What’s your favorite ice cream place in Merida?
Arte Helado! Lemon Pie ice cream. Yum.
Here’s the Casual Restaurant Critic’s – their Pay de Limon is most amazing!
What’s your favorite ice cream place in Merida?
Tag Archives: comida en merida
A Re-Visit to Merci
Merci on a Sunday is guaranteed to feature a wait and sure enough, when the Critic and his Better Half arrived this past Sunday to have breakfast, several people were parked on the bench outside the door. Dalia – next door and on the Critics list based on Better Half’s recommendation – was the backup plan and it was evident that tables were available there.
Nevertheless, a table for two was not a problem and Critic and Better were seated upon arrival. Brunch is available on Sundays from 8:30 to 4:00 and features breakfast items as well as more lunch-y options.
The Critic opted for chilaquiles, served up here with a sunny-side-up egg, a longaniza tomato sauce, avocado, some cheese, and fresh radish garnish. And a smattering of shredded chicken to round out the caloric intake. Better Half ordered what appears to be a sort of Croque sandwich which, she assured the Critic, was delicious. Coffee (latté) was great, as was the almond and pepita croissant and home-made papaya jam.
Recommended? You bet.
Two café lattés and the day’s agua de naranja con mango
Le croissant
L’autre pain whose name the Critic cannot recall. But it was flaky and deliciously warm and with some butter… yum
The chilaquiles rojos
Le sandwich d’oeuf
The Casual Restaurant Critic at Maya de Asia
The Casual Restaurant Critic was proud of the fact that he has been able to avoid entering the new Harbor mall, not being a fan of malls in general and malls in Merida to an even lesser degree. However, dinner at the relatively new (the mall did just open a short while ago after all) and quite spectacular Maya de Asia may mean that the Critic make his way into this labyrinth more often.
Try to forgive the planners the tiny, wormhole tunnel that is the confusing underground parking and find somewhere to park near an escalator. Maya de Asia is located on the first floor, near the Macaroons kiosk (these are amazing too by the way) and Forever 21. is it true that Forever 21 has closed stores and so is not as Forever as the name would imply? The Critic digresses.
Maya de Asia is a gorgeous room with an ample terrace overlooking the water feature and lit sign for The Harbor. You could imagine you were in Miami, which is the ultimate compliment for Yucatecan designers intent on re-creating exotic locales and discarding anything and everything that is from the Yucatan. However, and in an unexpected turn of events, in this restaurant Mayan and Yucatecan elements from the culinary world have been taken and slapped onto Asian food and the results, at least from a preliminary visit and in most cases, are quite spectacular. As in delicious.
The Critic, fan of all foods Asian, and his lovely Better Half had a Pad Thai, the Panang duck, a chaya humus and to make it complete, a Sikil Roll. The Pad Thai was fantastic, with surprising bits of what seemed like longaniza thrown in. The duck did not have anything Yucatecan in it that the Critic could immediately identify, but it is very possible and highly likely that there is a local ingredient mixed in there somewhere. The chaya mousse was excellent and the warm bread that accompanied the dip so very good. The Sikil Roll was a fat, cold, fresh roll with a solid fish, none of that awful cream cheese and a brown dollop of a rather liquid sikil pak (traditional local pumpkin seed dip) on each piece. This, to the Critic, seemed unnecessary and the flavor combination was nothing special. Fresh fish, rice and pumpkin seeds. It could also be that the Critic was absolutely stuffed by this point.
No room for desserts, coffees or other distractions. The place definitely warrants a second visit and there will be another post, very soon!
The ceiling decor. Can you tell what those wooden elements are?
Room, with a view of the kitchen to the left
The menu
Humus, featuring local superfood chaya
The absolutely spectacular duck
Pad Thai
Sikil Roll with its fish and its pumpkin seed dip on top
The Casual Restaurant Critic at Soberana Steakhouse
The discrete Soberana restaurant, tucked into the bottom of the Santa Lucia hotel, might be overlooked with all the more visible eateries in the Santa Lucia square across the street (60) but it shouldn’t be.
Chef Andrés Zapata has created a meat-lovers menu and even sells some of the rubs that have made him somewhat of a local legend in the local culinary scene. That and his personality which displays none of the dickiness of other more diva-like chefs, make him one of the most sought-after personalities when it comes to events featuring barbeque, grilling and the like.
