Tag Archives: Casual Restaurant Critic

Casual Restaurant Critic – Truck Chef

April 11, 2016Casual Restaurant Criticblur, bon jovi, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, food trucks, hamburgers, hamburguesas, hendrix, joplin, la hermana republica, Merida, mexico, oasis, pork belly, queen, restaurantes, Truck Chef, YucatanWilliamLawson

Here’s a little mini-review from the Casual Restaurant Critic on just one of the many food trucks now sprouting up all over the place; Truck Chef is one of the more popular options.

This food truck features burgers for the most part and they are good; worth hunting down a location which you an do my checking their Facebook page, which also features a lot of really enticing photos that will make your mouth water. Besides burgers there are also some healthier options (pork belly tacos are not only delicious, they are healthy. Aren’t they???) and the whole menu has a rock and roll theme, in case you hadn’t picked up on that.

https://www.facebook.com/TruckChef

Verdict? Good stuff!

Casual Restaurant Critic at the new Miyabi

January 23, 2016Casual Restaurant CriticCasual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, food, Lawsons Yucatan, lawsonsyucatan.com, life in Merida, Life in the Yucatan, life in yucatan, Merida, merida restaurants, mexico, restaurantes, restaurantes en merida, restaurants, sushi, William Lawson, Yucatan, yucatan restaurantsWilliamLawson

As of this writing, Miyabi has moved its operation from the commercially doomed plaza on Prolongacion Montejo that features DHL, Carls Jr. (or Burger King – can’t remember which) and Walk To Wok, to a sparkly new location in the new shopping center where Merci is located, somewhere between the San Angelo condominiums and City Center.

The space is gorgeous, and the first thing you will notice when walking in is that the staff has cuadrupled. There are servers and busboys and who knows what else almost outnumbering the potential clients.

On the occasion of this visit, the Casual Restaurant Critic and better half went for a few pieces of nigiri and the always superb ramen soup. Not much to say on that end except that both were excellent.

Service was better than usual but still lacks a real friendly touch. Many of the waiters are still as sullen as they were at the previous location and the new faces look like they are trying but the Critic suspects they will soon be contaminated with whatever grumpy virus the name carries with it.

Another thing that seemed odd and definitely detracted from the feel of the place is that all the lights were off. This was not a CFE thing as the kitchen was lit as were the little bonsai feng shui garden elements. The dining room was dark and it made for a rather cold feel.

If you are in the mood for ramen, definitely go here. It’s only 95 pesos and is a meal in itself. Sushi is fine, but you will get far more interested service at Hamachi.

Lights out!

Casual Restaurant Critic Burger Slapdown: Elevation vs. Angry Angus

October 31, 2015Casual Restaurant Critic, Life in the Yucatanangry angus, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, Elevation, food, hamburgers, Lawsons Yucatan, life in Merida, Life in the Yucatan, Merida, merida restaurants, restaurantes en merida, restaurants, William Lawson, yucatan restaurantsWilliamLawson

Exciting stuff – a burger slapdown.

In this corner, at a trim 57 kilos, Elevation Burger. A big blue-themed restaurant that smacks of fast foodiness but offers a fresh and organic take on the hamburger, according to all the hype and publicity. The Critic has heard people whine on about how expensive the burgers are and this is probably the case, but have you seen the price of organic meat in Costco vs the regular hormone and steroid kind? You are what you eat, and that is another slogan on the wall of Elevation.

The Critic was underwhelmed by the size of the burger – a plain burger accompanied by large fries – and overwhelmed by the fries, which were huge and so tasty that he couldn’t stop eating them in spite of the fact that his arteries were visibly constricting. The burger, while small was very tasty. The meat (one patty) was meaty, not pasty and the tomato, lettuce and pickle were refreshingly cold. Real Cheddar too. It tasted like a burger you would make at home. Satisfying. Cost? $160 pesos fries and burger, no drink.

