Elena Restaurant in Valle de Guadalupe offers an amazing dining experience throughout the day, that can also turn into a party at night through its outdoor venue (Bakuss Oyster Bar). You’ll find many seafood, grilled meat, tacos, salad, pasta, and spirits throughout the menu. Additionally, you’ll be dining in an elegant setting, and you’ll forget you’re in Valle de Guadalupe.
The Elena Restaurant Experience
Service was amazing, as the waiter was attentative, and the wait for cocktails and food wasn’t bad considering we were a large party. We enjoyed our time here, both at the restaurant and outside during bottle service. Whether you’re here for a simple meal or enjoying curated music outside, you’ll have a great time. A cool feature of the restaurant is its champagne vending machine.
Beef Tartare
Tartar de Res
Tartar de res al cuchillo, mostaza antigua, mayonesa de jerez, reduccion de echalote, vinagre balsamico, pepinillos, queso parmesano y pan de hogaza.
Beef tartare with knife, aged mustard, mayonnaise, shallots, balsamic vinegar, pickles, Parmesan cheese, and toast.
The beef tartare was amazing, though the toast selection could have been better. I still enjoyed the dish nonetheless. This is a great option to share around the table.
Oysters
Ostiones Naturales
Veriedad de ostiones naturales (por temporada), mignonette de la casa, salsa botanera.
Seasonal oysters, house sauce, and cocktail sauce.
Initially, I was a bit skeptical about the oysters given the recent news. However, it is advised that you check with the restaurant where they souced their oysters from. Our table ordered oysters and were still fine in the end.
Yellowtail Carpaccio
NOTE: This might be a seasonal menu option. I could not correlate this dish to the acutal menu selection.
I couldn’t find this in the menu after the fact, but this looked like dry aged yellowtail capraccio in a mole like sauce. It was delicious and a great option to share around the table as well.
Bone Marrow
Tuetano a la Brasa con Ajillo de Hongos y Callo Catarina
Tuetanos a la brasas, ajillo de callo, hongos, cremoso de frijol y tortillas de maiz.
Grilled bone marrow, garlic, mushrooms, creamy beans, and corn tortillas.
We saw another table ordering bone marrow and had to as well. The bone marrow is served with a lot of sauce that brings a pack of flavor in each bite. Highly recommend this as well.
Grilled Octopus
Pulpo Arrebatado a las Brasas con Salsa
Pulpo a la brasa, salsa XO, pure de papa, aderezo cesar, hojas verdes y queso parmesano.
Grilled octopus, XO sauce, mashed potatoes, Caesar dressing, green leaves, and parmesan cheese.
After a successful dinner the night before with grilled octopus, I had to order it again at this restaurant. This octopus is not as charred as I’d like, but it was delicious. The XO sauce was very powerful as well. The mashed potatoes definitely helped with evening out the flavor bomb from the XO sauce.
This post was part of my Baja California weekend trip.
Elena Restaurante
Camino Al Tigre KM 4 Camino Vecnial San Ant. De Las Minas El Saulzal, 22766
Ensenada, B.C., Mexico