An afternoon on the beach in Telchac and a rumbling stomach with a hankering for something fishy? Try Los Tiburones right in the main square of Telchac Puerto, a half block from the pier and the cheesy shark thing to take your selfie in or the giant wrought iron bench to sit on.
Food is excellent, prices are moderate, and the service, given that the hated temporada was over and done with and the hordes having returned to their places of origin, was great.
Recommended!
The Casual Restaurant Critic and Better Half recently attended a small, family and friends wedding reception which was held at the Byblos restaurant in the Club Libanés, or Lebanese Club, where all the paisanos hang out on Sundays and where the debutantes’ photos line the walls. The club in itself is not much to speak of – as a venue for social events it is popular but not particularly appealing – but the restaurant has long been a Merida staple for solid Lebanese fare, home-cooked and delicious. On this occasion, the reception took advantage of the buffet, with many classic dishes represented.
From ftoyer to labne to garbanzo to gallina to kippeh to tabouleh, everything was delicious and far too filling to enable the Critic to try more than each dish twice. The service was gracious and the air conditioning cool. Prices are reasonable and if you want to be a Merida resident, you must have visited here at least once.
Kippeh crudo – raw meat, onion, mint
Kafta, or ground meat skewers, without the skewers
Ftoyer, filled with spinach or some such leafy vegetable
Kibbeh, Kipeh, kibi… many varieties of names. These are good but the ones from MIR are better.
Arrolladitos de parra, or wine leaf wraps (there’s meat and rice inside)
Arrollados de repollo aka cabbage rolls. Again rice and meat inside
Gallina rellena. This means stuffed hen. I don’t see the stuffed part, but this dish was the best of the buffet.
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/
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
Late Seafood Lunch /Early Dinner in Progreso Part I
Better Half and the Critic were in the mood for fish and since a new restaurant had been announced, it was decided that they should go and try it out.
Almadia is a beautiful beach-front restaurant that looks like something from an architectural magazine, a stunning new addition to the restaurant scene at least in looks. For one thing, it sits diagonally on the malecon, just a few houses from the famous Casa del Pastel, and not aligned with the street out front, which sets it apart immediately from all its competitors, as do its modern columns and glass.
Almadia is a stunning addition to the Progreso waterfront
If only they had spent the tiniest fraction of what that architect charged on training staff! BH and CC went in, met no one at the door, had several wait staff pass right in front without so much as an hola and finally a hostess appeared in 4-inch heels and showed the Critic to a table. There, the Critic and Better Half sat and sat for the longest time, waiting for someone – anyone – to return to the table to offer a drink, at least. The hostess returned to her duties of doing Something Important on a clipboard with one or more of the staff members in another part of the restaurant.
Still hungry and bemoaning the tremendous waste it was to spend this much money and effort in creating a new restaurant and then not have anyone trained to run it, the Critic decided that enough is enough, and got up, took Better Half by the arm and left. There was no effort made by anyone to stop the Critic from leaving or even to say hasta luego.
Still, knowing the owners, there will be another attempt at this beautiful restaurant!
Late Seafood Lunch /Early Dinner in Progreso Part II
Crabster is, even when busy and everyone is running around like headless chickens, pretty much a guaranteed thing and after the disappointing experience down the street, the hustle and bustle of Christan Bravo’s seafront restaurant was a welcome sight.
Here, Better Half and the Critic enjoyed what they came for. A view of the beach, the smell of salt air and some good seafood washed down with some frosty micheladas. The awful street entertainment out front and the garbage trucks picking up trash from bins was a distraction, but not anything that Crabster could do something about.
Fresh guacamole, a deep fried grouper, some shrimp. Delicious. Gracias Christian!
Crabster in Progreso was reviewed previously in February of 2017 here.
Michelada!
Guacamole
Shrimp
Pescado frito – deep-fried grouper
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
Si eres un escritor con ganas de verte publicado en una revista social o de modas en Yucatán o posiblemente de circulación nacional, es muy importante saber cómo redactar el artículo para que tenga el tono y estilo adecuado para tan selecto público.
Para empezar, es necesario el uso indiscriminado de Mayúsculas. Las reglas normalmente aceptadas de gramática – esas que Aprendiste en la escuela – no importan en el Medio, lo importante es Usar mayúsculas a cada Rato, y sin razón alguna. Esto hará que tu escrito tenga un look más Sofisticado.
