HACIENDA AJIJIC Steak House Brief Review

Hacienda Ajijic is now one of, if not the "highest priced" restaurant at Lakeside. It was my favorite last year. Friday night 7 of us ate there from our Bi Monthly Dinner group.

I always loved their Filet, really thick, looking and tasting like a real Filet. Friday night it was flatter and longer, didn't taste as good and not as tender. $160. pesos is too much for a Filet. My friend had the Vacio. I asked how it was. He said OK and that he had better. Laurent and Tango are less money. The Filet I had at Laurent was the best I have had at Lakeside. You could cut cut it with a fork.

Drinks at Hacienda Ajijic ar way too expensive. $50 - $55 pesos for a mixed drink. $45 pesos for a glass of house wine and $300 - $600 pesos for a bottle.

We may return this year, but I'm concentrating on revisiting Laurent and Ninette more often. I think these are the two "best" restaurants at Lakeside.

gotta agree..... our visit to Hacienda wuz no great hell...

had better food at the ball game...

not sure what the chicken, pork,shripm thing is in the bowl.... but U can keep it.....

The Italian Joint across the street has never failed us... nice atmosphere, good food, good wine list....

That would be La Taverna.

hockables wrote:gotta agree..... our visit to Hacienda wuz no great hell...

had better food at the ball game...

not sure what the chicken, pork,shripm thing is in the bowl.... but U can keep it.....

The Italian Joint across the street has never failed us... nice atmosphere, good food, good wine list....

La Taverna YUK!!! Worst Italian food I have ever eaten. The Olive Garden in the States puts his food to shame. Best Italian food here is Angelica's Bistro across from Panino in San Antonio, but only open until 4 PM and not open on Saturday or Sunday.

Many folks here like La Taverna. That's why they've stayed in business while many have come and gone.

[quote="johninajijic"][quote="hockables"]gotta agree..... our visit to Hacienda wuz no great hell...

Removed by Dawg who has become, inadvertently more civilized for some reason. Perhaps at age 69, Dawg has finally matured. I would not count on that, however.

[quote="hound dog"][quote="johninajijic"]

hockables wrote:gotta agree..... our visit to Hacienda wuz no great hell...

La Taverna YUK!!! Worst Italian food I have ever eaten.

Of course, the discerning reader has to realize that John has never, ever, eaten Italian food beyond canned Chef Boy-Ar-Dee Noodles in bland tomato sauce. A less knowledgable critic of "Italian Food" one could never find beyond one with expectations short of finding a plastic phony police whistle in a Cracker Jack box. This guy is so ignorant of what to expect in Italian food that you expect him to walk into a Taco Bell and order Italian tacos with extra Mayo and ketchup.

Here hound dog who thinks he's right all the time is NOT! Many folks here who like Italian food like La Taverna because they don't know what good Italian food is. I do because I'm Italian and my father taught me how to make Italian food the old fashioned way by cooking down a red sauce for 3 or 4 hours. We don't eat at Italian restaurants because we know good Italian food, unless they're exceptional. There's only one we eat at in the States.

Dawg has insulted me about Chef Boy Ardee and he doesn't even know me. I wouldn't feed that to a homeless person. I don't know anyone dumb enough to buy that garbage.

That's a VERY different story than you've told before. Previously it was because you were from BOSTON where the BEST Italian food was available on every corner. I agree with the Dawg, you wouldn't know good Italian food if you ever had it appear in front of you. How much time have you spent in Italy? As I recall it was ONCE on a cruise ship! Sheesh! John you are such a bigot and unfortunately it's without portfolio.

Sauce cooked for only 3-4 hours! My Sicilian mother-in-law used to simmer it from Wednesday for serving Sunday noon, her stool beside the stove for constant stirring.

Doesn't Hacienda have a day of the week with 89 pesos steak specials, isn't it Thursday?

Hacienda Ajijic has a 90 peso special on all meat, IE: Arecharra, Rib Eye, Vacio ect. on Thurs. We have gone for the past 2 weeks and found the Vacio to be great, the service very good. The portion of the special is the same as you would order on any other night.

