Category Archives: Casual Restaurant Critic

The Casual Restaurant Critic is where you can read all about restaurants both in Merida, the Yucatan and beyond.

Mision Fray Diego – Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

November 10, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticWilliamLawson

Two nights ago the Critic found himself with his Better Half, waiting for some out of town people who were staying at the Fray Diego hotel on 61 street in Meridas’ occasionally charming downtown. While waiting, the Critic thought: here’s a chance to review a new restaurant for his avid readership!

Yucatecan food was on the menu and that what was ordered.

A crunchy longaniza sausage appetizer, crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, served on some lettuce leaves with pickled red onions and some roasted tomato sauce. Quite tasty. Then two orders of the Critics’ favorite: Queso Relleno. The presentation was plain, but the dish itself was good, although not as good as at La Tradición which is in a class apart and has been reviewed to death by the Critic on this site.

A pity about the tortillas, which, although warm, were not hand made. But the Critic supposes the clientele here is not that demanding in the tortilla department.

The service was quite adequate and the bill, with two Cokes, came to 350 pesos. Reasonable. The garden setting on this cool Merida night was beautiful, with a fountain bubbling happy among a quartet of chacá trees. A nice place to relax with a good drink and a smoke.

Pappadeaux Revisited – Houston Airport, TX, USA

November 7, 2009Casual Restaurant Criticairport food, Casual Restaurant Critic, Houston, PappadeauxWilliamLawson

The Critics’ favorite airport restaurant is still in Houston but their buffet is not a gastronomical experience the Critic would recommend or repeat.

Upon being seated, the Critic and his Better Half were informed that ordering was possible off the menu or that the buffet was available until 3 pm for only $10.95. A deal! The Critic and the BH ordered the buffet, which, upon closer inspection, consisted of the following:

Mixed Green Salad (pretty plain, but alright)
Penne Pasta Salad with Goat Cheese (bland, not much going on here flavor-wise)
Breaded, Deep-Fried Chicken (just OK)
Breaded, Deep-Fried Fish (ditto)
Catfish Filet (this actually looks good, but is pretty bland)
Cooked unpeeled Shrimp (yummy, too bad there were only 5 of them)
Gumbo-like Soup with Rice and Shrimp (hot, peppery and delicious)

There is the hilarious moment when you unwrap your napkin to find your fork and spoon, in authentic silverware. Then the waiter appears with a plastic knife, since having a real metal knife would pose a deadly temptation for those would-be seafood-loving terrorists. The Critic imagines that stabbing someone with one of those metal forks would be more effective than any damage one could cause with dull silverware knife.

In general the buffet food is bland, but this seems to be a constant in the U.S. With so many concerns about salt content, and appealing to the masses, kitchens in many restaurants eschew flavor. The Critic recommends skipping the buffet and ordering from the menu, which has many a delicious, plentiful and well-presented dish.

Miyako Tokio Sushi – Vancouver, BC Canada

November 1, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticWilliamLawson

The Critic is going to get mercury poisoning from eating all this sushi!

The typical Vancouver cold October rain outside made the place probably seem cozier than it was. Huge portions, good service, very neighborhood-y feel. Try the Crunch and Munch, their version of the BC Roll with crunchy salmon skin inside.

Nothing too fancy, just good sushi at good prices!

Real Food – Houston airport, TX, USA

October 28, 2009Casual Restaurant Criticairport, Casual Restaurant Critic, Houston, Real FoodWilliamLawson

Real Food is a new restaurant featuring different kinds of food prepared or served at stations; like sandwiches, bakery, salads, barbeque, burrito and more.

Located near Gate 42, the place looks great. Unfortunately, the food is lackluster in the taste department.

The Critics’ recommendation? Skip it and go eat “real food” at Pappadeaux.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bubba Gump, Cancun airport

October 28, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticWilliamLawson

Bubba Gump. In a sentence? Don’t bother; the food is fattening, bland and expensive. Service from Sofia was very good. But the eats? Naah. Bring a sandwich from elsewhere. Forrest would have hated it.

La(s) Mestiza(s) Restaurant, Piste (Chichen Itzá) Yucatan, Mexico

October 24, 2009Casual Restaurant Critic2012, chichen itza, comida yucateca, Las Mestizas, maya, Merida, piste, Yucatan, yucatecan foodWilliamLawson

The other day the Casual Restaurant Critic found himself in the charming hamlet of Pisté, adjacent to the majestic Mayan ruins of Chichen Itzá, where Sarah Brightman will sing at the end of this month.

