tiffin unboxed

Baja Summer Trip - Tasting Dinner at Manzanilla

Our "fancy" sit down dinner during the Baja weekend was at Chef Benito Molina’s restaurant Manzanilla in Ensenada. Chef Pablo Diaz was led our inspiring chef's tasting meal.



We really enjoyed the eclectic decor and the grounds. The building contains several rooms and patios, giving a wonderful indoor/outdoor vibe.

artwork and Andy Warhol label Perrier bottle

Chef Pablo Diaz

Some of us were quite fascinated with the modern woven metal table mats and serving baskets. Gorgeous. I would buy these in a heartbeat if we had time to seek them out.


And then came the luxurious, satisfying meal. I did not take notes during the meal, as with the other tasting meal because between photography and eating, I opted to enjoy the experience more. But I will fill in the captions in the future with more details.

Bill Esparza

So about mid way through our delectable meal, we got a surprise visit from Mr. Baja himself, Bill Esparza! Since most of us had gone on a number of trips with him and got our Baja food education through him, it was a very pleasant surprise.

He was in very good spirits and spent a long time chatting with us, enjoying a meal and toasting us at the end of the meal.

It was wonderful to have most of Club Tengo Hambre together in one place as they all share a true passion for the region and it's clearly evident.


This innovative plating for the quail dish is based on a game involving a cat and bird. I loved the deconstructed dish, although some of the sauces and pickles overwhelmed the quail flavor. It was tempting to eat one square at a time but they taste better combined into a bite.


Our last evening treat ended with a taste of Mezcal, with a sice of orange slices dipped in ant salt as the chaser. I try anything at least once and this is not my first taste of ant! It capped off our meal quite well.

Baja California 2010 Trip Redux - Street Food

This month has been ripe with challenges that have kept me distracted from blogging. I tend to cut down drastically on foodie experiences when things are stressful, so there hasn't been a lot of new things going on.

After losing my Aunt earlier this month, I've been looking through old photos, intending to compile them. In the process I found lots of great photos, mostly from 2010.

It seems right to do some retro blogging since it's the end of the year and we all are reflecting back.

So here begins a 4-part series on my July 2010 Baja California group trip with Bill Esparza, Street Gourmet LA.

Before the "tour" officially started, Bill already got us started off with these Gorditas de Nata snacks.



Street Food Tacos
Followed by pre-tour meal at Taqueria Franc. Between the group we took dozens of photos of the meat alone. I remember tagging myself on my friend Andi's high def Facebook close up photo of this meat!

Taqueria Franc - mulita

There were so many other fantastic taco places we went to, I left off the ones covered in prior Baja food posts, and a few we tried only on this trip. Out of many, the ones below stood out as unique.

Tacos Aaron - milanesa taco

Tacos Aaron specializes in stewed tacos. We had tastes of the above as well as eggs and nopales (cactus paddle) and my beloved smoked marlin tacos.

Things got crunchier at Tacos el Poblano, where we even had taco cones, wrapped in paper (think of sushi cones).

Tacos el Poblano - tostada

Tacos el Poblano - beef birria

I mentioned Tortas Wash Mobile on my recent posts, and how we really loved the original cart visit. Well here are some photos from the first time around.




The meat, after being grilled, sits on the pan in their own juices. Leading to the mouthwatering torta above, one of the best sandwiches I've ever had.

Their horchata (traditional Mexican rice beverage flavored with cinammon, sugar and lime) also was the best many of us had ever had. No chalkiness whatsoever.

Tortas Wash Mobile - horchata

Tacos Salceados 


We're still on tacos, but Tacos Salceados deserves its own category, offering exciting tacos and an open kitchen. The crowds below should attest to that.

I'll let the photos do the talking.












Seafood Street Food


For seafood lovers, Tijuana provides a vast selection of seafood, all fresh and plentiful, with no lack of seasoning available.

El Mazateno - condiments

El Conchal - ceviche mixte

El Conchal - aguachile

El Conchal - clams

Mariscos Ruben, another seafood gem, showed us even more local delicacies, lovingly prepared by these amazing women.

Mariscos Ruben - crab tostada

Mariscos Ruben - seafood gratin

Mariscos Ruben - crab taco (with flour tortilla)

We didn't only try these exceptional street seafood options. We also devoured a private dinner at Chef Javier Plasencia's Erizo Cebicheria, which I posted about in detail.

Erizo Cebicheria - Chef/Owner Javier Plasencia

We not only had the place to ourselves, but Chef Plasencia introduced each course to us. Following are some highlights from the memorable, multi-course meal.

Erizo Cebicheria - Pisco Sour Coco

Erizo Cebicheria - margarita

Erizo Cebicheria - sea urchin capuccino

Erizo Cebicheria - octopus carpaccio

Erizo Cebicheria - swordfish tacos (cochinita pibil style)

Sweet Treats

Adjacent to the El Conchal cart, we cleansed our palates from the paleteria (ice cream shop). I tried the rich and creamy rompope, an eggnog type Mexican beverage, ice cream in the plastic tubes (center of photo).


We also visited Teposnieves, sampling fantastic flavors like tequila con limon, nata (cream), queso (cheese) and fruit and chile topping sauces.


My flavors were queso, tres leches and cajeta (goat's milk caramel).


If you'd like to read about the trip from this year, you can find the posts at the following links:

Baja Culinary Festival

Baja Street Food

Baja - Erizo Cebicheria

Baja - Unplanned Adventures

Baja - Mision 19

In the meantime, I'd like to wish you a joyous holiday season.