Siguiendo con ese tema, cualquier nombre, contrario a lo que podrias creer, puede escribirse con minúscula. Si participaste en el maquillaje para la obra musical cats, escribelo así: cats. O new york. No importa.
Hablando de look, aquí tenemos otra y very important Regla: cuando te sea posible, ignora el hecho de que exista una palabra en castellano para lo que quieres decir y usa su versión en inglés. Esto es una peculiaridad singular de los paises “en vias de desarrollo” antes llamados del “tercer mundo”. Cualquier cosa en inglés es mejor que el idioma del pais. Lo puedes ver en Brazil, todo los paises de habla hispana de Latinoamerica, Asia etc. Imagínate un anuncio alemán donde dice Das Auto ist Maravilloso. Der Neue BMW 945i- ¡Sustentable! Simplemente no pasa. Algún defecto aspiracional o de auto-estima han de tener los mercadólogos (y los consumidores) que provoca esta aberración linguistica.
Por ejempo, y volviendo a tu artículo de Modas, si vas a escribir acerca de peinados y belleza, además de look puedes/debes incluir:
Otros términos que puedes espolvorear por el artículo son charm, winter, summer (etc), cat-eyes, glitter, spray, lipstick, cool, beauty. Incluir frases como un toque cool, un boom de tu look, el look ideal, y el trend del verano es muy recomendables.
Una regla más: incluir un término que Puedes – y debes – usar ad nauseum, tendencia. La tendencia es muestra de que eres un Nostradamus del mundo fashion y se aplica a la Ropa, el cabello, el make-up y los accesorios must-have.
Sección bonus para los artistas del lente:
Para los fotógrafos: las inevitables fotos que saldrán en la Revista de moda – de cocteles de presentación del new Audi, birthdays en restaurantes con nombres mayas del norte de la ciudad, enlaces matrimoniales entre la gente nice, bautizos de niños y niñas well-off con el arzobispo del momento – deberán ser de personas con apellidos conocidos y nada cortos. Gente bonita (léase blanca) de la society es la que llama la atención, ya que esa es el mercado (AAA le dicen) que va a consumir el producto – la revista con papel shiny.
De ninguna manera debe salir gente con rasgos indígenas o de apellido corto, a menos que sea de un evento fund-raising donde la crema y nata está de fiesta juntando dinero para alguna causa altruista. Niños pobres con cáncer, hogares para huerfanitos; ese tipo de cosa. Si hay alguna familia que insiste en que su nana de toda la vida salga en la foto, su nombre simplemente debe aparecer como Nana Pepa, al lado de los siete apelllidos de sus muy españolizados y distinguidos patrones y sus adorables vástagos.
The Critic knows for a fact that many of the 19 readers of his ramblings have been – probably repeatedly – to eat at the market in Santiago, so he will just post a few photos of the delicious breakfast enjoyed recently in the company of the always charming Better Half and a group of amigos.
Salbut and panucho ‘especial’ which means a ton of turkey meat
Salbutes de asado
Torta Cubana, the only one with no eggs. The Critic is not a fan of things eggy
Torta cubana with agua de watermelon and chaya in the background
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.
On this site of the old penitentiary, in a park called the Park of Peace, there is a display of flowers happening that might be worth a visit if you are interested in flowers. The display has been presented in the form of an original design that incorporates Mayan cosmology and the personal vision of its creator, Martin Ramirez.
Eugenia Morales and Martin Ramirez – photo Maru Medina
Martin and his wife Eugenia Morales, both agricultural engineers, started what was then a novel idea back in 1994: opening the city’s first exotic plant store in Merida’s first world-class mall, the Gran Plaza. Since then they have moved on to larger projects. This current project, one of only three in all of Mexico has been done in conjunction with the municipal government of Merida.
An interesting fact that should be considered when taking in this bounty of color: each plant had to be selected according to the time that the flowers would appear, in order to achieve all the colors at the same time, not an easy feat.
The exhibit opens at 9 AM and is a good morning activity, which can be combined with a posterior (or prior) visit to the nearby Santiago market for breakfast.
Some photos of my very recent visit to the Camino de las Flores:
