El Balcon Cocina Artesanal (San Felipe, Baja) - Restaurant Review

When your server sets your plate down in front of you, you will wonder if El Balcon Cocina is a restaurant or an art gallery. The expertly plated main courses and desserts will blow you away with their beauty, finesse and creativity. Have your cameras ready, because you will want to send, share and post pictures of these dishes with all of your friends. 

Chef Marcelino has a love for Mexican food as deep as his Pueblan roots. Food in Puebla is a delicious mix of Pre-Hispanic and Spanish, with little touches of French and Middle Eastern influences. Mole (pronounced mo-lay) originated in Puebla and is a rich and creamy sauce that can consist of close to 100 different ingredients including peanuts, spices, tomatoes, bread, raisins and even chocolate! Many Mexican restaurants attempt to recreate this classic Mexican staple, but only a restaurant with a native resident can make the Mole Poblano in its truest form. Needless to say, trying your favorite meat slathered in this rich and savory Mole is a must. 

Before you can devour the delicious and beautiful masterpieces prepared by Chef Marcelino, you first have to find El Balcon Concina in San Felipe. Many travelers who are enjoying their Mexican vacation on the El Dorado Ranch Resort can get to this restaurant in about 20 minutes, using Highway 5 as a straight shot from point A to point B.  When you arrive at 614 Mar De Cortez, you’ll notice the bright, two story building has dark tiled floors, soft yellow walls and Mexican themed accents and colors throughout the dining area. The restaurant is located on the second floor, and the open balcony is a comfortable place to eat while the soft sea breeze blows through.  Speaking of the sea, the close proximity to The Sea of Cortez means El Balcon Cocina only serves the freshest seafood around. The difference between fish caught a few feet away and thrown on the grill and fish that has spent the last few days traveling in the back of a truck is night and day. If you’ve never had seafood this fresh, you wont believe the natural flavors and textures that come out when it’s cooked by a professional. When you sit down at one of the few tables on the patio, your server will greet you with thick, homemade tortilla ships and a house made salsa with sweet and spicy notes, along with chunks of fresh produce. As you check out the menu, consider ordering a glass of Baja white wine, more specifically the JC Bravo Palomino. This delicacy is hard to come by, and chances are if you ask for it in many of the other local restaurants they won’t have a bottle on hand. El Balcon Cocina usually has a bottle ready if you ask for it, and with its dry and fruity taste combination, it’ll be a perfect addition to the meal that is to come. 

As mentioned before, being this close to the sea is the best place to try an authentic Mexican seafood dish, and the dogfish comes highly recommended when it is in season. El Balcon Cocina only serves the freshest fish in season, which means the menu is always featuring new and exciting dishes. The dogfish comes thinly sliced and served with green pea pods, cooked in lime and garnished with chapulines. Do yourself a favor and don’t ask for the translation of chapulines if you aren’t normally an adventurous eater. Just trust us and order the dogflish, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  Order one of the sweet and spicy shrimp dishes and you’ll have to swat the hands of your table mates away from trying to steal some of yours. Try the Tres moles Camaron y Nopales, a sweet and savory shrimp dish served with three different moles.  The green mole is made with squash blossoms and will leave you with a hint of almonds, and the red mole is made with some local chilies. The third mole is the original Mole Poblano. 

If seafood isn’t your thing, there are plenty of chicken and pork dishes that will leave you happy and satisfied. The prime rib with a red wine reduction and organic baby vegetables is an A+ for any meat lover, as is the lamb in parchment paper. Both dishes, as with all the dishes here, are not just thrown on a plate. Each component of the dish is placed with precision, with a meaning and purpose. Side dishes, sauces and garnishes are more like wisps of paint on a canvas than edible sides on a dinner plate. Chef Marcelino has been known to invite lucky travelers back to the kitchen to see where the magic happens. His love and passion for his food is not only evident in the artistic ways he prepares his meals, but the attention he pays to each and every customer in his restaurant. It is very rare that a chef caters to each table the way that Chef Marcelino does. By sending out occasional teaser appetizers or coming to the table to chat, he is personable and friendly and a joy to be around. 

It makes sense that the wait staff is just as friendly and eager to please. Service is quick and the servers have perfected the balance of being extremely attentive without hovering or being annoying. Some of the servers are chefs themselves, and are just as passionate and articulate about the food they are serving. 

Before you leave, you have to try one of the gourmet desserts. Try the lavender ice cream! It’s coated in chocolate and topped wit amaranth seeds, a delicious chocolate-ly dessert with a Mexican twist. The beautiful way the chocolate swirls into the crème colored ice cream is an art form in itself. 

It’s very realistic to get an appetizer, main course and dessert for $20. Everything on the menu is very realistically priced, especially when you consider the one of a kind service, the beautiful atmosphere and the food that is so good there isn’t a word for it yet. This humble yet extremely talented chef could charge an arm and leg for what he can conjure up, and people would pay it because it is THAT good. Thankfully, Chef Marcelino shares his talents of creating San Felipe’s tastiest and most gorgeous meals at a price that even a tourist on a budget could afford. 

Typical Four Course Dinner

Starter

• Breaded Shrimp - comes with a Granada red wine reduction
• Your choice of:
  • Tortilla soup with garnish
  • OR
  • Green salad with balsamic vinegar and cherry tomatoes

Main Course

• Your choice for main course
  • Pork Chop
  • Rib Eye
  • Lamb (Mixiote)
  • Shrimp
  • Fish
• Your choice of sauces:
  • Hibiscus compote with pasilla chili
  • OR
  • Red pipian sauce
  • Organic Vegetables

Desert

• Plantain
• Chocolate soup
• Hibiscus compote
• Rice pudding with coconut

• Address: Avenida Mar De Cortez 614, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, 21850
• Telephone: +52 686 215 3632
• Website: https://www.facebook.com/ElBalconCocinaArtesanal