restaurant review - maiz, canela, y cilantro; aka casa azul

Went to a new restaurant today.

 calle 70 x 55 y 55A, #464, Centro

heading South on 70 it is on the left, just as you pass 55

The Owner/Cook Analia Machuco (sorry I didn't get the correct spelling so this is it phoenetically, at least to my ear) is a teeny tiny little thing that simultaneously floats and bounces about.  She is from Central Mexico, so this will be food with a chilango twist.  She appears quite content and profecient as she goes about greeting, taking orders,  pouring drinks, cooking, serving, and asking how you are doing, etc, etc.

This is a one woman operation.  Thank goodness there are only a few tables, there was one table (of 2) seated and finished eating when we got there, then as we (2) were about done another table (of 6) came in.  So overall it worked out well. if 2 or 3 tables came in about the same time it could get blocked up.

They open at 8 with breakfast service, and offer comida starting mid day till 4.

This is a cute house, fresh and clean, neat and tidy, no ceiling fans but there are two floor fans that get moved around to keep the customers cool and comfortable.

Analia prepares 2 or 3 options per day, everything is prepared fresh with the exception of the beans, soup, and the rice,  they are made that morning or perhaps the night before.  Meals cost from 50 peso to 70 depending on the item.  You get a frijoles with chips starter, a tasty cilantro chilito salsa, soup, rice, your plato fuerte, and a fresh drink or agua de sabor; jamaica, limonada, etc.

Today, the soup was a carrot cream which Tom said was very good (being lactose intolerant I didn't have any soup)  The meal options were a pescado empanizado, or an eggplant escalope which is sort of a scalloped eggplant.  Tom and I both got the fish.  

This is a substantial quantity of food - and very tasty simple food, no fancy smancy fusion reduction stuff, just good quality freshly prepared food.  On the plate with the fish fillet was a generous salad of two types of lettuce, cuke, tomato, beet and carrot shreds, as well as an arrangement of steamed chayote, carrot, green bean, and brocolli.

There are a variety of fresh drinks, Tom had jamaica, and I got a chia with lemon and orange juices.  it was very refreshing and tasty.

This is an exciting discovery. 

Really nicely prepared, fresh, and non greasy food, with some nice vegetarian options.  

On Saturdays she does a bit more complicated, or was it more yucafriendly options, echhiladas and such, both vegetarian and non-veg options.

You should go!  Let's keep this one alive!

I'll have to go back, soon, as I neglected to ask about the Thursday coffe and lecture series!

restaurant review - Punta del Mar

We were recently invited to join a friend for seafood - unfortunately her partner HATES seafood, and in most cases won't even go in a seafood establishment; some deep seeded childhood fishing tragedy story to be told there!  

(note to self: Must Investigate)

Regardless, BONUS for us - 

we of course said yes!  and we offered to drive - 

Yeah, we're just like that!

So this new, well new to us place is called, yeah, you guessed it from the Header - 

Punta del Mar 

here's the frontage, this little taco truck

and the front patio and entrance

their cute logo!

calle 18 #117 x 5 y 7
fracc. Montecristo (nextdoor to Bryans restaurante)
Merida, Yucatan, Mexico


Open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 to 1800


This is not your standard little fish taco stand - the food here is upscale and gourmet quality,  the presentation is beautiful, the serving sizes are smallish, but then so are the prices.




The restaurant itself is really quite cute and fresh looking, turquoise and white wicker, little stainless steel buckets as hanging planters, those big tissue paper ball lights in turquoise and white, little blue plastic sandbuckets  are used to serve the tostadas' some very cute details.

cute little logo graphic along one wall

Although I must say my impression also was that things are well worn, not in a warm and comfy sort of way, but in a getting a little shabby kind of way.  Now this did absolutely nothing to hinder my enjoyment or appreciation of the experience, it's just my impression; like seeing someone in a very expensive outfit, but noticing that the sleeves are thread bare.


You can see in to the kitchen, it is small and there were several people in there but everything looked fairly neat and clean.  There appears to be a small bar on the front patio, oh there is aire conditioning inside!

