On our visit to San Cristóbal de las Casas in April 2016, we arrived in the city after having spent the night before in Chiiapa de Corzo and following a morning boat tour of the Sumidero Canyon so it was mid-afternoon before we checked into our room at the Nuestras Raices Hotel. We were more interested in making time for a nap that afternoon than getting immediately out into the city so we decided to have a late lunch the first day at the hotel. We both had one of the daily specials and both were very good and quite reasonably priced. Breakfast at the hotel was very satisfactory. There were several good options on the breakfast included with our room rate and there was also a small buffet for other items. On Sundays, the hotel puts on a much larger buffet that attracts not only hotel guests but also locals as well.
Since we had a late lunch that first day we really weren’t looking for a heavy meal and took advantage of the daily tapa specials (fresh tuna tostados and conchinita pibil tacos) and washed it down with a nice Malbec that night at Cafe Bar 500 Noches. It’s one of a number of very good restaurants all located in a covered airy pavilion short walk down Hidalgo (walking street) from the Central Plaza.
We stopped in at Peruano, located up a flight of stairs in the same covered pavilion for lunch one day and liked it so much we went back for dinner one evening. As the name suggests, the restaurant features Peruvian cuisine. We enjoyed a nice set of complimentary starters: baked (or was it fried) corn kernels, plantain chips and a clear seafood broth. We also liked the grilled chicken with plantain & coconut puree and a bowl of shrimp and rice in the same seafood broth served as the app. Great service. Very reasonable prices.
We didn’t eat in either but we noticed o a Thai place and an upscale Mexican restaurant in the same covered pavilion complex
One of our favorite restaurants from our previous visit to San Cristóbal was Cocoliche so we headed there for dinner one eveing. We enjoyed the Thai curry and arrachera steak with onions, mushrooms and cheese (with fries and an unnecessary side of rice.) We had one of the best versions of guacamole we’ve ever had as a starter and since we pride ourselves on our own guacamole we inquired if there was some secret ingredient. Turns out there was and it’s cucumber! We’ve experimented adding cucumber to ours but haven’t managed to match our memory of Cocoliche
Wanted to try the tamale place up the street for lunch but it wasn’t open yet and we ended up at Terraza, one of the places under the colonnade on one side of the central plaza. We ordered a bowl of Pozole and grilled (BBQ) spare ribs daily specials, which came with cream of pimento soup and guayaba liquida drink. Considering the primo location, it was a pretty good deal.
Continuing a theme of trying to eat at restaurants when they were closed, we went to Belil Sabores de Chaiapas Interconexion Social for dinner one evening but found the doors locked. We walked a block over to the walking street, picked out a place that was relatively busy and settled in at an outside table. We did take a look at the menu before sitting down but didn’t actually know the name of the place till we got the bill.
Our meal started with a palada, which was similar to a quesadilla but with mozzarella, tomato and arugula. We shared a very delicate white lasagna with homemade noodles and a 4 cheese pizza entrées. Everything was surprisingly good. An accordion player set up on the walking street and added to the mood. Given that we just chose this place by sight, the meal turned out to be really good and we’ll probably go back on our next visit to the city.
Being the persistent types we headed back Belil for dinner the next night. It was open but just barely; we were the only people in the whole place. We went with traditional meal selections: Cream of chipolin soup with (vegetarian) chile relleno, bread soup with vegetables and roasted pork with a sauce more similar to Bearnaise Sauce than mole. The service was very good and we were served a complimentary round of posh natural and posh with Jamaica after dinner drinks.
Our last meal in San Cristóbal was lunch at Namandi Café & Crepes located just up the street from our hotel. We would recommend everything we had that day: Serono Ham and gouda cheese on crescent with potato salad; Club sandwich with French fries (papas al la francaise) and coconut pie for desert.
Not wanting to chance what we might see on our flight, we grabbed a bag of tamales from a small shop on the way to the airport. They were out of the chipalina but we got chicken with plantain, a kinda smoky olive and cheese with jalapenos. We were sure it was the best meal eaten by anyone on that flight.