Guatemalan Food

[shubhranshu]

The food of Guatemala tends to be much saltier than anywhere else in Central America, and the food is already quite salty. Often restaurants have a `plato del dia or plate of the day, which can be quite a variety of things such as: rice, salad (not just cabbage) meat, eggs, refried beans, cheese and best of all the sweetest fried bananas.

[omegaet]

We've spent time in several areas of Guatemala and eaten in some of the nicer restaurants as well as tasted street vendor food and never noticed over seasoning with salt. As a matter of fact, most of the food tends to be bland.

[showard1]

Hola, O,

I agree with you. Guatemalan food tends to be bland, especially the tortillas which I thought were really tasteless.

However, am looking forward to the chirmol (salsa jocon) and some more pepian which I really enjoyed at Cafetenango, Filadelfia Resort. Can't wait for the trip to CP and an opportunity to visit with Chef Mario and get more involved with Guatemalan food.

Which local market(s) did you enjoy in the Lake Atitlan area?

Gracias y buenos dias.

[omegaet]

We visited six or seven villages during the time at Lake Atitlan and went to each of their local markets. Sometimes we bought some fruit or produce and took it back to CP for preparation....we always tried to make several small purchases (sometimes just sweets or candy), as a show of good faith and a contribution to their economy.....rather than just standing there snapping photos. We're talking the smaller villages, generally not visited by a lot of tourists...certainly no tour buses and few vans.



You can ask the front desk staff at CP and they can tell you which villages hold their markets on certain days.

[bonniejoy03]

We visited Chichi of course for a bigger market view. Solola is relatively close by. Really enjoyed that market and a lot less tourists. I did get pick pocketed though so be careful. But.....would never deter me from going back there.....I should have been more careful.

[showard1]

Hola, Bonnie,

A donde va proxima? The Espagnol is coming along -- slowly, but surely -- Ha!

Yes, I've heard about the market at Solola. I found Chichi to be a bit congested and difficult to navigate. You probably read my entry in that regard. Too many ninos and mujeres trailing along with us. Disconcerting.

Am so looking forward to the CP trip. Would also like to locate some typical Guatemalan paintings, perhaps even in oil (if available). Colorful village or market scenes would be perfect. But, I may be better off looking for this type of art in Antigua. Any suggestions?

Have you been to el mercado in San Juan?

Gracias y buenos dias.

[bonniejoy03]

Hola! Vamos a Virgin Gorda este mes! WEO!



I have never visited San Juan mercado. When is your trip to Guat? If before us, tell us so we can try it also. We are heading back in February. Did you get your air tickets yet? Is your trip ready to go? You MIGHT have a better opportunity for art in Antigua unless you find some in a small village. I don't remember seeing any. My husband picked up some lovely paintings in Grenada Nicaragua.....he regrets not buying more....nothing expensive but very beautiful and captures the country.

[[email protected]]

I am curious how you liked the CP hotel - I did see that one listed here on Luxury LInk but we did the Laguna Eco Lodge package instead - will be going in Feb 2010. This will be our 3rd trip to Guate and we love it - Lake Atitaln is beautiful, Tikal is awesome, Antigua is great - we also did some side trips - went into Honduras to see the Copan ruins - a nice overnight trip from Antigua. We worked with Elizabeth Bell to get our accomadations for this upcoming trip to guate - she is very good to work with and highly recommend her.

Guate food is great - we eat out way through Anitigua. We are looking forward to trying the food at laguna eco lodge - it is vegetarian and they grow all of their own vegetabels - very highly rated restaurant and considered one of the best in the Atitlan area.

[showard1]

Hola, Bonnie and Kitty,

Where is the eco-lodge located? I, too, love vegetables and look forward to seeing what Chef Mario will concoct for us at CP.

Kitty, what prompted your choice of the eco-lodge vs. CP? Since this will be your third trip to the country, would you mind sharing some more highlights from earlier visits? Antigua, especially --

Bonnie, you are quite the traveler -- is it all pleasure, or part business? Also, do you have any information, or know where I might find some, concerning efforts to improve the education of young Mayan girls? I believe you mentioned the woman who runs La Fonda de la Calle Real, yes?

Gracias y buenos dias.

[[email protected]]

I was wondering why you called me kitty until I noticed the Kitty pic on my post. My name is Denise. the Laguna Eco Lodge is right on Lake Atitlan - here is the web address
http://www.lagunalodgeatitlan.com/
I think there is an auction for it now on LL. I actually chose this place over CP becuase the CP auction was for 4 nights and laguna auction was for 5 nights and was actually a lower starting bid. Our 1st trip to Guate we did Antigua and Tikal, the 2nd trip we did Antigua, Chichi and Solola markets, overnight trip to Honduras. This trip we are just doing the 5 nights at laguna and 4 nights in antigua and 1 night in guate city. We are staying in Casa Concepcion in Antigua - a place that Elizabeth Bell recommended and she did the reservation for us. Another place she recommended was the Cissus boutique hotel - they only have 4 rooms and this place was also recommended by Eliz Bell - we had a hard time deciding on the two and finally just flipped a coin. I won the LL auction to laguna and then built the rest of the trip around that. Each time we were in Antigua we ate in a place called Frida's (it is near the arch) really good Mexican and local food - also has a bar. there is a somewhat new place called the Sky Cafe that we were going to check out - they have a rooftop deck that supposedly has some of the best views in antigua - the blogs I have read said to get there before sunset and then get a table on the roof to watch the sunset over the volcanoes. There is also a great chinese place we ate in alot but for the life of me, I forgot the name - some of the best chineses food I have ever had - I will ask my husband - he always remembers the names of good restaurants. We like the handicrafts and art work in guatemala better than any other central american country we have been to and usually go down there to do lots of shopping -lots of good textile places, jewelry stores for jade, handicraft markets. My 3 favorite latin american cities are Antigua, Quito and Cuzco - I think I would rank antigua number 1 of the 3 - great food, great shopping, lots of cultural sites. My husband just bought a nice new little video camera and we are planning to video a lot of out trip in February and post the video online (probably you tube). We researched quite a few hotels in Antigua and there are many good ones. We did stay in Casa Santa Domingo on one of our visits and while it is a beautiful place - it does get pretty crowded there since it is a tourist attraction itself and I feel it is a bit over priced compared to some of the other 4 and 5 star places in Antigua - also I did not think the food was that great - worth a visit though since it originally was an old convent and they still have much of the original detail and original chapel - quite beautiful (Hotel Monasterio in Cuzco is much better and I think the Monasterio spoiled us for old convent/monastery hotels)
We did a lot of walking around at night in Antigua on our previous trips and never had any problems, although with this world wide recession it looks like crime may have increased in Antigua and around Atitlan - so we will be more careful on this upcoming trip. The tourist police in Antigua are pretty good and there are alot of them posted around the city. We never rent a car in guate since driving around in guate is crazy - you can pretty much get a shared van or even a private driver for a really good price - a van from guate city to atitlan is going to cost us around $20pp - not a bad price for a 3-4 hour drive on bad roads! The laguna auction included the boat trip to the lodge from Panajachel (the lodge is only accessible by boat) but for a couple extra dollars they are going to take us back to Antigua after our 5 nights at the lodge. The lodge has a boat dock and the public boats stop there and will take you to any village around atitlan for around $2.50 (the fare may have gone up since our last trip in 2003). Hope this info helps and let me know if you would like additional information.
Denise