This is the VERY clever menu

I'm sure that last 'P' was once an 'R'

OK - so on to the food! 




this is the cangreburger, so essentially a crabcake burger,  this was/is awesome, a very asian fusion kind of flavor, I could probably eat 3 of these guys.

fish tacos, these were good, but I wouldn't order them again, the just didn't stand out or make an impression.

the smoke tuna taco - again, good, but well there are other better things! 

the shrimp empanada, which was liked very much!

and this, this is essentially a ceviche, I can't remember how it is called, but oh I could just drink this but the cup full.  There are 2 sauces to choose from, we chose the first one on the list, it is cool, and creamy and spicy, and just DEEEEELISH!  The chunks of raw fish (mero) were just too big and thick for me to enjoy.  But oh this sauce!

I would recommend anyone that enjoys

 seafood to check this place out - 

the food is really good!

restaurant review - burrito stand at 64a y 77

Not to long ago, a friend and neighbor mentioned a new little eatery, well maybe eatery isn't quite the right word, but she mentioned a new place in the neighborhood serving up, among other things some pretty good burritos. 

 We are in a serious hot spell right now which means I am on a no-cooking kick, well maybe not NO cooking, but definitely minimal cooking. So the other night we decided to walk up and see if we could find this new little eatery. 

et voilà 

At the corner of calle 64A and 77 in what was once, among other things recently, a pharmacy and doctors office, there is now this fabulous little 'Local Eatery'.  

The Couple that own it/run it are from the Yucatan, having just returned to Mexico about 4 months ago, they had spent the last 8 years in Seattle, WA. He was a cook at a restaurant there called Mazatlan.  He does speak English, however we conversed in Spanish.  

The place is small, 2 table of 6 chairs each; 

seems much of their business is take away.

He is making some fairly non-traditional for Yucatan items; American style breakfast, burritos, etc

And now - the burritos!

you can get your choice of beef, pork, or chicken, and I'll wager you could get vegetarian.

This above is Tom's burrito above; we ordered the same thing but mine, below is without dairy.

We each ordered the chicken burrito - shredded chicken, sauteed peppers and onions, beans, rice, and the red sauce similar to an enchilada sauce I make was fabulous.  

These burritos really are quite good and I sincerely hope we can help keep these people here and earning enough to make it worth their while.  
So we each had a bottled tea, served in big glasses with ice and lime slice, and our burritos - for the whole deal, 70pesos!

UMMMMM, Yummy!

restaurant review - Padres & Grill

I'm not sure why but we seem to travel in packs these days.  When we were younger and working we had way fewer friends, and way fewer people we spent a lot of time with.  When we had folks for dinner it was them and us - I know this to be true because the table mats I brought down were in sets of 4.  We rarely ever, if ever have only another couple over, it's almost always at least 6 of us, and more likely 8.

well, back to my story - so the other night a 'pack' of us converged on Padres & Grill.  Friend jfr found it first and talked about it, the RegMcg went and talked about it - then next thing you know Reg says, Let's All Go! 


So I think it was 12 of us converged on Padres & Grill the other night - and they handled it really well, although in typical gringo fashion we got there about 7:30 which is WAY to early for Mexicans to head out for a meal.


Jose, the owner, and his wife spent quite a few years in Irvine california and have based their business model on CalMex burrito vendors, sort of like the Chipotle chain I am familiar with, although these were not quite like Chipotle.


Tom and I did the Thursday Special which is 2 for 1 Burritos, you each choose your fillers.  A wide variety of things were ordered around the table, and everyone was complimentary - there were 2 small comments; the taco salad bowl had a sort of sweetness kind of like an ice cream cone, and I thought the whole wheat tortilla was a bit doughy.  When the tortilla was brought up they immediately stated that the tortillas could be cooked a bit more before stuffing.  I don't think anything was said about the taco salad's tortilla shell bowl.


Everything is premade, and assembled to your choosing; white rice, black or pinto beans, 3 meat options, cheeses, creams, lettuce, and other veg choices, several salsas, guacamole... I can't remember everything.

everything in it's tray, covered, and fresh!

they have can sodas, water, and premix aguas tamarindo, jamaica, and another.

