Layne likes to cook. From time to time she likes to splurge as she puts it and will hunt down an exceptional restaurant or eatery to take a taste of how the other half lives.
The idea to make a reservation at Deckman’s was a seed planted on our way to the national park in the mountains. Jeff and Nicole sat in the freezing cold pool with us one afternoon at Rancho El Coyote and we talked about eateries. Layne made notes. Their fish shop recommendation in Ensenada was first rate and we got some superb ceviche and shell fish and fillets for no money and top quality. Jeff sent me a picture of Deckman’s kitchen when it was busy. I recommend you pay attention to his suggestions!
This is impressive stuff and when we got there for lunch at one in the afternoon on Thursday it was not as busy as this great photograph! They stress sustainability and the Slow Food approach to dining. You walk past the outdoor kitchen and there they are cooking like our ancestors!
We approached with some interest and negotiated the usual sandy rusty road which was annoyingly crossed by several topes, speed bumps made of rope which are actually quite sharp to drive over and require extremely slow speed in our heavy Promaster.
There were signposts everywhere in defiance of Mexican tradition which requires newcomers to blunder their way wherever they are going. Layne went ahead and I walked Rusty in the vast parking lot before locking him in and setting off for some adult time.
The great thing about a camper is you can climb ate control the interior as you like. Ours is very well insulated and has few windows so on a breezy cool day Lind this the overhead fan was open and two sliding windows in back and Rusty was comfortable for our two and a half hour splurge.
It wasn’t busy when we arrived and the kitchen did not look like Jeff’s great picture. The calm no doubt before the storm.
Somehow we managed to download the menu from the wooden block and it was overwhelming. I gave up and said we should do the tasting menu with the wine pairing. So we did and for the record with 20% tip the bill was about three hundred bucks. We thoroughly enjoyed it.
The food looked like this served with different wines, wine, rosé and red as we moved through the courses. I slipped Layne some of my share of wine partly because I was driving and partly because I didn’t want to have to take a nap.
The amuse bouche came first, quails eggs which taste like the more normal chicken product in my opinion with Brussels sprout and lentils. Things were looking good.
Eder our server brought bread and the proper first course of oysters which were delicious with a dab of olive oil.
Sliced raw scallops in a rather terrifying looking beet sauce which was actually tart and vinegary.
The pace was steady and yet unhurried. Conversation was bilingual but obviously in this sort of place English is spoken as easily as Spanish. We were fifty miles from the US at Tecate. We could actually hear NPR on the van radio on and off at 89.5 (KPBS San Diego). Soft shell crab and vegetables:
Lunch with a view. Eder told us he was born locally and learned English at school but mostly on YouTube, said with a shy laugh. We talked about about the dichotomy of the tourist economy bringing work and higher costs and the changes wrought in his native valley. It was a mixture of pride and trepidation in him such as we feel thinking about Key West’s gentrification.
Lunch continued at a genteel pace and next we had sea bass which was delicious with properly crispy skin and an onion purée. The mussels were a little odd and out of place but I woofed them as I like them anyway!
We got a spoon for the bone marrow and smokey grilled bread. The kimchi in the bowl was fresh and tasted better than most I’ve had but to me it’s a weird flavor in the Korean fermented sauce that tastes mostly like old socks. Not that I eat many but if I did kimchi I’d what I imagine they’d taste like . I know it’s a bit crass but I’m just not a fan of kimchi .
Then we got to the “main course” as they put it which was what is sometimes known as lechon or suckling pig. To me it tasted like pulled pork in a rather large slab with roast beets and carrots. Layne had mentioned she didn’t like beets early on and she got other vegetables instead. Nothing was said or noted but it just happened. Pretty smart.
The formal palate cleanser was hibiscus sorbet with chopped cucumber, surprisingly delicious as a dessert.
The dessert proper serves with sparkling wine was a series of sweets made with orange and kumquat flavors. I tasted the wind and have the rest to Layne and I was done!
You can imagine the grounds were gorgeous and even the toilet building set discretely far in the back has a rugged elegance all its own.
Was it worth it? Of course it was. Which is not to say I want to eat like that all the time. I lived my $2:50 fish tacos in Ensenada but once in a while maybe has a good idea when she wants to splurge. It sucked up half our weekly budget but we can find financial balance later camping for free on a nice beach we know. It’s back on the mainland of Mexico at San Carlos which will be our last stop before we have to return to the US. 
