A quick note to my loyal readers… yesterday afternoon went for a late lunch/early dinner at Nectar, which has recently been ‘reinaugurated’ as they say in these parts.

The Casual Restaurant Critic is happy to report that the food is still excellent. Duck chimichangas, tzic de venado on a toston of fried bananas, tender sirloin steak with a roasted cranberry sauce, fettucine in a chipotle cream, and other goodies were had.

My only critique would be that they change their welcoming script. As the party was being seated and menus were presented, the head waiter informed the table that they were showing off their new, revamped menu. “Yes” he continued, “we took off the more expensive items and left the ones that are not so pricey.” Well the Critic knows enough not to go to Nectar to save money and so this comment was just dumb. It would have been better (ITCHO) to mention the new items on the menu and emphasize that a lot of the old favorites are still there.

Oh, and always, serve the ladies first. And fix the coffee machine.

3 appetizers, 4 main courses, a glass of red wine and 3 Perrier waters – $1400.

The Casual Restaurant Critic had been yearning for the opportunity to visit this imposing new restaurant on the Prolongación de Paseo de Montejo for some time. With it’s sleek, modern look, valet parking and a giant Buddha out front, it definitely looks promising!

So the Critic, Better Half and MiniCritic went for lunch last week. The restaurant is indeed beautiful: the decor, the finishes, the details are all absolutely fantastic. The personnel seemed a little casual and distracted but nevertheless, they were friendly enough upon arrival.

The Critic decided that a table in the regular section would be alright; opting not to sit in the Teppan Yaki show grill area.

From the menu, the appetizers:
Edamame – described as steamed Japanese peas. It should be noted that edamame is not a Japanese pea, but a soy bean. Oh well, no big deal.
Caesar Salad – a selection of different kinds of salad greens, with a Caesar dressing etc.
Scallops breaded with Parmesan Cheese

When the appetizers arrived, the Critic and Co. realized why they called the edamame ‘peas’. These were indeed peas, of the Chinese ‘snow pea’ variety. Not only were they not soy beans, they were not steamed either! Rather, they were stir fried with pork that tasted a lot like bacon! A vegetarian would have had a heart attack. Thinking there was a mixup, the Better Half asked the waitress if these were the edamame. She assured the table that they indeed were. The Caesar salad did not really have a selection of different greens and the scallops, while crispy did not have a hint of Parmesan cheese. They were served on a white sauce with some cooked greens which looked interesting enough but was nothing to write home about (or even on this blog about) in terms of taste. The MiniCritic asked the Critic what the sauce tasted like and the Critic replied “white”, which about sums it up.

For a main course, there was a Rib Eye for the Critic, a stuffed quail for the Better Half and a pasta for the MC. The pasta was fine, the stuffed quail featured a very tasty sour-y sauce but the Rib Eye was not a real Rib Eye, in the Critics’ Humble Opinion. It’s texture and taste was much more along the lines of a thick yet bland arrachera, in that rubbery, marinated, ham-tasting kind of way. Not good. And the accompanying Thai rice was… cold. Ugh.

Desserts were not had.

The Critic would not could not (in a box) recommend this restaurant in good faith, unless perhaps someone could put in a good word for their Teppan Yaki area or just to have drinks. The actual room, as mentioned above, is over-the-top beautiful, the service is just so-so and the food is really quite bad, considering the investment in the actual building. What are the investors thinking? Maybe it’s a money laundering operation; that would make sense.

Happy eating!

View from the lobby towards the rooms

The Critic got the chance to escape Merida’s insufferable heat with a weekend at the so-called Riviera Maya; the hotel was the Blue Bay Grand Esmeralda, which is advertising heavily in Merida and offered a reasonably priced all-inclusive package.

The cantankerous Critic hates all-inclusive hotels because generally speaking, the food sucks. On one occasion, at a Best Day ‘Resort’, whose advertising slogan was ‘exceeding your expectations’, the food was all fried, boiled and tasteless.

Well, surprise, the Blue Bay DID exceed the Critic’s meager expectations, after the initial shock of being in yet another huge resort with 1000 people.

The Critic had tried to make reservations beforehand via email for one of their specialty, reservation only restaurants, but was informed that this was not possible. So, as expected, upon arrival the Critic was told that there were no spaces available in any of the specialty restaurants except the Carnes (Meats) and only at 6:00 pm.

There was a very limited salad bar and so the Critic ordered his Rib Eye without much hope. But, the steak was very good, without of course delving into La Recova territory, and served with a small potato and a half corn on the cob. A promising start!

Breakfast the next day was buffet style and everything you would expect was there, in quantity and also of good quality. Fresh eggs to order, all manner of ingredients for your favorite omelet and even smoked salmon/lox and cream cheese.

Throughout the day, drinks are available everywhere and you are not limited to cheap ‘well’ brands; all the good stuff is there from Red Label JW scotch to Herradura Reposado Tequila.

That evening the Critic and Co had reservations for the Italian specialty restaurant and this really was excellent. The highlight, apart from the actual room itself, was the extensive selection of antipasto, olives, cheeses (Pecorino!) and quality cold cuts. The main dishes, pastas all, were excellent as well. The Tiramisu dessert was a let-down; basically a three layer sponge cake.

Service throughout the resort was friendly.

The Critic would recommend this place for a quick 2 day getaway.

Real Feta, green and black lives & other goodies to snack on…

In the baroque Hotel Santa Lucia, located near (you guessed it) Santa Lucia park, there is a little cafe that the Critic found quite good in previous visits.

On this occasion, the Critic was dismayed to find the Cafe just a tad run down. The service, by a somewhat disheveled but still friendly waiter was good – no complaints there – as was the food which was not only tasty but also fresh and hot. Even the rolls were warm! The Greek salad ordered by the Better Half looked delicious, as did the fettucine with shrimp ordered by a Belgian Waffler.

The run down part was the actual place itself. There were stains on the walls, the air conditioners were visibly filthy, signage was haphazardly hanging behind the bar and all the desserts in the dessert fridge were from Costco. None of this would be particularly upsetting except for the fact that when the hotel and restaurant opened, they were both exquisitely presented with an eye to every last detail. There is no way that waiter would have been sporting that bed-head and definitely Dianne Krall singing jazz standards would not have been competing with the TV over the bar showing the archetypal Mexican western complete with gesturing priests, scurrying nuns, self-esteem challenged little boys, pistol waving facial haired cowboys and the crowning moment; the macho vaquero singing atop his horse in the wilderness.

The Critic wonders if there has been a change of ownership at this hotel? The original owners were/are much too finicky to accept this, one would think. Enjoy the photos!

• Sopa de Lima
• Greek Salad
• Shrimp Pasta

In the Colonia Mexico, there is a relatively new dessert place called El Postrecito (the little dessert) run by a talented Yuca who lived in Quebec. Their coffee is great, their desserts are really delicious.

Short verdict: Go.

Have their melt in your mouth truffles or their signature Canadian dessert; a bread pudding baked with maple syrup or something to that effect.

A great option after eating fishy things at nearby Campay Sushi.