Let's pause -
SPECIALS
Monday/Lunes - 2x1 Soft Tacos
Tuesday/Martes - Salad bowl 50$
Wednesday/Miercoles - Taco salad 59$
Thursday/Jueves - 2x1 Burritos










Address:  Calle 43 #176 Colonia Pinzon, Plaza Altana, sort of in fraccionamiento de Montejo,
So from Centro Merida go North on calle 60/avenida Technolgico, when you see the Chedraui Norte and Mi Viejo Molino restaurant get in the left lane, at the light make the U turn and make the immediate Right turn (all this is before you get to the underpass) You should now be on the South side of Chedraui parking lot. Follow this street for a while, it changes numbers many times so giving you a number just would be too confusing. Go till you see a Pemex then beyond that a Bodega Aurrera store on the Right,  the Padres and Grill is on the Left in a strip mall, didn't get the name.  Plenty of parking


Hours:  noon to 11pm (1200-2300)
Monday through Saturday


They offer Servicio a Domicilio 195-0243 with no disclaimer about distance, but I doubt they'd deliver to my house.


they have both facebook PadresandGrill, and twitter @PadresandGrill, but no web page.


this is a very cute place, both indoor and outdoor seating, clean, fresh, the food was good, the service was good, they handled our big group easily, and we definitely plan to go back.

the aftermath, unfortunately I couldn't get anyone to stop long enough to get a photo of the before!

Also in this strip mall are quite a few other food and bev options, right next door to Padres and Grill is a little pastry/dessert/waffle/coffee shop, Cafe de Bruxelles, several in our group ordered dessert and ALL that did were well pleased if not overwhelmed with the flavors of their chosen treat.


Around on the other side is a Bubble Tea place, unfortunately for me the don't have soy milk.

OK, so many reasons to go there!   Padres & Grill first, and all the other stuff to .

This is a relatively new are - and full of all sorts of new and fashionable things we are not going to get in my neighborhood

restaurant review - el emporio

A friend invited us to go along to this relatively new Steak restaurant  in Colonia Mexico Oriente, 

and of course we accepted.  This happens to be her new favorite.

El Emporio has restaurants in Cancun, and Chetumal. This Merida branch opened about 3 months ago.  

Jose, the Manager, is very personable, and quite good at restaurant'ing, he was busy the whole evening watching over the staff, offering them training tips, making sure all the tables were happy, and just in general being a very nice guy and a very good restaurant manager.   

The interior is very pleasant, but with some funny, corny, and entertaining murals painted on the walls.
This looks past the bar towards a second seating area. And of course there are tables out front as well.

Naturally there was a TV, it was playing a concert, but it wasn't overly loud, in fact we were quite close and had no trouble having our conversations.

They start you with this lovely bread and a fabulous chimichurri, but be careful of that tomato habanero sauce, it will light you up

This was our wine choice for the evening.  Montes Toscanini Elegido Reserva. 

El Emporio specializes in wines from Uruguay, who knew right!  

We went with this Reserva, and it was very good, held up well against the spiciness of the foods we ate.

We ordered an empanada of Spinach and Ricotta, they have a large variety of empanadas.  The empanadas are very light and VERY tasty.  The dough is quite thin, and they are not greasy at all.  The 3 of us were able to share one empanada, but that was because we had salad coming

This was the salad we chose -- HUGE, and very tasty.

Our waiter, serving our salad, Arturo, very nice young guy, very observant and conscientious.

Out in front and to the right as you are approaching the door is the parilla, the grilling station. This is where the meats are grilled, over carbon, or coals, and baby it is HOT in that space.  The grill chef and his assistant are in there!  The bread served comes from that domed brick oven.

 those are our steaks on the grill, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

 and this is the Churrasco steak with the bone in - it is the equivalent  to a rib eye.  

This is a large piece of meat, the potato, don't be fooled, it is still a thin skinned potato, however it was very tasty, and the onions and peppers are quite spicy but really set off the other things!

The grill chef was able to cook to the temperatures requested, we asked for 2 medio rojo (medium rare), and one rojo rojo (extra rare)

We encountered one issue, and were quite surprised at the outcome.  Tom's steak was riddled with fat and gristle he wasn't going to say anything, but well, one thing lead to another and when Jose was apprised of the problem, he removed Tom's plate and brought him a complete new steak and all new trimmings.

We were unable to take a dessert, those steaks are huge.