Damn, with all the varied opinions, I don't know where to go to eat now.

If you want steak, go to Ajijic Tango. My most recent disappointment at Hacienda Ajijic was a steak sandwich for lunch; it was terrible! Four of us agreed.

johninajijic wrote:Hacienda Ajijic is now one of, if not the "highest priced" restaurant at Lakeside. It was my favorite last year. Friday night 7 of us ate there from our Bi Monthly Dinner group.

I always loved their Filet, really thick, looking and tasting like a real Filet. Friday night it was flatter and longer, didn't taste as good and not as tender. $160. pesos is too much for a Filet. My friend had the Vacio. I asked how it was. He said OK and that he had better. Laurent and Tango are less money. The Filet I had at Laurent was the best I have had at Lakeside. You could cut cut it with a fork.

Drinks at Hacienda Ajijic ar way too expensive. $50 - $55 pesos for a mixed drink. $45 pesos for a glass of house wine and $300 - $600 pesos for a bottle.

We may return this year, but I'm concentrating on revisiting Laurent and Ninette more often. I think these are the two "best" restaurants at Lakeside.

John got irritated with me for a snotty post I made about a months ago and rightly so. Perhaps my pen was filled with Herradura rather than printer ink. Anyway, no reason to dwell on the past.

Although we are now in Chiapas for a few months, I want to support John´s comments regarding his disappointmnt with Hacienda Ajijic as, while we were preparing to leave for Chiapas, we had our first dinner there in quite a while and in the past, as with John´s dinner group, had always spoken highly of our dining experiences there where I typically enjoyed a delicious steak or lamb dish and my wife typícally enjoyed some excellent seafood dishes. We had not dined at Hacienda for some time because we had been in Chiapas for the season and, since our return to Lakeside, had been ill from amoebas we picked up on in Chiapas which, for some time, had ruined our appetites to put it mildly.

At this last dinner, I had the vacio with a baked potato and my wife had a shrimp dish and both were uninspired and unworthy of a top steak and seafood place. My vacio was cooked appropriately blood rare but the cut was tough and somewhat tasteless. My insipid baked potato was actually cold and, when I complained, they put that damn thing in the microwave for a few minutes and brought me the same potato all over again. My wife´s shrimp dish fairly shouted of pre-cooked shrimp mixed with whatever suited the order at hand. A most mediocre and unispired meal and, frankly, we won´t be back after we return to Lakeside unless they have seriously addressed these deficiencies indicating a lack of attention to quality.

We normally don´t eat out but did so for a few days prior to our departure to San Cristóbal as we got our house in order. Our personal experiences:

Laurent: We had really good French Bistro style food here. Highly recommended.
Angelica´s Bistro: The best pasta Dawg has had at any restaurant at Lakeside in ten years living there. Excellent food. Go there.
Hole in One: Overrated,formulaec, uninspired, cooking school notions of haute cuisine. Not bad but certanly far from memorable. Precious. Admired by midwesterners never traveled beyond revolving Omaha restaurants.
Simply Thai: Simply not Thai. The chefs and owners here have no idea what they are doing. Went there twice. Never again.
Ricki´s: Not always consistent but when they hit the mark, fun mixed Asian cuisine well prepared. definitely worth a visit.
Tabarka: What used to be a fine Spanish, Mediterranean seafood joint has lost its inspiration. I sincerely hope they re-find it as this was at one time one of the best restaurants hereabouts.

Tsk tsk, Bob. Got it. But ............have those ladies sent the ninjas after you yet?

In general, I agree with the Dawg's review above.

