Valle De Guadalupe’s Fine Dining Restaurant Crafting Modern, Unique, and Innovative Creations! 🇲🇽🍷🍴 📍 Animalon Animalon by chefs Javier Plascencia and Oscar Torres is an award winning restaurant tucked away off the beaten path in Valle De Guadalupe, the premier wine area of Mexico located less than 2 hours south of San Diego. We have heard a lot of good things about Animalon so when the opportunity came to try it out on a recent trip to Baja we knew we had to make a reservation. Here are our thoughts on Animalon ⬇️ Usually tucked underneath a massive oak tree, Animalon is currently relocated up the road at Laja while they make improvements at the original spot. Although the atmosphere was lovely and classy at Laja the famous oak tree is definitely not to be missed. Once sat you are given the choice between either a four, six or nine course tasting menu with a wine paring for each or a full bar and extensive wine list to choose from. We opted for the six course with wine pairings so we could sample a majority of the offerings. ✨ After settling in we were given a cup of homemade broth with herbs to stimulate our appetite. Then a selection of starters from the kitchen came, not from the menu, these tasty bites like raw scallop and tuna nigiri were a solid start. Then a medley of seafood choices from kombu steamed bass, kampachi tiradito, and lobster tortellini. These seafood dishes were 10/10, lots of depth and a good blend of raw and cooked preparations leaving us well satisfied. After the seafood, it was time for our land courses. We had both a duck breast with a phenomenal mole sauce and a perfectly prepared price of steak with tableside poured reduction over top. Although both tasted phenomenal, we found the portions of the proteins a tad small, one of our few critiques of the meal. 🍽️ We appreciated the attention to detail at Animalon from the cube of perfectly cooked bread and shaved butter with local honey to the palate cleanser course of shaved ice with citrus, where a giant block of ice is shaved tableside, not only a delicious bite but a truly fun performance to watch. 😋 The wine pairings were phenomenal and came with generous pours of local wines some even that were made exclusively for @animalonbaja. 🍷 Finally dessert of a caramelized bread, which reminded me of a delicious bread pudding was served with a liquid nitrogen made homemade ice cream spin tableside by hand. A truly delicious way to end our meal. ✨ The dining experience is definitely fine dining priced. At 2,250 pesos or ($136 USD) for the 6 courses and an additional $850 pesos or ($51 USD) for the wine pairing it was priced in line with many top restaurants in So-Cal and beyond. However the unique preparation and distinctive Baja cuisine is hard to beat. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Animalon and can’t wait to visit again. #sandiego #sdfoodies #sdhiddengems #valledeguadalupe #mexico #baja