Restaurante La Habichuela

On my planet, 5 stars means exceptional cuisine, extraordinary value and superior service. Or at least two out of the the three.

It is a five star restaurant if:

• You are the brother-in-law of the owner
• You have never eaten at another upscale Mexican restaurant
• You thought it was a 10 point scale and 5 stars is average

FOOD

There’s no question the food is good. But it’s not special.

We ordered guacamole which is prepared in the kitchen (and not at your table). It consisted of a mashed avocado in a corn shell with salsa on the side. We were disappointed that for $7.50 it was a small scoop.

I was hoping to order enchiladas. But they are not on the menu. So I ordered chicken and beef fajitas. It’s prepared in the kitchen. Don’t expect flaming fajitas or sizzling fajitas on a skillet.

There was enough to satisfy most appetites. It was tasty but indistinguishable from what you might get at a food court in an American mall. I prefer flour tortillas but they only offer corn. .

My wife ordered the catch of the day. It was “fresh” from yesterday according to the waiter. Her usual terse comment was “The fish was good. But I wouldn’t come back here for it.”

SERVICE

No complaints about the service. The waiter took our drink order right away. We didn’t wait long for an appetizer and the entrée came a few minutes later.

DÉCOR

The interior décor is nice but forgettable. The much talked about garden is interesting but by no means extraordinary. It’s shaded but your probably wouldn’t want to eat there because of the heat and humidity.

VALUE

We spent $77 with tip for three drinks, bottled water, one appetizer, and two entrées. That’s for lunch. If you factor in a round trip taxi fare from the hotel zone, that’s another $40 -$50 round trip. Therefore, you might spend $120 for an OK lunch.

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. But you could eat lunch at a local restaurant every day for a week for the cost of one lunch here. The local places have good food but they typically are not air conditioned and don’t take credit cards.

In my opinion, it’s a 3 star which is a bit above average.