My mama has a few comfort foods. One is ice cream. The other is a latte. We found both in the area of the Playita.
Above is a parade of expensive restaurants on the way to the Wifi area. Turn around, and you’ll come to Mi Ranchito, not expensive and with much better food.
At Mi Ranchito, we dined on squid rings in garlic sauce, corvina grilled with garlic or vegetables, and mussels in garlic. Michael had come off his imposed vegetarianism in a big way. There’s nothing like a convert to enjoy the formerly withheld. His favorite meal? A child’s plate of cheeseburger and fries. Now that burger was at least 5″ in diameter, so most kids would have to treat it as I did and take half home for the next day. But it was a bargain at $3.95. Their apple pie a la mode satisfied Mama’s ice cream craving; the simple pie worked for me.
I love a local restaurant where there are more natives than foreigners dining. That says something about authenticity.
Looks like loads of fun!
Every time I turned around, Mama would say, “Shall we go have some of those good mussels (or corvina or squid or apple pie and ice cream)?” I don’t know if she merely liked the idea of going out or if she wanted to test herself against the water and the dinghy ride to town, but even once we were on board, she thought nothing of suggesting a meal out. If you take a look at the sunset pictures, you’ll notice the water wasn’t exactly calm most afternoons, so we didn’t venture forth for dinner very often. Imagine climbing back onto our ladder from a bouncing rubber duck, and you’ll have a lot of respect for my mama and her sea legs. She was grand, much better and more stable than during her spring trip (perhaps because one couldn’t let down one’s guard this time, not with all the wake from zooming pilot boats headed toward one ship or another). We did make her wear a life jacket even for the dinghy ride, though, which M and I never do. Our new-to-us dinghy may leak like a sieve, but it makes for a comfortable, if squishy, ride. More than you can say for the hard-bottomed one.
I really enjoy your blogging. I almost feel like I am there with you in Panama.
Steph
Thanks, Steph. We had a grand time — just sorry we had to leave!