I never expected to be eating hospital food in Mexico. But, since I have, let’s talk about how it was!
Let’s start by saying I’ve never stayed in a hospital before, so my patient hospital food experience is nil. My impressions on US hospital food are largely based on bad stories and the scene in The Devil Wears Prada where Emily seems to be served nothing but a boring dinner that mostly consists of a roll and a pre-packaged pudding cup. My impression is that its healthy, carb heavy, and not too delicious.
For dinner, I was served a sandwich made with roast chicken, avocado and lettuce on sliced wheat bread with a side of cantaloupe, a glass of mango juice, and some orange jello. The sandwich was very much like something you’d get at your mom’s house—clearly leftover roasted chicken—and the avocado was an added, delicious bonus. The mango juice was amazing. The only non-winner in the bunch was the jello. I’m going to guess it was sugar-free, since it mostly just tasted like jiggly orange flavored chemicals. Maybe it was the food, maybe it was coming down from all the adrenaline, but I ate every single thing on my huge meal tray. Those who know me well know this is shocking.
Breakfast was some time of baked egg thing with peas and green onions, wheat toast, mango juice, a glass of something warm and milky (not coffee) and more orange jello. Perhaps I was still drugged up, but the egg thing was pretty tasty. (Big praise for someone who doesn’t care for eggs as a dish.) The toast was “meh”, but in fairness I’m not sure how long the tray was sitting in my room before I woke up to eat it. Jello still chemically, but the mango juice still was amazing! I’m not sure what the warm, milk thing was. It was kind of sweet, but not all that tasty so I didn’t drink most of it.
Lunch was enchiladas, salad, rice, soup, pineapple juice and a new jello. The soup was maybe a pumpkin or squash soup? It was pretty good, but the rest of the stuff was so good, I didn’t finish the soup. The chicken enchiladas were very good, and the salad had many slices of avocado on top—and was served with a lime as “dressing”. The rice was sauteed and a little greasy (in the best way) and very satisfying. The pineapple juice was fresh squeezed and so delicious. And, the jello was dynamite! It was a layered jello thing, but in the bottom were big chunks of fresh mangos. This meal felt like the cafeteria was staffed with Mexican grandmothers making fresh food with love to help you get better.
Overall, my food experience was amazing at the hospital. Was it because I was drugged up and emotionally drained? Perhaps. Was it because I was at a nicer hospital in town, and not all Mexican hospital food is like this? Likely. Was it because ingredients I love (mango, avocado, etc) are so reasonable here that you can add them into mass-produced meals and still have them be very affordable? Probably.
I don’t encourage you to run out and injure yourself so you end up in a hospital in La Paz. But if you do, know you’ll eat pretty well.