One exception: IMO, Laurent's ain't what it may have been. Had three meals there. First meal was okay, but that much-touted Caesar salad was no great shakes. Second meal was a delightful New Years Day special breakfast, never to be offered again. Third meal, last month, was a real disappointment. One over-briny steak sauce on a tough ribeye; one overcooked, dry salmon; one okay filet. Another poorly constructed Caesar salad prepared with much flair. Haven't been back. I hear they do a nice job on duck, rabbit and escargot, etc. Not my faves, so no matter.
Too bad.
The Thai place is overpriced. A plate of fried rice with a few shrimp and chicken pieces tossed in is not worth 95 pesos at lunchtime.

gringal wrote:Tsk tsk, Bob. Got it. But ............have those ladies sent the ninjas after you yet?

In general, I agree with the Dawg's review above.

One exception: IMO, Laurent's ain't what it may have been. Had three meals there. First meal was okay, but that much-touted Caesar salad was no great shakes. Second meal was a delightful New Years Day special breakfast, never to be offered again. Third meal, last month, was a real disappointment. One over-briny steak sauce on a tough ribeye; one overcooked, dry salmon; one okay filet. Another poorly constructed Caesar salad prepared with much flair. Haven't been back. I hear they do a nice job on duck, rabbit and escargot, etc. Not my faves, so no matter.
Too bad.
The Thai place is overpriced. A plate of fried rice with a few shrimp and chicken pieces tossed in is not worth 95 pesos at lunchtime.

Gingal - On Laurent, I and my Dinner Group of which there are 10 - 12 of us TOTALLY disagree with you. We have eaten there no less than 8 times. In fact the two "best" restaurants in Ajijic are LAURENT and EL JARDIN de NINETTE. I have the Filet at Laurent every time I go. Delicious, tender and tasty. It puts Tango to shame. Last time 3 friends had Rib Eye and loved it. Their Duck, Rabbit, Escargot, etc are excellent as you mentioned. To everyone, the Caesar Salad is crap, too watery and they put in the yoke. Not recommended. "Best" Carsar Salad is/was Number Four, but their food is mediocre and overpriced.

Almost everything at NINETTE is excellent. Going there for a birthday for one of our Dinner Group this coming week. I'm already drooling over my Shrimp with Seasonal Fruits. Their wine menu is excellent.

All I know is anyone charging 70 pesos for a rum & coke around here should be ashamed. Based on cost of supplies and labor that would make it equivalent to selling one for about $28.00 CDN up north. I have no idea how these places stay in business unless they are supported by all the non drinkers.........

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[b]On Laurent, I and my Dinner Group of which there are 10 - 12 of us TOTALLY disagree with you. We have eaten there no less than 8 times. In fact the two "best" restaurants in Ajijic are LAURENT and EL JARDIN de NINETTE. I have the Filet at Laurent every time I go. Delicious, tender and tasty. It puts Tango to shame. Last time 3 friends had Rib Eye and loved it. Their Duck, Rabbit, Escargot, etc are excellent as you mentioned. To everyone, the Caesar Salad is crap, too watery and they put in the yoke. Not recommended. "Best" Carsar Salad is/was Number Four, but their food is mediocre and overpriced.quote]

John, get a grip; if Gringal had a poor meal there then she did, you can't get to disagree with that. I too love Laurent and everything we've had there has been excellent. For my $ it's the best place in town. #4 has ambiance but nothing else, Hacienda has gone down hill. We like GO! a lot for something different.

johninajijic wrote:

gringal wrote:Tsk tsk, Bob. Got it. But ............have those ladies sent the ninjas after you yet?

In general, I agree with the Dawg's review above.

One exception: IMO, Laurent's ain't what it may have been. Had three meals there. First meal was okay, but that much-touted Caesar salad was no great shakes. Second meal was a delightful New Years Day special breakfast, never to be offered again. Third meal, last month, was a real disappointment. One over-briny steak sauce on a tough ribeye; one overcooked, dry salmon; one okay filet. Another poorly constructed Caesar salad prepared with much flair. Haven't been back. I hear they do a nice job on duck, rabbit and escargot, etc. Not my faves, so no matter.
Too bad.
The Thai place is overpriced. A plate of fried rice with a few shrimp and chicken pieces tossed in is not worth 95 pesos at lunchtime.

