Friday’s Featured Food: Panny’s Birthday and Exquisite Mexican Cuisine at Plaza Real, San Cristobal de Las Casas

Anyone in a relationship knows that a birthday of either of you is the best excuse to have a fantastic meal and relax. There was no better way to do this with Panny, (my girlfriend of almost 4 years now) than by treating to her to quite simply the best restaurant in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas. Having already booked into the impressive Hotel Villas Casa Morada, who provided Panny with a welcome birthday cocktail and a bed full of flowers plus a candle, by 8pm though it was time for the birthday feast.

We headed downtown to Plaza Real restaurant. The setting is already inspiring. Off the main strip of Real Guadeloupe, this restaurant is in a courtyard and offers a relaxing and pleasant ambience.

We sit down and are handed the menus – it’s a tough choice!! But it’s Panny’s birthday so we go wild with our choices and splash out! Panny goes for enchiladas de Camaron (shrimps) (68MP) and the Chipilin leaves soup (48MP) and I plump for Asado Coleto (baked pork San Cristobal style) (63MP) and the pork meat tacos (73MP). Overall we plan to share all 4 dishes though.

Drinks wise, I order a Beer with lime and salt and Panny orders an orange juice. Before that, there is a surprise though – the birthday cocktails arrive! They are a Mexican local Margarita cocktail which contains the local indigenous alcohol Bosh as well as Tamarind. I’m impressed. I sip gently then the starter arrives!

The starter is the Mexican stereotype – nachos, bread, guacamole and sauces. At Plaza Real San Cristobal de Las Casas everything is prepared to a high standard and timed to perfection.

We munch a bit of the starter but are aware we need to enjoy the main courses, so we prepared to feast on the main course which arrives soon after. Here are some photos of the dishes.

Panny and I are not normally big eaters, but we saved the best for this night. We skipped a big lunch and we managed to eat all of the dinner! Amazing. Want proof?

But hold on…we weren’t finished yet. Just as we were getting ready to finish our drinks and leave, music arrives…they start singing Happy Birthday to Panny. I was spontaneous and quick enough to grab some of it on video:

So a birthday cake arrives too – a strawberry one and we find room in our stomachs to share it!

We were so impressed by everything in this restaurant – the management, waiters, food, drinks, service and everything ran smoothly to give Panny the best birthday meal ever!! I spoke to the manager Karla and thanked her afterwards for the surprise, here she is.

All in all this restaurant is superb for a special occasion and a treat and I recommend it when you’re backpacking in San Cristobal. It makes a change from eating in markets and cooking at the hostel. The food is exquisite and worth the money. There is something to fit low and high budgets on the menu. 2 can easily dine out for under 200 Mexican Pesos here, but remember we were on a special occasion so ours cost a little more on this special night!

Full address of the restaurant is:
Restaurante Plaza Real
Antigua Casa del Congreso
Real de Guadeloupe #5
Centro Historico
San Cristobal de las Casas
You can also find Plaza Real San Cristobal de Las Casas on Facebook and Twitter!

And here are my videos from a wonderful night celebrating Panny’s birthday at Plaza Real San Cristobal de Las Casas: