Coconuts, Zihuatanejo

Another day, another excellent restaurant in Zihuatanejo!  This time: Coconuts.  The entrance is on a busy street, but you walk through a long entryway before finding yourself in the main dining area – a walled garden strung with fairy lights.

We started with what had quickly become our standard pre-dinner cocktail – margaritas all around! Margaritas in Mexico, it turns out, are far more serious drinks than the ones I usually have in the US; they’re barely sweetened, so that you can really taste the lime and tequila, and pack quite a punch.

D’s father and I both started with tomato salad – as he said, a real treat to have vine-ripened tomatoes in December!  Simple but very good, especially the bit of Roquefort cheese hidden in the center.

I had the “Chile Relleno Coconuts”, not photogenic enough to make an appearance here but tasty nonetheless: a large poblano pepper stuffed with shrimp, potato, and tomato and served atop a mound of green rice with spicy sauce.

The highlight of the meal was dessert – crêpes flambées, prepared tableside in a dramatic pyrotechnic display.  Our waiter wheeled out a cart and busied himself mixing sugar, freshly squeezed orange juice, and various liquors before igniting the whole thing and pouring ribbons of blue flame from above his head.

Quite a show.  (Oh yes, and the crêpes were good too!)