It actually used to be located on Palm Avenue near the car wash...
That place must have been cursed because after El Cilantro closed in 2012, it became the now defunct House Burger (which closed in 2014). It is now Palapa Nayarit. Hopefully that place will last longer.
It's the Christmas season, hence the festive window paintings.
As you walk in, the menu board is on your left. You order at the counter and seat yourself. There are two main rooms; one is quite large and both are decorated colorfully. The condiments bar is in the middle. There is also a stage in the corner for performers on certain nights. I liked their carved wooded tables and chairs (some had designs featuring flowers and palm trees).
Huge in here!
Assorted condiments. That orange sauce is super hot (habanero). Their pickled carrots were nice. I failed to get them in the plastic bags provided. That would have helped.
We only ordered one thing, the breakfast burrito filled with eggs, sausage, potatoes and cheese. Very filling this was.
Another recent visit was today. We had an early dinner, sharing an al pastor combo with a shrimp soup.
This was so much food - the al pastor was tender with a nice smoky but sweet taste.
An older man, whom we assumed was the owner was going around from table to table greeting customers. He brought one table their chips and salasa. He brought over to us our toppings for the soup. He was so very nice and friendly.
Now this was excellent, the Camarones al mojo de ajo, a delicious and aromatic shrimp dish with a butter, onion and garlic sauce. I didn't realize it would be so soupy and pictures I saw online afterwards show something different so I'm wondering if they gave me the wrong item? Then, when I examined the receipt later, it did have "camaron ajo" on it. So maybe this is the way they prepare this particule dish? I will need to try this dish at another restaurant to make a comparison.
The soup was chock full of large and juicy shrimp - TEN! The chopped cilantro and onions were wonderful with this soup. We barely made a dent and it ended up being enjoyed as leftovers.
Before picking up TC from her volunteer even, we stopped over at nearby Deb's Cookie Jar. The owner Deb herself was there.
This was Bert's first time. I hadn't been here since the summer with TC. There were a lot of sparse trays but there were still some good choices left. We got three for $5 and Deb threw in one free cookie of our choice, which was really nice of her.
The "Fouf's Peanut Brittle Chocolate Chip" incorporates Deb's grandmother's homemade peanut brittle in the cookies.
Bert's house coffee plus our four cookies.
Sea salt chocolate chip:
Butterscotch caramel chip:
The "Dark Side" - dark chocolate mint chip:
The free one - Butterfinger white chocolate chip:
A few bites of each one...sugar overload.
As an added bonus, Deb gave us two small pieces of homemade peanut brittle her son had made. He had just learned the recipe the night before from his 90 year old great grandmother. We asked him how he made it and he told us it was done in a pressure cooker! Deb's son was a very polite young man. He'd walked in earlier with his girlfriend, carrying a big container (which was presumably the peanut brittle). It was nice tasting something homemade and even more importantly, from a recipe handed down over the generations.
It was getting dark already and looking like it was going to rain...
Time to head out and pick up TC!
Previous visit to Deb's Cookie Jar:
July 2016
El Cilantro
764 13th St.
Imperial Beach, CA 91932
(619) 429-7492
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Ah the magic of back posting. It's really one week later, the 29th. Trying to get in a burst of posts before things get too hectic again.
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