And in this corner, weighing in at 104 sloppy, smoky kilos, Angry Angus. Not sure about the name but the burgers are all extremely loaded up with extras and the prices are much lower than our elevated contender. Of course AA doesn’t need to pay a huge franchise fee in USD and probably pays a fraction of the rent. The burgers are huge, absolutely crammed with extras and accompanied by fries that are fresh and hot. On this occasion the Critic had a burger with chistorra, that tasty fatty Argentinian sausage, plus real Cheddar cheese and god knows what else. It was hard to wrap his lips around this thing. Sloppy, messy, tasty, fatty and ultimately satisfying. The cost? 99 pesos. Yup, that’s it.

Service at Elevation was fast-food style although they did make an (inconsistent) effort to have someone open the door for arriving or departing guests. Ambience again was fast food-y and instead of orange and white, the colors were blue and white. The kitchen is open and clean.

Service at Angry Angus was amazingly good, considering you are really out on the street. Ambience is, well, out on the street. There is a TV, of course, and you can see the giant grill off to one side where a host of burger people are busily cranking out the wares.

The winner of this smackdown? Based on taste, service and price, the clear winner is Angry Angus. Go tonight, the place opens at 7 PM.

Links and more info:

Elevation Burger: https://www.facebook.com/ElevationBurgerMX

Angry Angus: https://www.facebook.com/angryangus.lasmejoreshamburguesasangus/

The Casual Restaurant Critic visits Pilgreen

September 7, 2015Casual Restaurant Critic, Life in the YucatanCasual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, food, fresh, hamburgers, lawsonsyucatan.com, life in Merida, Life in the Yucatan, Merida, merida restaurants, Pilgreen, restaurantes, restaurantes en merida, restaurants, salads, Yucatan, yucatan restaurantsWilliamLawson

A hungry Better Half suggested this oddly-named place for lunch and the Critic found a pleasant locale, friendly service and tasty, fresh and healthy food.

This visit occurred some time ago and so the actual names of the dishes ordered are lost to time (ha ha) but rest assured that if the place is still there, and you are in the neighborhood, it is a stop worthy of your pesos, caloric intake and time.

More info can be found on their Facebook page, here.

The hamburger was fresh, generously served and the chips were crunchy. Not much else to say except that it was a satisfying burger.

Fresh fruit drinks of the day include pitahaya, center

A salad chock full of goodness. Cold and refreshing and filling too.

The Casual Restaurant Critic visits Younghee’s Kitchen

July 4, 2015Casual Restaurant Criticasian, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, korean restaurant, Lawsons Yucatan, lawsonsyucatan.com, life in Merida, Merida, merida restaurants, restaurantes, restaurantes en merida, restaurants, seafood restaurants, Young Hee's Kitchen, yucatan restaurants, yucatan travel, yucatecan restaurantsWilliamLawson

The Casual Restaurant Critic, following the suggestions of Better Half who seems to be trying new restaurants with far more frequency than the Critic these days, visited Younghee’s Kitchen today.

Accompanied by said Better Half, the Critic ate far too much absolutely gorgeous and delicious Korean food and is still feeling the after-effects of the severely spicy and overwhelmingly delicious soup(s) feature in the photos below.

All names have been forgotten but be assured that everything is excellent and the restaurant itself is a gem and would be at home in Miami Beach, Chelsea or Vancouver. Top notch quality throughout and the service is delightful.

This will become a Saturday thing folks, and since the restaurant is only open that day, expect waits and line ups but be patient. It’s worth waiting for.

It’s located near the Cine Colon where the Slow Food Market takes place every Saturday and doors open at 9 AM and close at 4 PM.

The Casual Restaurant Critic at Eureka!