On this visit, the Critic had been invited to sample the new menu and in the absence of a recuperating Better Half, the Critic invited a second critic to help try the new meat offerings.
Frijoles Puercos
The first item to grace the table was a small bowl of beans, cooked non stop and served with black corn chips. The thing that makes these beans decadent (they are called Frijoles Puercos) is that when cooking up meat in the kitchen, the pot is always on the back burner and chef Andrés throws in whatever meat juices are bubbling up and left over, resulting in extremely flavorful and deliciously fatty beans. Cholesterol warning in effect.
Chef Andrés taking a momento to crack a joke. This Critic has never seen Andrés in a bad mood, ever.
Rubs to take home
Soberana’s take on Mac & Cheese
The Critic let the chef decide, although anything off the menu was available to try. First up? The Mac and Cheese. It could use a tiny bit more cheese but the creaminess and the addition of caramelized “million dollar” bacon was amazing.
Smoky fish tacos on Panela cheese tortillas
The second appetizer was smoky fish tacos served on panela cheese “tortillas” Anyone familiar with dieting and panela cheese knows that this is a cheese-like substance, far removed from anything resembling tasty cheese. An interesting and probably healthy concept, but as far as flavor goes, eat the topping, skip the cheese.
Salsas
Main course – picaña steak, prepared tableside by the master grill chef himself.
For the main course, and to share, the picaña beef steak, cooked to perfection. The flavor of this cut was truly mouth watering and this is the steak the Critic highly recommends you order. Andrés will prepare it with it’s juices , at your table.
Preparing the Picaña
Delicious!
Prices are reasonable and this is a good alternative to mix things up a little in Santa Lucia. You can eat in the restaurant or enjoy a limited menu on the park itself, where there are some tables and chairs set up so you can have your conversation drowned out by the musical acts, if that is your thing.
Casual Restaurant Critic at Pan & Kof.fee
OK thanks very much – the anticipation of going to Paris and sitting in a sidewalk cafe, munching on fresh baguettes with butter is now a thing of the past. It appears that the folks at Pan & Kof.fee are trying to discourage travel to France with their most amazing baguettes, croissants, and pain au chocolat.
The Critic has not tried bread this good since discovering Monique’s sourdough and Petite Delice’s pastries, so whenever you are downtown, do stock up. Recommended are the baguettes and the ciabatta as the loaf had too much air in it and the butter and jam went directly through the holes in the bread and onto my plate.
The restaurant – it is a restaurant as well – is drop-dead gorgeous and you can see the bakers in action with their ovens on the second floor, which is clever. Staff are beyond friendly and completely bilingual, at least the ones that looked after the Critic and his Better Half.
Located on 43 at 58 more or less behind the Palacio Canton museum or whatever it is this week.
Marmalade Barra de Cocina Norte – It’s Open!
Discretely tucked away in the corner of the Bon Ami Plaza (yes that’s really its name)
Tucked away in a corner where the Pho restaurant used to be, surrounded by defunct storefronts in a small commercial plaza on a congested avenue that has the most ridiculous amount of little L shaped shopping centers in Merida, Marmalade is a welcome addition to the area and, judging by the quality of the food and service, guaranteed to remain for some time. This is refreshing since there are so many people that have more money than business sense who are throwing their money into any and all kinds of businesses doomed to fail because they really have no idea of what the hell they are doing.
Location at the bottom of this article!
But I digress. Marmalade is not one of these.
Having visited the location on 47 on two occasions, the Critic decided that Better Half needed to experience the food and service that Dawn and Stephanie are throwing out there. And what an experience it was. Three delicious breakfast items ordered and eaten with gusto, and fragrant baked goods for the ride home (LOL) along with the kindness and attention of the hosts, make this restaurant the new favorite breakfast spot in this part of town.
Each plate and food item is a work of art, the plating/presentation beautiful. Everything tastes spectacularly good and everyone who works here seems to be happy to be there looking after guests.
The Critic had used up all his jam on the toast that came with the breakfast but there was a slice left. Dawn generously brought over another kind of jam just to be able to put something on that last piece of toast. It was a home-made pineapple and serrano jam. Truly amazing!
