While staying at the Rancho Banderas Resort, located about half way between La Cruz and Punta de Mita on the north shore of the Bay of Banderas we wandered north along it’s great and long sandy beach (Playa Destiladeras – the best in the Puerta Vallarta area in my opinion) to a small intimate restaurant attached to Los Veneros Resort and Beach Club, a fine resort condominium in its own right (refer to their website).

There we were always welcomed by genuinely friendly staff and settled into a beachside table to watch the sunset. Of the 10 days we stayed at Rancho Banderas we had dinner at El Violli on three nights as we were always greatly served with fine, well priced cuisine. We usually selected the special of the night prepared by their very talented chef. For example, one night I had a Shrimp Fillet, which was one of his creations made by wrapping giant shrimp around each other and then wrapped together in bacon to mimic the traditional beef dish Filet Mignon. To say it was delicious is to understate the meal.

This is an unknown restaurant to most visitors as it is not (I could be corrected here and please do if I am wrong) available to the visiting public given the Los Venerous Resort private status. So access is from walking down the beach and finding the resort and this restaurant – a very worthwhile adventure especially at sunset.

Visit the Los Veneros Resort and Beach Club website (linked in this review) to determine access but do consider El Violli as you select from the many fine dining experiences in this area.