Flavor Boulevard

Reading in your room with music is one thing, reading in a restaurant by the sea with romantic golden oldies and the wind is simply indescribable.

Because I am not a fan of the sun, the waitress seats me in the shade in the middle of Seaside Grill, where I can look out to the parachute rising up from the beach but not the beach itself, and I can see Engelbert Humperdinck’s Spanish Eyes in the 70s music sweetness floating in the wind, but not directly feel the sticky salty wind itself. How can you read there? Well, when you sit alone in a restaurant (or anywhere), the best way to naturally observe your surrounding is by having a book in front of you. Also, being busy as they are at peak lunch hour, the waiters wouldn’t feel as bad leaving you unattended if they know you can get through the second chapter of Dodelson‘s Cosmology while waiting for the orders’ arrival.

So the wait is not at all unpleasant, in fact I even hope for a longer wait just to be more productive; after all, I’m here for a conference and not a vacation. That said, as soon as the food comes, the book is cast aside.

You don’t want to let these plump shrimps wait. They are cooled and gently coated in a coconut and lime juice, while their calamari partners are oddly tender. The Dreams ceviche gives you freshness without the cringe of rawness, it is succulent but not watery, bountiful but not overfilling, sweet but not sugary. Five stars.

Then comes the steak, as big as my two hands put together, and a lot fattier. On top of it melts a scoop of pink butter and lies a slice of grilled onion, to the side scatters a handful of fries half soaked in brown grease.

Barely finishing that monstrous prime rib, I grab a waiter as soon as he comes near to ask for the key lime cheesecake I saw earlier at the bottom of the menu. This makes me feel like a bear but I still need to stock up for the Berkeley winter. Thankfully, the slice is moderate, accompanied by one teaspoon scoop of key lime sorbet and three strawberry quarters. Creamy but light, this is definitely the best dessert I’ve had at Dreams so far.

Another (unsurprising) thing I discover during my 5 days stay is that once you eat a lot, you keep eating a lot. After lunch I think I must have gained 10 pounds and would go lie down like a python for a month, but no, a few hours later I call Room Service for dinner. I order…

Chicken fajita. It’s not as hot as it would be on a sizzling plate, but the temperature is easily overlooked as the melted Swiss cheese engages so harmoniously with the chargrilled white meat chicken.

A rainbow fruit salad as they name it: papaya, watermelon, canteloupe, orange, pineapple, and half a strawberry.

A mango pie (labelled “mango cheesecake” in the menu), remarkably similar to the key lime cheesecake at Seaside Grill, aside from the whip cream mount on top.

And finally, a coconut flan, the better of the two desserts. It’s not as caramelized as expected, it’s a tad watery and plain, but I adore its simple, Hangul-like presentation. 🙂

More Puerto Vallarta:
Dreams & Conference – Day 1, dinner at Oceana
Dreams & Conference – Day 2, World Cafe and El Patio