The Casual Restaurant Critic (and the Better Half) cannot recommend this place highly enough. A perfect spot for a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast – this is Marmalade Barra de Cocina!
Fresh flowers on every table
Marmalade Breakfast – eggs, bacon, toast, homemade jam and hash browns too
Home-cured lox
Waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
Pineapple and serrano jam. Really
Location location location! There’s a map and everything!
https://www.facebook.com/marmaladenorte/
Casual Restaurant Critic Breakfasting at Habanero’s
A quick breakfast at Habanero’s which at 11 AM was surprisingly full of people. Better Half and the starving Critic had 30 minutes to snarf down a breakfast. Both had been here before and were always happy with the food and the service, and today was not disappointing at all.
The food is great and comes out of the kitchen fast, the salsas are still made to order (you pick the chiles and ingredients and they hand-grind them for you in a metate and the service has only gotten better with time. Everyone is friendly and people stop by the table check to see that everything is good.
Highly recommended for a filling breakfast or some real Yucatecan food at lunch. Valet parking too, if you are in a hurry.
Chilaquiles w mole and dos huevos
Salsa de tomate made to order with the chiles of your preference
Huevos with longaniza sausage. There’s enough huevos to feed a small village here
Eureka Revisited
The Casual Restaurant Critic and his Better Half, does not partake in the usual summer vacation activities known as la temporada. Instead, they stay home in Merida and on this quiet Sunday afternoon, visited their favorite Italian restaurant, Eureka.
Fabrizio was in fine form and before too long, the entire place was packed with families looking for some delicious home-cooked food.
Service, as usual, was sparkling and the specials of the day were sublime. Better Half exclaimed that this was the best dish she had ever had at Eureka, and she has been there quite a few times with the Casual Restaurant Critic, since this is probably his favorite restaurant in the city. This is one of only two Merida restaurants where the Critic will leave the dish preparation entirely in the hands of the chef (when possible) and be deliciously rewarded for the vote of confidence with a mouth-watering creation.
Salmon carpaccio
Salmon carpaccio
Special of the day – homemade focaccia w bresaola, pear and a gorgonzola cream dressing
Special of the day – homemade focaccia w bresaola, pear and a gorgonzola cream dressing
Special of the day – a most amazing ravioli dish with pistachio/salvia sauce, the pasta pillows are stuffed with homemade sausage and cheese
The Casual Restaurant Critic at Miyabi Plaza Arbol
The Casual Restaurant Critic recently had the opportunity to have dinner at the new Miyabi location on Prolongacion Montejo at 17 street, in the Colonia Mexico section of northern Merida. It is in a little shopping plaza called Plaza Arbolm named after the arbol (tree) that was incorporated in spectacular fashion into the design of the new Miyabi restaurant.
The sushi is as good as usual, nothing new to report there, and they are working out some kinks with the service due to the fact that waiters that want to work in a very busy environment are hard to come by, according to one of the owners.
The Critics only quibble would be the 3 point font used on the menu, which is impossible for most anyone to read, especially in the subdued lighting.
Kudos to the architectural firms who design the place (there were two) who decided to go against the time-honored local tradition of cutting down the tree that was obviously in the way. Maybe some other architects can learn from this, especially those charged with designing new residential developments.
The Critic recommends going if just to experience the amazing surroundings. And a little sashimi, why not.
Pueblo Pibil on a Monday – Frijol con Puerco!
Traditionally, in the Yucatan you eat frijol con puerco (pork and beans in English speaking countries and feijoada en Brasil) on Mondays and if you are in the town of Tixcocob, a half hour from Merida, you can enjoy this classic dish prepared in the pib, or underground pit oven.
Pueblo Pibil is a beautiful restaurant, with attentive and courteous service and the food is really outstanding.
Highly recommended!
Start with an appetizer of chicharrones while waiting for your pork 🙂
Also, more pork in the form of this achiote-soaked grilled rib appetizer
The happy moment the lata (tin) comes out of the pit or pib
Close up of the bubbling deliciousness or frijol con puerco
Garnishes for your frijol con puerco
Handmade corn tortillas
The puerco
The frijol