Having heard of this restaurant, the Critic stopped for a quick breakfast of huevos con longaniza which seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive. This was, as the Critic later discovered, because the kitchen was taking the trouble to accompany the plate with fresh, thick, hand-made tortillas! A real treat in this age where Maseca cardboard tortillas are the accepted (by some) norm.

Food was good, the tortillas excellent, service fine and the coffee awful.

Campay Sushi – Merida Japanese

October 20, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticWilliamLawson

The Critic is not sure what is happening at Campay but things are not as happy in this sushi place as they once were.

The room feels smaller than usual, perhaps because it has been given a new coat of paint. The Critic feels that there used to be something on the walls that made it feel a little more spacious, but that could be an optical illusion.

The sushi is still quite acceptable but there is no effort made anymore to decorate the plates in any fashion. Rolls are put on a plate and that’s it. Edamame is a tiny portion worthy of derision; a few soy bean pods dumped on a side plate. The waiter, who has ‘served’ the Critic on the last few occasions he has been there, always has something negative to say or there is some problem with something that has been ordered. The customer is asked if he or she wants ginger and wasabi. The ginger tastes nothing like the pickled ginger once offered – it seems like they have decided that buying real pickled ginger is too expensive and have decided to make it themselves with decidedly unfortunate results.

While it is not as bad as the sushi place by the gas station, Campay is definitely off the list of places you should try, at least until they get their act together.

Not good.

What’s the Name of this Fondue Restaurant?

October 19, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticCasual Restaurant Critic, cheese, comida en merida, el maloso, fondue, Merida, merida restaurants, tigsaWilliamLawson

Fondue in Merida? Yes!

Here is a little gem of a restaurant that the Critic had recommended to him by his better half, who had been there already twice before.

XX is a tiny little restaurant located on Circuito Colonias next to TIGSA (a propane gas installation company) and across from a flashy new gas station. It is really a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, so tiny that only three or four tables fit inside, while another two await you outside unless, of course, it is raining, like it was last night.

Unassuming though it is in that there is no huge neon sign, the furniture is plastic red Coca Cola modern, one gets a warm vibe once inside. The welcome is friendly and your attention is seized by the sight of at least a hundred (or so it would appear) empty wine bottles hanging directly over your head on the ceiling. They are suspended by nylon and nails which have been approved by NASA, according to the funny blurb on the back of the menu which is worth reading to get a sense of who is running the place. Hey, if it makes the grumpy Critic smile, it must be funny. Also check out the mirror and poster, hung crookedly on purpose.

There are about 30 or so combinations of fondue options (including a mole fondue!); the Critic opted for the Italian, which features pomodoro, salami, sausage and pineapple – with the pineapple substituted for grilled mushrooms.

Along with a glass or two of red wine, the fondue was spectacular! The Critic could not get enough of the tangy cheese infused with tomato and salami! And at 150 pesos, the fondue is enough for two people so it is not expensive to escape cochinita-land for a couple of delightful hours, while you converse cozily with someone you enjoy being with.

On a scale of1-5, a solid 4.

Mosaic Restaurant and Wine Lounge, Forestville, CA, USA

October 18, 2009Casual Restaurant CriticCalifornia, Forestville, Mosaic Restaurant and Wine LoungeWilliamLawson

If you want the Critic’s recommendation for a truly great little restaurant in a non-descript little town on the way to the California coast, the Mosaic Restaurant and Wine Lounge in Forestville is that place. Located on the main drag of this tiny little pueblito on the way to Highway One, it looks like nothing special from the outside. Once inside however, one is struck by the attention to detail in the decor of the room and the beautiful back yard terrace, which is where the Critic, the Better Half and guests sat on a late sunny California morning for brunch.

There was a fresh mimosa, strong freshly made coffee and an attractively simple menu for breakfast and brunch that belied the deliciously imaginative food offered.

The Critic and Co ordered a few items off this menu: sauteed mushrooms with a softened chunk of fresh brie; crispy shoestring french fries with 7 herbs and spices; home-made lamb sausage and eggs and an order of eggs and potatoes.

All of these items were away and beyond normal breakfast food – highly recommended. A look at the pictures below gives you an idea of the care taken in the preparation.

Service was excellent.

It may seem unlikely that you find yourself in Forestville California, but you never know! And if you do, you must have breakfast here, in the Critics’ humble opinion!