Culture and Ceviche in Mazatlan
We were able to visit Mazatlan, for the first time, on our cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Majestic Princess.
The ship arrived on Tuesday morning with great weather, perfect for outdoor activities. We were able to dock at the Mazatlan port, which was primarily industrial, so they used trolleys to take us to the pedestrian area.
Our initial impression of Mazatlan was very similar to other Mexican and Caribbean ports with the Spanish influence. They have done a wonderful job to keep the city clean and tourist friendly. There was a local shopping area for souvenirs, but they did not have some some of the main commercial options we are used to seeing, like Diamonds International or Cariloha.
With only one day here, we decided to select one of the Princess excursions, which had a good level of diversity for different interests. We choose one of their ‘Local Connection’ excursions with a Ceviche and Tequila tasting (I was not able to find a link after the cruise).
Cultural Walking Tour
The tour started with a short drive and then walk through the city to see some historical sites, like this theater.
As our walk continued, we passed some local performers and artwork for a carnival coming up.
Too bad we couldn’t visit again to check out the carnival!
El Presidio
Our city walking tour ended at a local restaurant, El Presidio, which is where the ceviche and tequila tasting was being hosted. We learned that the Chef who owns this restaurant actually won Master Chef Mexico! I would highly recommend their food, and I would definitely come back during normal business hours to experience their full menu.
Presidio is in one of the oldest houses, Casa Garcia, in Mazatlan, and you would never know this was a restaurant from outside. The ‘interior’ had trees growing throughout for shade and a great backdrop. It looked like they had a stage for local entertainment during normal business hours.
The restaurant was open early for this tour, so we had the entire place to ourselves, and the dozen or so of us on this excursion.
Once we were all settled, we started with a Los Osuna tequila tasting (click here for their website). It is always fascinating to try the various liquors and their flavor. Unfortunately, Nathan and I are not big tequila fans, so we tried but quickly realized it was going to change our minds. We declined future tastings to not waste them.
The staff quickly realized that we weren’t drinking it and offered to mix it with evaporated milk, which is apparently a common mix. That was actually pretty good, but that was probably more because of the evaporated milk rather than the tequila :).
Next they delivered three types of ceviche and did a demonstration of how it was made. We were disappointed that we were not making it ourselves, but it was still delicious! They also provided freshly baked corn ships that were a little thicker than normal, which was perfect for ceviche.
From left to right, the ceviche dishes included:
1) Green Shrimp Aguachile, green oil, avocado, cucumber and mint. The meat you see is ONE single shrimp! Nathan ate mine since I don’t care for seafood, and he thought it was pretty good.
2) Laminate of Robalo, tiger milk, avocado and mint. I was really surprised with the flavor on this as it had a creamy flavor from the tiger milk, which is not a normal go to with ceviche. It was definitely a favorite of mine.
3) Fresh catch of the day, shrimp reduction, dehydrated tomato. This was a very classic flavor to ceviche and was a great classic option.
Funny side story: The tour guide told us that ‘chips’ refer to triangle shaped tortilla chips and that ‘tost’ (short for tostada) refers to round tortilla chips. We thought this made perfect sense and were happy to go with it. Later we mentioned this discovery to a friend who grew up in Mexico, and they just laughed. They had never heard of this and thought it was kind of ridiculous. I still think it’s a fun idea, but a good reminder to fact-check random tidbits you learn from strangers! 🙂
Ocean and City Views
We could have stayed there all day eating ceviche, but unfortunately that was not an option. After our wonderful lunch, we took an open bus ride back to the cruise port an enjoyed the final hours in port.
If you would like to read more about this cruise or the other stops we made a long the way, here are some quick links for you!
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