, Reviews, San Diego CityBeat El Nido, Jimmy Carter, Quail, Rib Eye, San Diego CityBeat, Steakhouse, Venison, World Fare

Comments

  1. Patsy A. Dixon says

    September 29, 2015 at 11:46 am

    I had so much fun in Rosarito. A couple treated me to dinner there and a family treated me to a meal. What a wonderful Place.

    Reply
    • MAG says

      October 7, 2015 at 12:22 am

      I absolutely love it! Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’m publishing a review of a little gem of a place in the unfancied parts of town. There’s a reason we bought a place down there. Actually, a lot of them.

      Reply

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