Something fishy.... somewhere, Providence, RI, August 2011

I had just spent an afternoon on a chilly but nice beach trying in vain to top up my European tan. I must have built up an appetite trying to keep warm while being buffeted by the Atlantic Ocean fetch. So we ended up in Mi Guatemala somewhere near or thereabouts from Providence.

MV Rena

Walking inside was like walking into a Ripley's museum. It was eerie and fascinating. There was no messing about with a waiter or an imposter maitre d'. Just find yourself some space and take it from there. This was my second time here and I fancied a bit of fish. But first, I had to get stuck into the local beer - Famosa. I somehow asked for it to be served in a thick goblet with a rim of salt and some squeezed lemon. Not my cup of tea I'm afraid. We also ordered some sort of tripe soup, which came piping hot as if Simon Cowell had given it the hairdryer treatment. It was reddish so must have had some sort of tomato based stock in it but I couldn't tell because the low lighting made the room murkier than the corridors of the European Central Bank. The bits of intestines were like the Arsenal back four: spineless, a bit wet and floating aimlessly around. The taste was rural. I felt as if I was in Guatemala whilst poking around in my bowl. One let down however, was that after a couple of mouthfuls I felt as if I had dived, mouth wide open, in Astrolabe Reef. OPEC would do well tapping into my tripe soup.

Spot the fish

My gargantuan dish arrived soon after. Somewhere on my plate was a fish drowned twice over with more spices than Christopher Columbus' spice rack. When I eventually got to the fish, the skin was crispy like a New England autumn morning. The meat itself was rather good. I cannot remember the type of fish but the meat was cod-like: it was white and flaky. I think I would have preferred it without Christopher Columbus' alchemy set though. Maybe grilled or roasted with some parsley and a dash of lemon would have sufficed. Served with the fish was a medley of vegetables also welded with spices, a generous helping of boiled rice and some soft taco things that resembled pancakes. They were as fluffy as a pooch in a Dyson hand dryer.





After that onslaught, I was stuffed. According to an unofficial source, the average height of a Guatemalan male and female is 4' 6" and 5' 2" respectively. So it baffles me as to, if this were representative of Guatemalan food, where do these quarter pints put all that food???

The Ho Down says: More spice than Geri, Victoria, Melanie, Melanie and Emma; as OTT as Geri, Victoria, Melanie, Melanie and Emma