Sobremesa Restaurant: Dining and Art at Antigua, Guatemala

Antigua Guatemala, in my opinion, is a central hub for restaurants of all sorts of gastronomical experiments.  And, when one lives in Antigua it is easy to experience most of them since the town is so small. And even though there are a ton of restaurants, only a handful are truly worth going to and returning to. Here’s my review of Sobremesa Restaurant in Antigua, Guatemala.

I first heard of Sobremesa restaurant from my friends. They actually talked about the exotic ice cream shop, which is separate from the restaurant. The flavors they were naming were so different that I knew I had to have a taste.

Since I’m not a huge ice cream fan, and can’t justify going to an ice cream shop without a meal, I wanted to have the full-on experience. Luckily, my husband and I had a date night planned. This is a big deal since we need his mom to help out and she’s not always available. And when she is, we like to take full advantage of our evening out.

Sobremesa here we come!

Aside from the exotic flavors, what I found to be most appealing knew that the owner was also an artist and the restaurant was considered to be one of the best art galleries in town.

So for us it was a double pleasure – art and dinner.

When we arrived we had a choice of where to sit – inside or outside in the garden (with a roof). Gardens are always my favorite. Once we sat down, you get this feeling that you simply want to hang out there all night. And without even realizing it, we ended up spending almost three hours there. And not because the food took that long to come out but because we just felt so relaxed.

Dining Part of Sobremesa

Like I mentioned earlier, I have heard that Alex, the owner, was an artist, and since I haven’t met him yet, a lot of ah-ha moments came to us when biting into the food.

Quick side note – my husband and I love to eat out. It’s our thing, mainly cause I truly disliking cooking and truly LOVE eating and having the restaurant experience. So I can honestly say we have plenty of expertise in this arena.

With that said, here’s the lowdown on the food at Sobremesa.

With each bite I tried to verbalize what I was tasting but the words simply didn’t find their way out of my mouth until my husband eloquently described what I desperately wanted to say:

• Explosion of flavor
• The different ingredients are musical instruments (a musical array of food) and the composition of the food is how it comes to life.

This was just the appetizers.

We have never thought of food like that before, so you can imagine what you are in store for if you visit. Here’s a quick look at what we ate:

Insalata Caprese which has a tomato confit that is roasted for over six hours with fresh herbs. And in the middle of it stood a scoop of basil ice cream. WOW! Just the ice cream alone was worth ordering this dish for.

Variedad de Tapas, this is kind of like a sampler with meats and roasted veggies with the most flavorful dressings. But when you put them together something happens which is better described in musical terms.

The only thing we can think of was that only an artist can create these flavorful mixes. It wasn’t until later when we met Alex that we were convinced that only someone like him can play around with food and have this much fun serving it.

The restaurant is known for their meats and, once again, unique sauces such as using guava, bananas, blackberries to go on top of beef and chicken.

And for dessert, now that I am hooked, we ordered another ice cream. This time it was a mix of fresh coconut, white chocolate and chunks of hazelnuts.

The Art Gallery

The artwork adorns all the walls of the restaurant so it was hard for me to know which was Alex’s.

One thing I love seeing is a full restaurant. And the night we arrived there was literally a waiting line, so needless to say we couldn’t actually get to chat with Alex until the restaurant calmed down. Which was fine by us, gave us even more reason to relax and enjoy the ambiance.

When we finally met Alex that’s when I was introduced to his artwork. He calls his work the New Millenium Renaissance. And it stands out from all the other artists displaying their work.

Some of the paintings even have a story written about them to explain what you are seeing – creating legends with art.

And if that wasn’t impressive enough, Alex has written ten fiction novels as well.

This was my kind of restaurant. Creative food that brings flavors to a life I never thought of comparing to. Art work that makes you think and appreciate the beauty. Fiction novels. And most importantly, meeting Alex. He is one of the most positive, upbeat, lucky people I have ever met.

We can’t wait to go back for more, definitely one of the best restaurants in Antigua.

Video Fun