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In my never-ending quest to bring you the cosmopolitan dining options available in La Antigua Guatemala. Ubi’s Sushi, managed by chef Jeremías, is the new sushi venue in Antigua Guatemala. I have tweeted a few photos from Ubi’s Sushi, including their delicious ceviche.

Also, like all the new places I am profiling here, I also created a Foursquare venue so that the address, phone number and map is available to you in case you want to check it out for yourself [without inviting me ].

If you’re vegetarian or would like to try some tasty vegetarian dishes, Ubi’s Sushi is the place to go; try their miso soup and a vegetarian roll.

On the other hand, if you just want to try a few different options of sushi, sashimi, jemaki, etc., try their Titanic Mix, which is good enough for two people.

Bon appetite my friends!

Café Santa María is quite possibly the most popular comedor in Antigua Guatemala nowadays. I eat there at least twice a week and often I come across acquaintances and friends from all walks of life. La Antigua’s Geeksquad even have met there a couple of times. By the way, the reason so many people from business owners to office clerks eat there often is because the food is very, very good; not to mention that the most expensive dish will set you back Q25.

We are men of maize!. As I have mentioned before, it is impossible to think the Guatemalan, Mexican and Mesoamerican diet without maize. From the Popul Vuh (Popol Wuj in modern spelling), the Mayan equivalent of the Bible, which states that humans were literally created from maize, to Miguel Ángel Asturias‘ novel Hombres de maíz (Men of Maize) which is one of the best novels to understand Mesoamerica and its people. Guatemala and Mexico share the birth place of maize, which was and is the most important crop in human history. The richest diversity of maize can be found in Mesoamerica! (… continue reading).

What do think of the decoration, does it work for you?

The Bagel Barn is a popular venue in La Antigua Guatemala for getting a bagel sandwich, great coffee and checking your email. There are electric plugs all along the walls so you can even get some juice for your laptop. These are also good reasons to have “power breakfast” or lunch meetings at the Bagel Barn.

The original Bagel Barn is located a few steps from Central Park, almost on the corner of Portal de Las Panaderas. A new second Bagel Barn was recently opened one block west, on the same street, from the original Bagel Barn. Below I am sharing a 20-second clip to get an overview of the place.

Have you visited The Bagel Barn while visiting Antigua Guatemala?
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Today’s a good day to have a carpaccio at Hector’s restaurant in La Antigua Guatemala, don’t you agree?

Even though Héctor’s restaurant does not even have a sign, most locals, including foreign residents, know about this incredible bistro. Like I said before, Héctor’s French-influenced cosmopolitan cuisine is considered by many as Antigua Guatemala’s best kept ‘secret’.

Make sure you also try Hector’s roasted tomatoes, basil and cheese! and the delicious quiche.
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This has to be the best quiche anywhere. Although it is made from eggs, it could be considered a vegetarian dish, right?

Even though Héctor’s restaurant does not have a sign that might point you to where his place is at, most locals, including foreigners, know about this fabulous venue. His French-influenced cosmopolitan cuisine is considered by many Antigua Guatemala’s best kept secret.

Make sure you also try Hector’s roasted tomatoes, basil and cheese!
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Here’s another cosmopolitan vegetarian menu option from Quesos y Vinos, one of the oldest Italian restaurants in La Antigua Guatemala. They serve homemade pastas and pizzas cooked inside a wood-burning brick oven. I enjoy meeting people for lunch at Quesos y Vino’s patio dining area.

If you are looking for great tasting and fulfilling vegetarian pizza, make sure you stop at this venue.

We continue our International Cuisine tour with a sampler of vegetarian food from India. As I said yesterday, here’s additional proof of how cosmopolitan Antigua Guatemala has become. This Indian Vegetarian sampler can be had at Masala, the terrace restaurant of La Sala, which will change its name to La Sala Masala.

I bet you didn’t think all these international cuisine options were available in Antigua Guatemala, right?

Well, I have created the category Vegetarian under Food and Drinks to help those who do not eat meat find the restaurants with vegetarian menus. Let me what do you think of this category.

I continue my quest of showing you how cosmopolitan La Antigua Guatemala has really become. Today’s entry was listed as Oriental chicken with coconut curry and rice. To me it tasted very much like Tom Kha Gai but without the hot chili.

Guess where I had this wonderful meal!

Recently, in Living La Vida Digital in Antigua Guatemala, I mentioned how cosmopolitan La Antigua Guatemala really is while showing a Philly cheese steak sandwich, French-style vegetable chips and German-style coleslaw. Well, today, I continue showing our Cosmopolitan Antigua Guatemala with a lunch that included Russian beer Baltika 9, shorma kebab pita sandwich, with three curry sauces. A lunch like the above can set you back Q50/$6.25. You can have this lunch at Toko restaurant near 6a calle poniete and 6a avenida sur (see it at Foursquare). That’s right, Antigua Guatemala also does Foursquare.

Do you think cosmopolitan is a good adjective for Antigua Guatemala?