May 6, 2015Casual Restaurant Critic, Life in the Yucatanbella roma, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, comida italiana, due torri, elmaloso, eureka, food, italian, itzimna, Lawsons Yucatan, lawsonsyucatan.com, life in Merida, Life in the Yucatan, Merida, merida restaurants, oliva, restaurantes, restaurantes en merida, restaurants, William Lawson, Yucatan, yucatan restaurants, yucatan travel, yucatecan restaurantsWilliamLawson

Some finicky Lawson guests as well as many friends and acquaintances have all raved about Eureka and so, it is more than appropriate that the Critic take note and see what all the fuss is about.

Once again accompanied by the ever-present and charming Better Half, the Critic visited on a Sunday and experienced this latest Italian entry into the Merida restaurant scene first-hand. And what a great experience it was!

The Critic and BH we welcomed at the door by smiling faces that seemed genuinely pleased to receive new lunch guests. This is remarkable when you consider how many times your welcome at a restaurant seems less than cordial, or perhaps at some of these places they already know it’s the cranky Critic and are preparing for the worst.

Chef Fabrizio stopped by the table and said hello and told the Critic a little about where he had worked before and so on. Friendly chit chat that just seemed natural.

The menu is interesting in that all of the appetizers aka aperitivi, all priced the same, making it easy both for customers and wait staff to figure out the bill. Salads and soups too.

But you readers want to know what the Critic thought of the food, right? Well let’s just say it was/is sublime. Absolutely lip-smacking, finger-licking and palate-pleasing-ly scrumptious.

Mixed olive appetizer. And those garlic pieces.

To start, an appetizer of mixed olives with cured garlic (above) that sent Better Half to the moon and back, followed by an amazing mixed salad of the day and an asparagus/prosciutto/mozzarella appetizer that featured a fresh and creamy mozzarella cheese with a texture that straddled the line between fresh cream and soft cheese. You could have eaten it with a spoon and it was delicious!

Mozzarella, Prosciutto e Asparagi

Mesticanza del Giorno

Then, the main courses of salmon and pasta. The pasta is not the most photogenic of plates, but the Critic can assure you that this house specialty is an absolutely mouthwatering combination of flavors and textures. The pasta was a tiny bit inconsistent in texture, as in a few pieces a bit more al dente than others, but nothing to lose sleep over. The ragu sauce was so good!

The perfectly grilled salmon was dressed up with a fresh pea and leek puree sauce, and also outstanding. Even better, if that is possible, were the roasted potatoes served alongside the fish. These would be fantastic for breakfast with a little bacon a la German bratkartoffeln.

Riccioli Eureka

Salmone alla Flavia

And dessert? Well it had to be tried, although there was really no room whatsoever left at this point. The tiramisu is amazing.

Eureka is on Facebook and their address is there, as well as on the sign in the photo below.

If you are a fan of Oliva, Bella Roma or even Due Torri, you will definitely enjoy this new Italian restaurant that pushes the envelope yet again and raises the bar for anyone contemplating opening another Italian eatery in Merida. Grazie, Fabrizio e Vero!

Casual Restaurant Critic at Los Frailes, Comida Yucateca en Conkal UPDATE 2019-CLOSED

March 7, 2015Casual Restaurant CriticCasual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, comida yucateca, Conkal, life in Merida, Life in the Yucatan, Los Frailes, Mani, Merida, merida restaurants, restaurantes en merida, Yucatan, yucatecan food, yucatecan restaurantsWilliamLawson

UPDATE – This restaurant has now been CLOSED for some time. Unfortunate, as the food and ambience were pretty decent and in a different sort of location, away from the city.

Many people have recommended the Critic visit Los Frailes, a pretty Yucatecan restaurant located in the village of Conkal, somewhat off the highway between Merida and Progreso.

With the always charming Better Half and on this occasion accompanied by members of the Vergara family (Sofia’s long lost Atlanta relatives) the Critic sampled the cuisine in the name of research and for the benefit of his 21 readers.

Upon arriving, an unsmiling, perhaps apprehensive, person of the male persuasion awaited to welcome the group with the question “Have you been here before?” said not as a welcoming comment but rather as a prelude to the next sentence which was “it’s that we don’t accept credit cards”.