Gingal - On Laurent, I and my Dinner Group of which there are 10 - 12 of us TOTALLY disagree with you. We have eaten there no less than 8 times. In fact the two "best" restaurants in Ajijic are LAURENT and EL JARDIN de NINETTE. I have the Filet at Laurent every time I go. Delicious, tender and tasty. It puts Tango to shame. Last time 3 friends had Rib Eye and loved it. Their Duck, Rabbit, Escargot, etc are excellent as you mentioned. To everyone, the Caesar Salad is crap, too watery and they put in the yoke. Not recommended. "Best" Carsar Salad is/was Number Four, but their food is mediocre and overpriced.

Almost everything at NINETTE is excellent. Going there for a birthday for one of our Dinner Group this coming week. I'm already drooling over my Shrimp with Seasonal Fruits. Their wine menu is excellent.

Haven't been to Ninette is over a year after a very unhappy lunch, but do intend to give it another shot.

The wonderful thing about food is that perception is all. Our friend who had the filet liked it but didn't consider it outstanding. And my dry, overcooked salmon.....what can I say after saying that? My husband thought someone had dumped the salt shaker in his ribeye sauce......so again, it's perception. Maybe you and your group are prettier than we were. (Grin)

David wrote:\

[b]On Laurent, I and my Dinner Group of which there are 10 - 12 of us TOTALLY disagree with you. We have eaten there no less than 8 times. In fact the two "best" restaurants in Ajijic are LAURENT and EL JARDIN de NINETTE. I have the Filet at Laurent every time I go. Delicious, tender and tasty. It puts Tango to shame. Last time 3 friends had Rib Eye and loved it. Their Duck, Rabbit, Escargot, etc are excellent as you mentioned. To everyone, the Caesar Salad is crap, too watery and they put in the yoke. Not recommended. "Best" Carsar Salad is/was Number Four, but their food is mediocre and overpriced.

John, get a grip; if Gringal had a poor meal there then she did, you can't get to disagree with that. I too love Laurent and everything we've had there has been excellent. For my $ it's the best place in town. #4 has ambiance but nothing else, Hacienda has gone down hill. We like GO! a lot for something different.[/quote]""
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I've heard so many good things about GO that I'd love to GO. If he'd just get a lift, we would, but three flights are two too many for my poor husband's failing knees, so we haven't GONE.

And of all the people who should love Laurent, we should, since we are in easy walking distance. We will be trying it again when our steak loving friend from San Miguel visits in a month or so and will come back with an unbiased report. We will skip the Caesar, tho.

I agree 160pesos is too much for a filet steak here unless it is spectacular in some way. But it does look like Bob's group is smiling - maybe it is all the cervesas.

And I like La Taverna also - my favorite Italian restaurant lakeside. I like Angelica's also but they are very different. I don't know real Italian food but I do like the variety and the always home made pasta at La Taverna.

And I agree that you can't beat the prices at Tango and consistently good.

simpsca wrote:I agree 160pesos is too much for a filet steak here unless it is spectacular in some way. But it does look like Bob's group is smiling - maybe it is all the cervesas.

And I like La Taverna also - my favorite Italian restaurant lakeside. I like Angelica's also but they are very different. I don't know real Italian food but I do like the variety and the always home made pasta at La Taverna.

And I agree that you can't beat the prices at Tango and consistently good.

simpsca - Our Dinner Group has given La Taverna two trys. NEVER again. Most of us don't like it. His red sauce isn't good and doesn't taste Italian. My friend makes Italian red sauce the old fashioned way so I'm very critical of sauce when I eat out. Angelica's Bistro is far better. Pedro who owns Angelica's Bistro is Italian and used to own La Traviata restaurant way before Roberto occupied that location. Try Giovanni's new restaurant. Our group went two weeks ago and everyone had a good meal. I went with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised. Cheap prices too!

You can get Hacienda Ajijic's Filet or any meat on Thursday for $ 90. pesos

Where is Giovanni's?

In Rancho del Oro plaza, the one with Tabarka. We've always found Giovanni's food too bland. We love La Taverna.