5 posts tagged “yucatan”

Somewhat to my surprise, Playa del Carmen has some amazing places to eat!  So I want to give a shout-out to four great places-

First is CH Super Carnes, a combination meat market and parrilla.  You pick from their huge selection of meats and the platter shows up at your table with meat, sides, tortillas, salsas, etc.  Awesome!  It's stuck in a residential area of Playa a few blocks off the beach, but a doable long walk and worth the trip.  The arrechera is the best...and for some reason, the avocados in Mexico are like a million times better than what I can get in Seattle-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cow looks on approvingly as I polish off one of his siblings-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Stop: Carboncitos, right off Avenida 5.  I don't have any pictures, unfortunately, but this place had maybe the best al pastor tacos I've ever had.  Really, amazing.

Next: Dr. Taco, on Avenida 10.   Basically, a bunch of kinds of seafood + chicken fried and dropped into a tortilla.  Good enough, but where the magic happens is the well-appointed salsa and pickled veggie bar.  Awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here, my wife demonstrates the sexiness that won me over- who can resist a beautiful woman with a taco in her hand?  Not this man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I'd also like to point hungry eaters to El Fogoncito.  Right off Avenida 30, a couple of blocks from the beach -- this place is a nice mixture of locals and hungry tourists who know a good thing.  Loud, crowded, and with an awesome arrechara...why can't we have these places in Seattle???

Pic 1 is the beautiful, yummy Queso Fundido with Chorizo-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and if you survive that, then comes the main event-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mako clearly knows how to enjoy herself on vacation!

 

Our final stop was Playa del Carmen, the formerly sleepy beach village south of Cancun that used to be best known as the place you caught the ferry for Cozumel.  No longer, it's a pretty nifty beach resort in its own right now, but I think much nicer and more appealing than Cancun and many of the others.  If you stay in town, you are a short walk from anything -- nice beaches, good shopping, and actually some pretty amazing places to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything happens along 5th Avenue, the pedestrian street that runs parallel to the beach.  Tons of places to shop and eat or drink (although the best food is another block or two inland in the dozens of taquerias).

 

We also made a stop at Chichen Itza on our way across the Yucatan.  Chichen Itza is of course the largest, best preserved, most restored, and most well-visited of the big Mayan ruins in the middle of the Yucatan penninsula.  I don't have much to add to that -- it's big, impressive, thought-provoking, etc., except to say that it would be cooler if you could still climb around on the structures (you can't climb anything).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, any time I go on a trip, it's really all about the food.  The Yucatan has it's own characteristic cuisine, including both well-known dishes like Pollo and Cochinita Pibil (meat marinated in Achiote and then cooked in a bannana leaf).  You can get pibil anywhere; we had it at Los Almendros, which despite being in a hotel lobby is a decent overview of Yucatan cuisine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the best food local to Merida is the snack and street food.  Local foods I hadn't seen before included Salbutes (sort of like tostadas, only with Turkey meat on them), Papadzules (kind of a turkey enchillada with hard boiled egg on it), and Huevos Mochulenos (Huevos Rancheros with ham).  This food can be found anywhere; this example is from the food stalls outside Parque Santa Ana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another characteristic dish is Frijoles con Puerco, a kind of pork and black bean stew traditionally only served on Mondays.  We had it at Restaurante d'Al in downtown Merida...unfortunately, we demolished it before I remembered to take a picture.  By the way, I'm not crying because our food is gone, but rather because I rubbed my eye after handling the hot sauce.  Yucatan hot sauce is the real deal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, Mexican street food always includes the taco, and I was happy to see the Pastor well-represented in Merida.  This is from a street stall at the Zocalo; on weekends, they block off all the streets, and food vendors set up all around the main square.  Check out the size of that Pastor!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and here are the resulting tacos-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I want to give a shout out to La Casa de Frida, which was our favorite place to eat in Merida despite the brutal heat in the restaurant (just keep those beers coming!).  A mixture of local Yucatan foods with those from elsewhere in Mexico.  Good stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mako and I just got back from Merida, capital of Yucatan state in Mexico.  It's the old Colonial capital of the state, and is characterized by it's historic architecture, laid back vibe, and fairly unique local foods.  At 110 degrees, it was hard to do much more than sit quietly and sip on cold, cold beverages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some more pics from around town.  Not too much to do other than wander aimlessley...but makes a nice break from the craziness and tourism of the Yucatan coast.