OK, good to know and nice to see you as well.

The restaurant has an outdoor terrace and a small-ish interior which features air conditioned and enough hard surfaces to ensure a high level of noise which is always unpleasant and as the weather was conducive to outdoor dining, a table on the terrace was chosen.

Service was adequate and the ambiance pleasant. The food, which is traditional Yucatecan cuisine, is varied and offers all manner of classics as well as some the Critic hadn’t heard of before like the niños envueltos which are stuffed cabbage rolls that one can suppose look like children wrapped in green blankets, if those children were then covered with some sort of sauce.

The photos will show that each of the food items is very attractively and artfully presented but in the Critic’s never humble opinion the taste of these pretty morsels was somewhat lacking. Better-tasting Yucatecan food has been enjoyed at the Principe Tutul Xiu in Mani or Kinich in Izamal. Even the uneven Chaya Maya in downtown Merida has better-tasting food. Not to say it was awful – it wasn’t. It just wasn’t great.

Sikil Pak was a little on the sour side, and runnier than the Critic would like.

Brazo de Reina, artfully presented.

Empanadas

Tortitas: fried corn masa and chaya bits

Holoches. More fried masa covered in beans.

Hmm.

Niños envueltos aka cabbage rolls.

Queso napolitano or flan for dessert.

Casual Restaurant Critic at Sushi Roll

February 21, 2015Casual Restaurant Critic, Life in the Yucatanasian restaurants in Merida, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, critic, galeria mall, Galerias, Liverpool, nigiri, rolls, sushi, sushi roll, unagi, William Lawson, YucatanWilliamLawson

What is it with the avalanche of sushi reviews! The Critic loves sushi, so no sushi place in Merida gets passed over without at least one visit form the cantankerous Critic and Sushi Roll, recommended to the Critic by the always delightful and insightful BeachWebGourmet power couple, is no exception.

Well the Critic and Better Half, accompanied on this occasion by MiniCritic and QuebecGuest, visited this new-ish sushi option located in the space formerly occupied by the defunct Sushi en Banda, which means sushi on little tracks that whizzed around the restaurant and not sushi in a gang in case you were wondering. In the Galeria aka Liverpool mall, directly above Chili’s and overlooking Merida’s only ice skating rink where you can watch the occasional hockey game or figure skaters practicing.

The welcome at Sushi Roll, a Mexican sushi restaurant chain, was cordial, and our hostess who turned out to also be our waitress, was the most pleasant person and extremely attentive to the point of almost overdoing it. At one point she took the time to stand behind each diner and fold the paper envelope the chopsticks came in into little chopstick stands.

What about the sushi you ask?

Well the Critic was less then impressed with the quality of the sushi. The rolls were colorful and nicely presented. The salmon skin roll was not salmon skin enough, with just a bit tucked into the rice which made each piece look like it had been smushed on top of a mosquito. Unagi (eel) was not warm, which is always a nice detail and was something that stood out at Hamachi and Miyabi. The nigiris were fine, but the Hamachi restaurant offered slightly larger fish portions and it was colder, which when dealing with fresh fish is a big plus, in the Critic’s never humble opinion. The specialty rolls all included the usual cream cheese which was omitted as per the tables request, but in general all were too sweet and tasted too much alike.

Overall, the service was superior to Miyabi (not a stretch) but about the same in terms of attentiveness to the needs of the table as Hamachi. The fish just tasted better, was colder (and warmer in the case of the eel) and portions were slightly more generous at Hamachi.

Prices were high, and it is probably going to be a while before the Critic goes back, unfortunately.

Enjoy the photos!

Calamari, tempura style, were fine.

Lots of fruit on this one.

A little light on the eel.

Sunset or sunrise roll

Eel and toasted almonds was less excellent than expected from the description

Biggest disappointment of the evening was the duck roll. Chewy, not crispy and kind of off-putting.

