Carnitas

Along with most Mexicans, we like carnitas. Carnitas are inexpensive cuts of pork that have been simmered with spices until they are falling apart then browned in pork fat. Every place has its own recipe for making carnitas.

We had heard about the carnitas at Don Cruz del Perdon on the road to Dolores Hidalgo where the road to Taboado intersects. At first they were only open on the weekends but lots of people in San Miguel discovered them, business was good and they decided to open all week. On our return from Dolores yesterday, we decided to stop in and give them a try. They have a long narrow dining room with lots of windows, bright colorful oil-cloth on the tables. A very cheerful place. Although they have some other things on their menu, we wanted the carnitas.

Carol Schmidt of the Falling in Love with San Miguel blog wrote on July 15, 2006 that she liked the carnitas at Perdon better than the carnitas at Vicente's in Dolores Hidalgo. We thought just the opposite. We found on this particular day the carnitas at Perdon to be greasy and a bit too salty. But I will qualify that because we know that the quality of food varies in restaurants here from day to day. We also like Vicente's because they serve bean soup, a pico de gallo and pickled carrots and onions along with the carnitas. Their side order of guacamole is very good. At Perdon all of these are side orders. Of course Vicente's is a little more expensive than Perdon but we are talking about a $2 difference per 1/2 kilo.

There have been so many people that have raved about the canitas at Perdon, I think we may have hit them on an off day. I'm sure we'll stop in again on our drives back and forth to Dolores and see how the carnitas are the next time but it is hard to beat Vicente's