El Emporio

calle 20 #59A x 1G y 1H

colonia Mexico Oriente

Merida, Yucatan

948-3232 y 948-4393

elemporiomerida@gmail.com

sure wish they had a webpage with a menu, I forgot to take photos of the menu for you.

open 

Monday - Saturday 1 - 11:30

Sunday 1 - 6

restaurant review - Restaurant Reforma, Merida

At the corner of calles 45 and 72 here in Centro Merida sits this little pink restaurant.  

They are open every day but Sunday from noon to midnight.

We were introduced to it about 5 years ago and call it one of our everyday favorites.  It's not fancy, in fact it's a little shabby, but the food is consistently good.  And the family that owns and operates are very sweet. 

You have to duck to get in under this hanging vine, I think it protects the front from the sun coming in and heating it up.  There is one room with air conditioning, but they have big ceiling fans in the main room.

Tom and I, as well as several friends love this place, it is like going in to Cheers; the owners know us, welcome us, and are genuinely happy to see us.  

from left Roberto our waiter extraordinaire, Candy and her mom-las duenas, and Mateo, sometimes waiter but studying Business Management.

The ceilings have strips of paint hanging and swaying with the air movement, and the walls are pocked with dried cement pulling away, and layers of a variety of tones of pink paint that it takes all my will power to keep from pulling off.  The same little glass and dried flower centerpieces have been on the tables since we first started going there.  There are typically stains on the linens, and we just look past it all.

The food is consistent and tasty.  In fact Tom says these are the best chiles rellenos in town, and he tries them all over the place.  An order consists of 2 chiles; you can get cheese, picadillo (a tasty ground meat mix), or mixto, which is one of each. They are served in a pool of tasty fresh tomato sauce with a side of rice and a piece of fried platano.  I tend to get the pechuga a la plancha.  Thin strip of chicken breast meat cooked on a griddle, served with beans, rice, and a small salad of tomato slices with sometimes lettuce, sometimes cucumber.

We've each eaten other things, but just tend to stick with these because we like them.

When you sit down you get asked if you want something to drink; the beers are icey cold but you need to check what they have. They advertise wine, but I've not been impressed and stick with the beer; or jamaica. 

Then they will bring you a little botana - it could be empanadas stuffed with either picadillo or cheese, or tostadas with beans, picadillo, chopped tomato and cilantro.  I don't know if you get the botana if you don't order booze, we seem to ALWAYS order beer.  If you love these little tostadas, like I do, you can actually order them; when I order them I get 3 on a plate and they are quite filling.

another friend always gets the chicken flautas, they covered in shredded lettuce, crumbled cheese, and crema; they look fabulous!

restaurant review - Il Caffé Italiano Ristorante, Merida

Il Caffé Italiano is another little restaurant gem here in Merida  that gets passed over.  It's not right on the street so you have to know where it is to get to it.  And it is so worth getting to.


Il Caffé  Italiano is a great place to spend an evening with


friends enjoying exquisite pastas, as well as a a pretty good


selection of wines, be sure to ask about wines that might not 


be on the list. (They do have more than just pasta on their


menu, but the pastas are fabulous) There are old fashioned 


paintings, dark wood accents, and actual linens  that lend a 


European atmosphere to both the inside seating and the 


sidewalk seating.

looking towards the front along the bar

indoor seating

Of note to mention are the staff,  the friendly and helpful staff; Something not frequently encountered here.  Additionally the owner is frequently on site and is eager to assist you with your choices  and to offer tips about Merida.

The evening we were there the chef checked several times to ensure we were enjoying our meal.

We recently enjoyed a lovely evening, and lingered a bit longer than anticipated and made it to our Art Exhibit opening a bit late - 

And of course I don't pull out the camera till we've already started on the food...

the caprese salad was quite large, but this is where I finally remembered the camera.

the last piece of bruscetta

mussels, absolutely fabulous, I used bread to get every drop of that cooking liquid!

ravioi

penne with shrimp and a spicy cream sauce

and a fabulous tira misu.

if you are on calle 60 standing in front of and looking at the Teatro Peon Contreras, you walk down the sidewalk passageway to the right.  Don't be fooled by the first restaurant there, that's not the one, keep walking nearly to calle 58, it's just up ahead on the left, look for the green awning 

• Address
  • Calle 57A btwn Calles 58 & 60 #491
  Phone
  • 999 928-00-93