Perhaps one of the nicest surprises is the one that has been hanging around unnoticed right under your nose for a long time.

Dyed roses are still roses, created generally from pure white, but with a presentation of originality that makes them part nature, part art and part fantasy.

At first glance, the new-ish restaurant Peku (just off Avenida Chapultepec in Guadalajara and also, as of February, behind the upscale Plaza Andares) would seem to owe its concept to fast food, a la Chicken McNuggets.

A friend who used to own an excellent French restaurant, which recently closed for lack of business, told me that Trip Advisor listed about 850 restaurants in Guadalajara in 2009, the year he opened, and that they now list well over 2000.

Can a “review” of a restaurant that is a “reviewer’s” favorite hangout and right across the street from home make any pretense of being objective? Obviously not, but neither, in said reviewer’s totally unbiased opinion, should such circumstances exclude Saint Malo from these pages.

There are eaters and there are diners. And both are served well in Ajijic.