Last week, Critic and some guests had a late (3:30pm) lunch at the Flamingos seafood restaurant, located on the malecón in Progreso.
The restaurant, a large room with an open kitchen and a view to the Gulf of Mexico was packed with locals, a lot of them sporting nametags which seemed to indicate that they were with some sort of convention or at least on company business. The Critic mentions this only to give the reader a better picture of what was happening, since the service was rushed and slow at the same time, if you get the idea. Rushed in that the waiter almost bounced while taking the order and slow in that it took him forever to get there in the first place.
The Critic’s group heartily approved the frozen margaritas and piña coladas and ordered several to make sure that it wasn’t a fluke. Apparently it wasn’t. Along with the drinks came the requisite mini-servings of botana (snacks) which accompany every round of drinks in every restaurant on the Yucatan coast. At Flamingos, these were the hard corn chips, refried beans, ceviche, sikil-pak (pumpkin seed, roast tomato, cilantro paste for dipping) and fresh cut jicama strips with lemon squeezed on top and a dash of chile powder.
As for food, the Critic had a small ‘back to life’ mixed seafood cocktail, which was good but by no means an OMG moment; the rest of the group had San Francisco shrimp, featuring melted cheese on top – which by the looks of the clean plates were delicious – and Shrimp in Normanda’ sauce, which was a white sauce, again with melted cheese as well as onions, bacon and other goodies in addition to the shrimp. Both plates were served with white rice and some steamed vegetables of the local variety. `
Only one person in the party had room for the desserts and ordered bananas flambé; one banana, split down the middle and served in its skin, flamed in liquors but not at the table which was a little bit dissappointing since some sort of show was expected but then it was just brought out. Maybe at night, when the setting is a little more laid back, they actually flame them tableside? The Critic doubts it since this requires a little more training in the waiter department and some sort of little cart and other utensils that were nowhere in sight.
Overall impression? Ehh. Nothing particularly wonderful. On a scale of 1-5, this is a middle of the road 3.
A great place to hold club or business meetings. Owners are super nice! I agree with you on food – but then the complete environment is really what we are after… Taken together, their location, cleanliness, and excellent attitude makes up for any other shortcomings.
If the older lady who brought by the bill at the end of the meal is one of the owners, then yes, they are friendly indeed!
I totally agree with Anonymous. Flamingos is probably not a 5 star restaurant – but they sure are nice to organizations that need a place to feed large numbers of people. Flamingos and Buddy’s are two places on the Malecon that are great for local expats and make excellent starting places for tourists.
hugo and magali(owners flamingos) and marta and remco(dutchman) do indeed make the long journey worthwhile.
alfons smeding
At Flamingo's you must try the HOG SNAPPER. It was awesome. As a matter of fact, my table ordered numerous items and this by far was the best. The waiters were very friendly and the atmostphere was fun. I will definitely plan to return. Rate 3.5.