I found the juxtaposition of cutting edge telecommunication technology and colonial lifestyle and architecture so fascinating and that’s why I have covered it in the following articles:

• The Young Maya Geeks
• iPhone 3G on Sale in La Antigua Guatemala
• Internet Access in Every Corner of Guatemala
• iPhone Twitter Updates from Guatemala and
• Fully Apple Equipped for La Antigua Guatemala

Today’s picture is mostly focus on living la vida digital that is feasible in La Antigua Guatemala. The photograph depicts some of the elements that are present in a geek lunch that can be had in Silicon Valley, London, Singapore, Tokyo or La Antigua Guatemala. Also, the photo above shows the cosmopolitan aspects of La Antigua Guatemala: a Philly cheese steak sandwich, French-style vegetable chips, German-style coleslaw, Wired magazine [tnx querida amiga, you know who you are], authentic coffee from Antigua Guatemala, a smartphone from Finland, all in a French bistro on Calle del Arco. Life is good!

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When you go to Héctor’s restaurant you are surely getting the freshest al dente fettucini pasta in La Antigua Guatemala. I chose fettucini alfredo; it was delicious!

With kind of sauce do you prefer for pasta dishes?

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The most obvious draw to dining at Café Sky is the view. Those camped out on the restaurant’s rooftop terrace can spot Volcanoes, Cerro de la Cruz, Tanque de la Unión and the Church of San Fransisco El Grande (pictured) from the high vantage point. A local magazine even claims the restaurant has the best view of La Antigua. I think that is arguable to Cerro de la Cruz, El Sereno and some private residential houses with excellent views that I’ve had the lucky pleasure of knowing, but the vista is stunning nonetheless.

Yet, aside from the view, the restaurant has, what is for me, “hands down” the best Michelada in town. That is, the best kind with the tomato-hot sauce mix. There is another kind that uses just lime, salt and Worcestershire sauce expertly applied to your can of beer, but for the full out Michelada mix, Cafe Sky is it.

I also fancy their breaded mushroom dish… wow, now I’m hungry!

text and photos by Laura McNamara

I spent four months in La Antigua before I finally ventured to Mesón Panza Verde, one of the most renowned restaurants in La Antigua Guatemala. Yoga classes are what drew me… and I finally learned what the hype is all about. The restaurant/hotel is a stunning old house of brick, stone and fine wood. Plants seem to spill from the walls and ledges in various courtyards. Provoking art is scattered everywhere. Much of the art is created by the owner, yet the work of many other artists is often featured and displayed as well. At night, the dining room is lit in the glow of soft candlelight. The first night I dined there, my friend and I chose the table next to the floor-to-ceiling wine rack – imagining for a second it was all ours. Hehehe.

You can also dine in a stone “den” where live Cuban music is hosted on Friday nights. A long sliver of water shimmers in the rays of light that spill through openings in the stone “den” during the days. I tried escargot for the first time at Panza Verde. The butter sauce the juicy snails were smothered in was delicious. My favorite food that I’ve tried at Panza Verde, however, is the Camembert cheese with raspberry sauce. ¡Qué rico!

Follow a winding stone staircase laced in ivy in the front courtyard and you’ll find a charming terrace with hammocks, a small little art gallery beneath the traditional colonial cupola. Wander on and discover another, larger room that serves as yet another place to display art as well as the yoga studio. In this room, you’ll also delight in a great view of another Panza courtyard below. Venture up yet another staircase – this one iron – to find yet another terrace that places you at eye-level with the rooftops, everything still adorned in lush green plants and bright colorful flowers. Continuing on, over a little rooftop “bridge,” you can rest on one of several stone benches, carved in ornate decoration.

text and photos by Laura McNamara

To be honest, I’m not a huge meat eater. Yet, I’m not a vegetarian either. I will splurge every once in a while on a “meat feast” and one of my favorite places to go is a little known restaurant perched on the side of the road on the way to Lake Atitlán.

La Colina is little more than a wooden shack and that is precisely what’s so delightful about it. Pulling off to the side of the road, you step out into the crisp, cool air, greet the family and order the traditional plate of juicy chorizo. In moments the air beneath the little wooden shelter fills with a hearty smoke, rich with the succulent smells of the sausage. The meal arrives on a wooden plate with grilled potato, grilled spring onions, black beans, and Guatemala’s infamously pungent cheese. Lime, salsa, salt and picante are also provided to garnish the meal to your liking. Of course, freshly made tortillas are part of the experience. But, these tortillas are extra special – they’re my favorite, the blue ones! I always order the rich, cinnamon flavored hot chocolate to warm my hands and my belly as I impatiently wait for my food. I delight in the little clay cups that the hot chocolate comes in – formed in an ancient shape meant to lock in the warmth.

I first discovered La Colina when a friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go out for lunch. Thinking he meant eating out in a restaurant here in La Antigua Guatemala (LAG), I obliged and had no idea I was up for the wonderful little road trip, little more than a half hour outside La Antigua. The drive to get there is just as much a part of the experience. Every once in a while it is nice to escape the colonial town of LAG and venture out into the surrounding rolling hills. The road winds up and around until you suddenly find yourself passing through small mountains, with valleys dipping below a sky blanketed in puffy clouds that appear close enough to caress.

text and photos by Laura McNamara

Colorful Guatemala, I tell you!

It is quite common for businesses to decorate with colorful Guatemalan kites during October and November. Above, you can see the Guatemalan kite decorations at the entrance of Doña Luisa Xicotencatl. Below, the stairway to the second floor.

Also, don’t forget that the first exposition of the Antigua Photo Club is coming up. If you’re in town, don’t miss this rare opportunity to purchase high quality prints of the captivating images from the photo club members, including of course, photographs from yours truly, at discounted prices. All funds raised will be donated to a charity.

Invitation for the first expo of the Club Fotográfico de Antigua