This is almost like the blog that doesn’t exist! Anyways,
back in sunny San Salvador after almost a month in Canada over the holidays.
Ah, nothing beats a consumer society in the first world when you want to talk
about Christmas holiday excess. Lots of parties, dinners out, great sushi
(thanks Sushimoto for all the freebies and the birthday desert and present for
my son Elliot).
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| Elliot and Diana enjoying the food and bev at Sushimoto |
Golfers are buzzing about the Dye designed El Encanto golf
club that may open up 6 holes for use in a few months. They have apparently
sold 100 of the 600 lots with 50 going to golfers. They are still trying to get
people to spend $25,000 to become equity members but no one thinks it is worth
it. They have a presentation at Campestre to the richest golfers in the country
and no one thought it would be worth more than $10,000 for a membership. Rather
an interesting conundrum for them when there are only about 250 regular golfers
spread out at three existing golf courses. They are going to have to
cannibalize the other clubs to make any money to cover their expenses. A
comparable golf course, designed by the Dye group, in Antigua Guatemala cost
$80M to build and was getting only 10 rounds a day!
As a knowledgeable businessman friend of mine said, it is
not easy making money in El Salvador.
At my course, I am paying $75 a month (when I am here) and
has 9 holes in very good shape – except that 7 holes have OB making it very
frustrating at times. I spoke to one of the manager who said that they would
waive the initiation fee and charge $60 a month if your prepay 6 months. Can
you imagine that? $60 for unlimited golf for one month. The poor golfers down from Canada staying at
the adjacent resort are paying $57 a round plus $20 for the cart. And unlike
the other two clubs, caddies are not mandatory (although it is a nice policy to
keep these caddies employed).
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| Awesome bar at the Bennigan's at the Torre Futuro. Best view of the city. |
I have joined a group of old guys who get together twice a
week for beers and cigars. One time is at the Torre Futuro site where that
pathetically non-Irish American chain Bennigan’s grabbed a primo spot with an
incredible view of the city. What kind of Irish pub doesn’t serve Guinness? But
the food isn’t bad (actually, the tempura shrimp are pretty good) and it is
cheap. Around the corner is the new Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. Haven’t had the
chance to eat there (i.e. an expensable meal) but hope to soon. They stole the
three great old waiters from Paradise where there has been a notable drop in
quality. I spoke to an employee there and they said that they are doing 50
covers a day. Seems high but then again, that is a very low number for a place
like that. Hope they have the deep pockets to gut out a year and I wouldn’t
mind if they lowered their prices. You can get a plenty good steak at Pampa
Argentinas or Hacienda Real for a lot less. Or go to the churrascaria at the
Intercontinental for unlimited sushi, shrimps, seviche, carpacchio, and several
kinds of grilled meat.
Working out at the Zone Fitness gym. Well located for me
just down the road and the people are nice but they don’t have one cardio
machine that isn’t broken or has a problem. Far contrast from the Y in Owen
Sound where I was visiting and their new $40M complex with probably 50 brand
new machines all working perfectly.
Back again writing after a few months. Updates, the Chorros
highway was closed this past weekend to put the finishing touches and should be
open next Sunday! Quite excited as I am getting really tired of driving around
the back way of the volcano, or the twisting single lane of the coastal
highway, or sitting in a huge slow chain of cars to get out to the golf course
and a friend’s beach house.
Have also been to Ruth’s Chris and have a mixed impression.
Turns out that the owner is also the owner of Paradise/Tony Roma’s and is part
of the Pyramid Group that owns all the Pizza Huts, Wendy’s and KFC’s. I think he
wanted to have a high-end place in his stable of restaurants so brought in the
Ruth’s Chris franchise. Good thing he has deep pockets because it is going to
be a challenge to make money there. The restaurant is beautiful and has several
dining areas and must seat about 250 people. Furnishings and fixtures are all
high end. Staff is great and they pulled the best waiters out of Paradise
(which caused a terrible drop in the quality of service at that place). The
only problem? There were only about 14 people eating in the restaurant during
the dinner service!
