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After spending nearly a week in Ensenada, and later San Felipe, and after eating countless fish tacos, I was looking for something different. During the early part of the 20th century, many folks from China found their way to northern Baja California, and to this day, there remains a large Chinese presence in Baja, particularly in the capitol city of Mexicali. The Chinese influence extends to San Felipe, as Restaurante de Comida China y Cantonesa China-Loa - quite a mouthful - is located on Ave. Mar de Cortez, and serves delicious Chinese cuisine.
Photo: Restaurante China-Loa is located along Ave. Mar de Cortez, which is the main street in beautiful downtown San Felipe, Mexico. If you care to get tattooed, just walk next door...
Photo: I'm standing just inside the front door of the restaurant, looking at the large dining room. Note the folding chairs, and the early 1990's-vintage "big screen" televisions. I'd say the dining room is quite retro, but spacious and comfortable, if you don't mind folding chairs.
Photo: The staff working on this early Friday evening, September 14, 2012, with my waitress, Yerida in the middle. The gal in the white worked the cash register and bussed tables, Yerida waited tables, and the gentleman did the cooking. Note the menu posted on the wall, but Restaurante China-Loa also has printed menus.
Photo: The door to the kitchen was open, so I peeked inside and snapped a photo. In Mexico, if the kitchen isn't of the "open" variety, all you have to do is ask, and most of the time they'll be glad to show you around. Thank goodness for no O.S.H.A. or crazy insurance iiabilities!
Photo: Yerida brings my order to my table. Note the pitcher of sweet tea on the table, which was terrible, as it was so sweet in almost made me sick. An interesting aside is as I placed my order, I ordered a Pacifico beer, as I noted a cooler full of Tecate and Pacifico beer. Yerida said they didn't have any beer! What? I pointed to the cooler and asked her about the beer in the cooler, and she said the beer wasn't for sale. She didn't offer any explanation... What? There were other patrons enjoying beer... Crazy! I figured the best thing to do was to just let it drop, as I had plenty of beer back in my hotel room, and there are plenty of places in San Felipe to purchase beer. I suppose Yerida was concerned that I might be a candidate for a DUI, but that wouldn't happen, as I walked the short three blocks from the hotel to the restaurant. Other than this little odd quirk, Yerida and the staff were very friendly.
Photo: Yerida gladly snapped my photo, which shows the pitcher of sweet tea, which was included with my meal at no additional charge. Note the red, white and green bunting, as it's September which is Patriotic Month in Mexico, as red, white and green are the national colors. Note the size of the plate of food!
Photo: With the pitcher of sweet tea, the price of my meal was MEX $85.00. I ordered a #1 dinner from their menu, which was fried pork, stir fried vegetables, a mountain of rice, and egg rolls. This was a mountain of food, and I was only able to eat about two-thirds of it. This food was of the Cantonese variety, and this was as-good-as-it-gets Chinese food! China-Loa serves authentic, delicious Chinese food at very reasonable prices. I was surprised that nobody in the restaurant appeared to be of Chinese origin, but whatever the case, the food was delicious, there was lots of it, and the price was reasonable. Beer quirks aside, I highly recommend China-Loa for great Chinese food. Restaurante
de Comida China y Cantonesa China-Loa Copyright(c) 2012 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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