Las Carmelitas Restaurant

Very high above Puerto Vallarta lies one of the highest buildings in the surrounding area that serves as a restaurant called Las Carmelitas Restaurant.  I had been there many years ago so I was somewhat familiar with the steep road up that way as well as the food quality and view.  The road is quite manageable because most of it is cobblestoned.   However, to my surprise they have built a new restaurant even higher up above the old restaurant!  Only 3 months old the new location is even more spectacular and much larger.  While funds are still short to complete the project it was adequately finished to enjoy a pleasant meal in a pleasant enviroment.  The tile work is very detailed and is very upscale, so I can understand it is going to take a lot more money to finish it completely.
The old place had so-so Mexican food, but the view was what is was all about, so most people did not care.  The new place has transformed the whole experience into a first class restaurant with fantastic mango margaritas (150 pesos, expensive but very large), and a new menu that specializes in Continental cuisine such as seafood and steak.  No Mexican food to be had!
We ordered the "Carmelitas Special Fish"  and it was fantastic!  Between 2 layers of Mahi Mahi fish it was stuffed with onions, mushrooms, peppers, cheese, and shrimp, then a mole type sauce on top.  It was served with rice, vegetables, coleslaw, and garlic bread.  Very tasty!
Another person ordered the Seafood Stew which was a tomato based soup just loaded with seafood like shrimp, crab, scallops, fish, mussels, and oysters.....also very tasty.
Now to the view, as it is spectactular and there is no place else in the surrounding Banderas Bay area that you can see the whole bay!  We were there for sunset and it was spectacular!  With the birds flying around us because of the altitude, I would say we were around 1000 feet above sea level!
Las Carmelitas is not cheap and they do not accept credit cards, so bring plenty of cash, but the view, service, and food was well worth the entire experience.  Entrees are priced 200-400 pesos.