The maitre’ d was our old favourite server and he made sure
we got everything we needed. Our waiter seemed a bit inexperienced and had some
problems getting the food and drinks served properly but he was trying. The
food itself was pretty good but I was expecting something more. I ordered the
biggest rib-eye on the menu and ... it was just okay. Mind you, I have never
been a big fan of RC’s signature melted butter on the steak (I prefer the jus
at Morton’s). But spending double of any other steak in the country, I expected
something better. Also, Dan had the big filet and the lobster tails ... the
latter were so tiny that each was consumed in two bites. What a waste of melted
garlic butter! The manager came out and explained that they were having
problems with their suppliers so that is why they put two on the plate. I have
seen bigger shrimps in this country.
So all in all, the place is very lux but very overpriced for
the market. Even the valet parking is ridiculous at $15 when the place gives
you 3 hours of free parking and then charges $1 an hour. I should mention that the prices are the same as in North America or maybe even cheaper but when you have a dinner for over $100 for two people without wine, it seems excessive in a country where that will feed a family of four for two weeks.
I should really get to the subject of beer. I have been
lamenting the lack of good draft beer in this country. Hanging out with the old
retired guys here, I have learned the joy of drinking the local draft. When
served very cold and cheap, Pilsener is a fine beer. My instructors have been a
Brit who loves his bitter and a German from Munchen who, in his prime, could
drink 10 large steins of beer. Now competing against them are two micro-breweries.
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| Drunk guys at the beach! But they were very cool. |
One is started by the San Francisco couple who opened up a
small place in Tunco and serve 3 fine beers. Actually, they are excellent,
tasty and creative ... but very expensive. They have three flavours and I tried
each one a few times.
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| New beer at Brasilea |
At Brasilea, I think it is $5 a bottle which makes it the
most expensive beer, more than any European import. I spoke with Andy the owner
down in Tunco and he said that the taxes are huge and that is why he has to
price it that way. He has a Belgian style wheat beer flavoured with maracuay (a
local fruit) and pineapple. Very nice fruity flavour and a change from the
orange flavour often found in wheat beers. He has an IPA with a local panela fruit
and a very tasty black ale with coffee. They each have their own personality
and I couldn’t say which I liked the most but probaby the black ale since
darker beers are hard to get here. That reminds me that the giant Constancia
brewery here used to brew Guinness as one of their three main beers! Some
friends of mine went down to Tunco for the day and we had a great seafood lunch
on the platform overlooking the beach.
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| Lindsey and Egle showing off their giant seafood lunches at Tunco. |
Then we went for a stroll to look at
some of the boutique hotels and stopped by Brew Revolution for some beers. Met
some funny guys from town along with their very inebriated cousin from Mexico.
Had a long conversation with them capped by a salsa dancing exhibition by the
Mexican cousin and my friend visiting from Toronto. All this fuelled by many
beers and the hot sun.
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| Lindsey and her new friend showing off their salsa moves. |
Competing against him is this Salvadoran guy who I met
through his wife who runs the Expat Facebook group here. He is brewing two
beers and has called it El Cadejo. Fatima said that was a great name for the
beer and I Googled the name and found out that it is a regional legend about a
large dog-like animal, a white one that protects travellers and a black one who
tries to kill them. There is also a belief that the good Cadejo protects
drunks! Naturally the beer comes in a light and a dark.
The pale beer is called WAPA which means Wheat American Pale
Ale and seems to be a take off of “guapa”
or cute in Spanish. Funny name since it doesn’t look or taste like an Ale but
it is very tasty and has a nice hoppy finish. The darker is a red ale made from
4 German malts and 3 British and American hops which results in a very full and
almost bitter beer. The Wapa seems more popular at bars but again, the price is
a bit high. Republik has a pint for $4.00 and Bennigan’s for around $5.00. At
the latter, you can get a 12 oz glass for $1.50. The last time I went to Paradise,
they were offering two 20 oz mugs of Pilsener for $3.00.
I am not sure how successful these guys are going to be at
this price point. Salvadorans love beer and love good beer but I am not sure if
they are going to pay more 2 to 3 times the price of the local beers. It is
quite sad as I know that the unit cost of materials for a pint of good beer is
about 25 cents but this country has very high taxes and very high electricity
costs so it is hard to produce cheaply.
Okay, going to post this before I get busy with something
else.
Next blog posting will be about my trip to Bogota.
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