On our wishlist was a visit to Costco Ensenada. It was about a 15 minute Uber ride away from the…read moreCruise Ship terminal.
All in all, this is a decent Costco. However, coming from the States, we were really looking for unique things to Mexico or the region. In that regard, it's a bit disappointing. 90% of this store reminded me of US stores.
I'm going to just highlight the unique items I saw, starting with the food court. Pizza? Check. They even have the combo pizza that has been removed from some menus. The world famous Hot Dog and Soda for $1.50? Yes, but with the exchange rate, it was $1.78. I think most folks could handle that, but probably not the 14 slices of jalapeno shown in the picture. Everything else looked like standard fare except for the mango smoothie which we tried and liked.
Next section was the bakery. Mini donuts seem like they're a big deal as there are a ton on display. They make it fresh in the back corner. We asked nicely for a sample and they gave us a bunch (like way too many) to try. Another unique item I noticed here was cheesecake sized Chocoflan.
After that, we were in meat and deli. Two items usually only found in ethnic items - vacuum packed beef tripe and beef tongue. Right next to the normal pork shoulder was marinated pork adobado. I consider the $5 rotisserie chicken as famous as hot dog and soda. Instead of being served in a covered tray, the chickens here are sold in bags. With the exchange rate, it comes out to $7.05. We're still getting a ridiculous steal back home. The other deli items I've never seen before included shrimp shish kabobs, chicken croissant sandwiches, Italian sandwiches on focaccia, bake at home flatbreads, and marinated shredded rotisserie chicken with flavors like mole and tinga.
Rounding out the rest of the interesting items in the store - fruit and veggie wash/disinfectant, shelf stable milk in tetras, smoked salmon rolled with cream cheese, Aidells spinach and feta sausages, masa in three different sized packages, different chocolate drink mixes, and of course Kinder eggs that have been banned in the US (the ones with toys in the chocolate).
Do I regret going? Of course not, it's Costco. But I won't be going back if I'm just visiting.
