La Calesa — Restaurant in Michoacán

Best avoided if you can find something better. I don't understand the great reviews about this restaurant. There seem to be very few restaurants in Angangueo so perhaps it is comparatively better than others. I don't know as we only visited this one on a recommendation from a local.

Good points: The interior decor is lovely and feels rustic because the owner made all the tables and ceiling light shades himself. The view from the fairly narrow windows over the town is quite nice, but the immediate view is nothing special. It is probably prettier when it is dark, as long as it isn't too chilly. When we went it was quite drafty by the windows and we ended up having to close the shutters anyway.

Negatives:

Slow service - as others have mentioned, the service is slow. This is because the owner seems to be working alone and cooks everything from scratch, including chopping the vegetables. Fine if you have time and the food is worth waiting for. (Unfortunately it isn't in my opinion.)

Taste / Quality of the food - the owner is extremely heavy handed with his seasoning. I ordered a chicken dish (the special that day) which was accompanied by rice and vegetables. It was so salty that I couldn't eat more than one mouthful. I am not exaggerating. My mouth felt like I had just done a salt gargle. It was awful.

All the rice sides were over-seasoned with salt and even our water (made with fruit - agua de sabor) had a thick layer of sugar that had sunk to the bottom. It was very nice and sweet enough as it was, but if we had stirred it, it would have been so sickly - I'm grateful we didn't!

Someone else in our party ordered the Milanesa. It was so thin that it was more breadcrumbs than meat.

Attitude: Decent at the beginning. Not overly helpful describing the dishes that had uncommon names, and he served one rice dish with a sesame garnish even though we had specifically told him very clearly and carefully that the person had a sesame allergy and nothing could contain sesame.

I would have told the owner about the salty taste of my dish if he had been in the room with us at any point, or if he had come and asked how the food was, but he wasn't and he didn't! Only at the end when he collected the plates. I mentioned it then and he mumbled something about taking it into consideration (I speak fluent Spanish) and walked off. Afterwards, he was even more distant and distinctly unfriendly. We had to call for him to be able to pay and leave! We were the only ones in the little restaurant so it felt very odd.

Overall, a lot could be improved with this restaurant's food and service and it isn't really worth a visit in my opinion. It's a shame, as it could have been a real gem and I really don't like to criticise small businesses. Hopefully, he will take the criticism...

Comida muy rica y porciones adecuadas, los precios muy accesibles, el lugar lindo pero siento que no está terminado de adaptar porque al entrar no se ven las mesas de la parte interior, creo que le falta personal porque tardaban para tomar la orden y para servir, aproximadamente 45 minutos en las dos cosas, si bien no tenía hambre al llegar no tuve problema pero si hubo quien se fué por el tiempo de espera. El lugar esta algo escondido y en auto es difícil llegar, aconsejo estacionarse cerca de la plaza porque las calles son muy estrechas y vale mucho la pena llegar al lugar porque se come muy rico. Por último podrían actualizar los precios porque me cobraron más y aun así no pagué ni 500 pesos por dos...

We enjoyed a very tasty evening dinner here. The sunset was phenomenal. Food was very well priced and very nicely presented. Highly recommend. PS don't try to take your car there as google maps suggests. It is...