Our last dinner in Merida at Rosas and Xocolate
Overall, our last meal in this magical city was very very good. We got plenty of personal attention from the owner Carol; he spent a lot of time translating the menu for us, and at one point poured me a shot of amazing mescal from his personal collection (El Cortijo). Yummy!
At the same time we arrived, two other events were in progress. One was a wedding dress show (which took up the main restaurant space – so we ate at tables setup in the tequila lounge area); the other was a fashion shoot involving a number of very pretty, young and flirtatious Mexican models. I was able to survive both inconveniences.
I found it interesting that Carol made such a point of importing most of his ingredients. I can see why this may make sense when targeting discerning locals, but it was a bit disappointing for tourists looking for high end food made from quality local ingredients. For example, Mrs Makers and I think that US pork is substandard to pork from just about anywhere else, with an odd, chemical flavor. I wanted to try the pork dish reviewed positively by the Casual Restaurant Critic, but changed my mind when I found that it was imported from the US.
Mrs. Makers had the hearts of palm salad and the duck. The duck turned out to be a bit pink (which Carol had assured us would not be the case) so I ended up trading her for a portion of my dinner. I had the shredded duck salad and the octopus main course – and ate plenty of both main courses – generous portions! Other than the pink duck (which Carol offered to replace – but we declined), we loved everything.
But we liked Panuchos de Kanasin at least as much J
Carol has clearly invested a lot of time and money in his establishment, and it shows. He mentioned that he will be in this month’s issue of Condé Nast! He asked us to tell our friends about Merida. This is something we will do, and expect that this wondrous city will continue to attract more travelers every year.
Mark Makers
Unfortunately, all the money that Carol invested into creating his restaurant seems to be passed on to the customer ie reflected in the menu pricing, to recoup. I find it quite outrageous to charge 90 pesos for a barely four ounce (standard) pour Glass of wine from a Bottle that is available at COVI for 70 pesos. Yes. An entire bottle cost is 70 pesos. That isn’t even a standard mark up on wine by the glass–that’s just robbery. I agree that the ambiance is enjoyable, but at those selfish-not-normal prices, I will go elsewhere. My pulpo ceviche cost less than the glass of wine, go figure.
I thought this last comment interesting and so I looked up the subject on the internet and found a good discussion on the subject of wine markups in restaurants on chowhound.com. Here are some of them:
1. Well, it used to be that standard markup was 100-200%. Now 250% is considered very common, with 200% at the low end of standard and 300% at the high end. Lower cost bottles are usually marked up more.
In the end, what’s fair is what you are willing to pay.
When I see a wine list that is marked up too much for my taste, I sometimes order a glass of tawny port and sip it through the meal. It’s usually the best value on the glass list, especially since you don’t gulp it down anyway.
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2. The current rule of thumb for most places is three times what they paid the distributor. So a lot of $10 bottles are $30.
Less for more expensive bottles. Your food bill might be less than it needs to be when the place does a good business in wine. Theft? As long as the price is stated and you order it, it is never theft. The cost of keeping the doors open, the cost of complying with myriad local, state and federal regulations, the insurance, the relentless overhead—and the fact restaurants have the highest failure rate of any business tells you that it is not any easy thing to stay open. Smart restaurants carry bottles you can’t find yourself, which can spare you that agony when you realize the bottle you just paid $50 for was on the shelf at Costco for $15. Let it go.
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I agree with the sentiments of the second post: if it’s on the menu and the price is right there and you order, it’s not theft.
Read more at:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/350232
hi, William, i love to go Cafe Pita 1 @ Houston, bc u can bring own your wine and no Cork charge. Food is great, price is great. only $20 for 2 person. my favorite is lamb shanks and Greek salads, pita bread. they are the Lebanese rest. it is small but better than any upscale rest. in Houston and i can bring own my expensive wine from home and i do not have to pay nothing. you need to check it out next time and also, next time if you & your BH is in Houston, call us o.k. so we will show you good food for so cheap but delicious that you could not even imagine.
I will do that Suk! Call you I mean. Where is this Cafe Pita? We love Lebanese food! When you come to Merida go to the Lebanese Club (Cultural Center) they have a good restaurant there called Byblos which you might enjoy. Service is just OK, but the food is pretty darn good. Also, Guru, across from the Golden Island casino is run by a Lebanese guy and their date pie (for dessert) is extremely good.
Your quoted comments from Chowhound are informative for ‘by the bottle’ costs……mine was more of the ‘by the glass’ markup shock. Another part of my head shaking after our lunch was that the Fuji bottle of water that was ordered by someone at the table was 60 pesos ~ ouch. I do agree, ask first and make your decision from there and if you don’t ask ‘let it go’ as one chowhound responder wrote. My comment was purely informative as to the overall review on the restaurant to future customers. I am glad to see it created another story for you to tell~ that was a very special wine by the glass price!