The Casual Restaurant Critic revisits SOMA, now in Merida. Multiple mouthgasms result.

December 19, 2014Casual Restaurant CriticCasual Restaurant Critic, comida, comida en merida, comida yucateca, food, grits, hush puppies, Lawsons Yucatan, lawsonsyucatan.com, life in Merida, merida restaurants, restaurantes en merida, shrimp, soma, southern cooking, William Lawson, YucatanWilliamLawson

If you didn’t read the previous great reviews on SOMA you can have a look at them here and here.

SOMA, run by the talented Alberto and dulce Linde, is a restaurant that really stands out from Merida’s other restaurant offerings not just because of the food, which is truly extraordinary, but also the warm and fuzzy (and authentic) attention you get from the owners and staff alike.

The Critic won’t get into an entire review again, because it is just as good as ever and the new Merida location is a blessing to those who live in the formerly white city and are too lazy to trek out to Chelem (that location is closed by the way – sorry beach people).

On this occasion, Better Half and the Critic made it simple. Looking at the appetizers, it was decided to just order one of each. Six in total and each one better than the last. The grits with Spanish chorizo and sauteed shrimp were outstanding and Better Half raved about the calabaza soup, a creamy concoction bursting with squash flavor. The salad with real oysters and Spanish chorizo, the warm bread and butter, the ginger peach tea – everything was absolutely scrumptious.

This restaurant is heads and shoulders above what some of the more ‘famous’ restaurants in Merida are offering, no offense.

Directions to this restaurant (in a car) are below the photos. Note that there will be a Christmas Eve day serving as well as New Years Day brunch. What a perfect way to start 2015, ¿no creen?

Hush puppies!

Mac and cheese (and bacon, yum)

Crispy oysters on a salad

Squash soup!

Close-up of the salad

Grits, SOMA style

The famous cookie w ice cream dessert

Coming north from el centro along Montejo, turn left at the Burger King fountain and the silly underpass. Note: you need to get in your right lane to do the roundabout and make that left. Proceed to Calle 60, where you will turn right. At the calle 21 lights (car wash on your right), make a left, cross the train tracks and calle 60 and straight ahead on calle 21 for a block to where the trees are. SOMA is on your right.

Coming south on Montejo from the beaches, turn right on calle 21 (burnt out Parisina textile store and Waldo’s on your right) and proceed to the lights at calle 60. Go straight over the train tracks and 60 and then about a block down, where the trees are, is where SOMA is, on your right.

Giant Burger and Best Service Ever.

October 29, 2014Casual Restaurant Criticangry angus, bella roma, better half, Casual Restaurant Critic, comida, donde comer, hamburgers, hamburguesas, Las Americas, Lawsons Yucatan, meat lovers, Merida, restaurants, where to eat, YucatanWilliamLawson

The Casual Restaurant Critic has one beef (complaint) and it is this: service at restaurants and almost anywhere in Merida generally sucks. Of course there are individual exceptions; persons that have an innate ability to be welcoming, warm and and genuinely kind and are capable of making one feel welcome and taken care of. But at the institutional level, from the owner on down, where everyone in the organization is on the same page, this is rare to non-existent.

That is why it was such a surprise to find three different people at the same burger joint, called Angus in Las Americas, all acting in unison, one nicer than the other, and probably providing the Critic and BH with the best service had anywhere recently, including all the pretentious gringo franchises whose owners think that their fancy location and name will be enough and the higher end places that are slacking off in general. Not to mention all the others in the middle to lower end of the gastronomic spectrum.

One or more of the loyal readers of this column will ask about the location of this place, so here is a link to their Facebook page complete with photos, menu, phone number and address. Go try it for yourself and see if the service is as good as it was on this visit. In any case, the hamburger was amazingly good.

https://www.facebook.com/angryangus.lasmejoreshamburguesasangus?fref=ts

And too bad for Bella Roma as they open too late for the late afternoon “I’m starving feed me NOW” crowd.