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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | December 2007 
Romantic Dining at the River Café
 Gary Beck - PVNN
| | Open daily from 9:00 am to 11:30 pm, The River Café is located on the Isla Río Cuale in downtown Puerto Vallarta. For more information or to make reservations, call (322) 223-0788, send an email to rivercafe(at)rivercafe.com.mx, or visit RiverCafe.com.mx. |
In the heart of downtown Puerto Vallarta, you'll find The River Cafe - a romantic restaurant nestled on the banks of the Río Cuale featuring a staff of prizewinning chefs and a menu that rivals the best restaurants in Mexico.
Owned by Margarito Larios and Eva Sanchez, The River Café has it all: great location, ambience, food and service. The natural garden setting of the restaurant's magnificent terrace, with candles flickering at romantic tables lining the river bank and tiny white lights wrapping the palm trees overhanging the Río Cuale, is casual yet elegant, the food and service are excellent and the menu inspired.
The prizewinning chefs at The River Cafe have created a varied menu that changes often but always features creative cuisine that will delight anyone's palate.
Starters on this visit included a required dish, Deep-Fried Calamari served in a green sheath, like pressed algae foliage. The house sauce was mild and we wished for tartar or red sauce. Cream of Crab and Coconut Soup, rather like a bisque, is delightfully creamy and rich. Grilled Apple Salad with fried Camembert and raspberry sauce was quite tasty. The flavors of fruit and tartness blended very well.
Next we sampled the Lamb Lasagna, which was not what original Italian chefs had in mind. The dish contains layers of wild mushrooms, goat cheese, mozzarella and laced with a tomato-basil sauce. Baked Mahi Mahi Fillet with a garlic crust was served over mashed potatoes and presented as the menu stated Provençale, but was a creamy red sauce in color. Chicken Breast was stuffed with spinach and mushrooms and laid on a bed of fettuccine with a three cheese sauce. The pasta was wonderful.
Three desserts are often sampled on each visit. This time we tried the Cinnamon Apple Pastry with vanilla ice cream. The pastry is thin and light with the apples also thinly sliced, glazed and served with vanilla ice cream. Hot Chocolate Cake, known as Volcano, thrilled us with a warm dark syrup oozing out when the cake was pierced. Cool vanilla ice cream accompanied this dish, too. A delightful Crème Brulée, crispy on top, creamy inside, was garnished with an almond wafer and a fruit sauce. This is how desserts should be prepared and enjoyed.
The air fills with the wafts of music by Beverly and Willow, mixing with the cool river breezes under twinkling white lights. Here one can enjoy good food, music and friendly, fast service by handsome meseros in a comfortable and relaxing ambience.
Open daily from 9:00 am to 11:30 pm, The River Café is located on the Isla Río Cuale in downtown Puerto Vallarta. For more information or to make reservations, call (322) 223-0788, send an email to rivercafe(at)rivercafe.com.mx, or visit RiverCafe.com.mx.
 After 20 years in the San Francisco restaurant business, Gary R. Beck turned his attentions to cooking, dining out, creating recipes and exploring Puerto Vallarta's rich array of eateries. Famous for his restaurant guide, available online at CafePress.com or Lulu.com, Gary also writes restaurant reviews for Puerto Vallarta newspapers, Bay Area magazines, and now, a feature column for BanderasNews.com. Contact Gary at garyrbeck1@yahoo.com.
Click HERE for more articles by Gary R. Beck. |
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