Tag Archives: maya de asia

Lagos – Taberna Griega

June 13, 2022Casual Restaurant Criticcarol, dinner, greek food, lagos taverna griega, lunch, maya de asia, restaurantes, Rosas y Xocolate, taberna, tzaztikiWilliamLawson

At last – good Greek food in Merida!

In the north of the city, in the mall known as Harbor, where the new Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores is located (passport office) and the mall with very possibly the worst parking lot in the history of shopping centers, is the new Lagos – Taberna Griega.

Opened this past June 10th, this new gourmet Greek food option is under the watchful eye of local restaurateur Carol Kolozs (Rosas & Xocolate, Maya de Asia) who never does anything small. “Go big or go home” seems to be his motto and this new endeavor is no exception.

The room is spectacular, with murals, colors and furniture that evoke a real Greek taberna. The service is friendly and quick, and they will soon get more experience under their belts. The food? It is glorious.

Better Half and this Critic started on the appetizers and didn’t get much further than that. The table quickly filled up with Greek salad, sagani, tzatziki, lamb souvlaki and a seafood frito mixto. The portions are massive and it was hard work to empty these plates but the flavors are so very delicious that one simply can not stop.

Souvlaki – detail
Frito Mixto (seafood)

A second visit is already planned to continue the appetizer exploration and/or start sampling the main courses. The bakery, which is visible behind glass from the dining area, looks promising and also warrants a third visit. There is a strong rumor that there will be breakfasts coming soon to Lagos so this will present another opportunity to work through the menu and enjoy a moment.

Afterwards, with absolutely no room for a dessert, Critic and Better Half finished with a shot of Ouzo and left.

This dinner for two, with a pair of excellent cocktails to start and mineral waters throughout, came to $2500 pesos with a tip. It’s not La Susana prices, but then this is the real deal if you are looking for Greek flavors.

A Second Visit to Maya de Asia

February 23, 2020Life in the Yucatanas comidas, buena comida, carol, Casual Restaurant Critic, cenar, comer, comida, harbor, home made, jantar, karol, maya de asia, Merida, merida sushi, pato, restaurantes, restaurants, rosa del sur, Rosas y Xocolate, viagem, YucatanWilliamLawson

The Critic loved that duck so when another opportunity arrived to go eat at Maya de Asia, well, he was all over that idea. This time with the MiniCritic and BetterHalf to better sample more dishes (besides the aforementioned duck) the late lunch early dinner was great.

With the first-date wow factor somewhat diminished, the Critic had time to notice other things besides the mostly spectacular food. The waiters are somewhat professional and friendly enough but they don’t seem, well, happy. Perhaps they get shat on a lot or they are practicing their all-black-uniform ‘cool’ thing, but they don’t seem to be having a particularly good time. Yes, it’s a job, but in a nice place with a great kitchen and whatnot, you would think a few more smiles would grace the faces of these servers.

The other thing the Critic took notice of was the weird bathrooms on the second level. The restaurant is so expansive and grandiose, that these mini bathrooms seem like an afterthought. It’s almost like – as Mini Critic pointed out – that perhaps the architect was so concentrated on creating an award-winning design and interior treatment that he or she forgot about the bathrooms and this was the only space left. Who knows.

Enjoy the photos and don’t let potentially sad wait staff or a climb to the bathroom put you off. Try this place and enjoy the experience, which is totally worth it.

The Casual Restaurant Critic at Maya de Asia

January 28, 2020Life in the YucatanCasual Restaurant Critic, comida en merida, comida yucateca, duck, fine dining, flashy, food, harbor, Lawsons Yucatan, mall, maya de asia, merida restaurants, restaurantes en merida, seafood, sikil pak, yucatan restaurantsWilliamLawson

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!