“Ray’s Place” and “Hacienda Habana”

Charmed by the location, we’ve now spent 2 nights at Hacienda Habana, a camping spot a couple miles west of the town of Mulege (which as of last night has wireless internet). And now we know why it is so named.

 

Last night we ate at "Ray’s Place”, the on-site restaurant owned by Ray and Favi Lima who also own the campground. The meal was spectacular and has only once been matched by any other in our 3 winters in Baja (the paella dinner we had in La Paz, Valentine’s Day 2009). We started with Oysters Rockefeller, freshly harvested oysters topped with spinach, home-made hollandaise sauce, a drop of lemon juice and tabasco, a bit of cheese and baked in the oven. We couldn’t imagine working our way through all 15 oysters, but we did, in no time.

Bob ordered Calamari for an entree, as he’s always in search of the best calamari the world over. He previously declared the “best ever” was at The Monsoon restaurant on the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania, Africa.

He thinks last night’s calamari was definitely an equal, though quite different. Instead of being in small rings, it was more like a “squid steak” that had been pounded out to a thin, tender meat, then sauteed. Cathryn had Camarones Papagallos, 4 large shrimp stuffed with scallops and a bit of cheese, wrapped in bacon, and baked. Both were absolutely delicious, and two of the stuffed shrimp came home in a box for today’s lunch.

 

Ray talked with us occasionally throughout our meal, and we learned he was born and raised to the age of 10 in Cuba, a place we visited only 2 months ago and found fascinating. He seemed not interested in discussing that time in his life, and we suspect his family left there at the time of the Revolution. He grew up in the United States, including for a time in Sequim, Washington, only a couple hours from our home. 15 years ago he moved to Baja, Mexico, and 10 years ago married Favi, who was born and raised in Mulege.   They’ve made a wonderful life for themselves in this gorgeous spot surrounded by placid mountains and citrus trees and running Ray’s restaurant, and they’ve been fabulous hosts during our time here, friendly and helpful. We will definitely stop here again.