Tag Archives: merida restaurants

Hacienda Misne, Indigo Hotel

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , , , , ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic wanted to try something completely off the beaten path and since reading a decent review of a breakfast had by fellow neurotic blogger Gorbman, he thought he would take his Better Half for dinner there.

The hacienda is beautiful, from what one could see at night; completely at odds with the surrounding area, near to where you leave Merida for Cancun, which could optimistically be described using the local term ‘popular’.

Every staff member the Critic and BH came into contact with was extremely friendly, courteous and helpful, not only parking the car but escorting the two to the restaurant.

A little of everything was ordered in order to sample the most of a modest menu (compared to the myriad offerings from the Da Vinci restaurant review previously, this one is bare-bones!) and unfortunately, in spite of being hungry, the food was not particularly good. It looks like someone is trying to create some interesting food in the kitchen, without really being able to get the final results to have any flavor!

The mushrooms could have benefited from an additional dash of salt or a dollop of minced garlic or something to bring out their flavor. The BH ordered the Ensalada del Patrón (The Bosses Salad) which she enjoyed while the Critic ate a Caesar Salad which, although better than the Trotters version which has nothing to do with a real Caesar Salad, lacked the anchovies and garlic that a good Caesar salad should have. Or don’t call it a Caesar.

For the main course, BH ordered ‘stuffed bananas’ and the Critic Rollo Campesina. The banana dish was not hot and was sent back with no complaints from the service staff which were most accommodating. It’s taste was rather lackluster as was the stuffed chicken whose saving grace was that it was bacon-wrapped and everyone knows that anything can taste better when you add bacon.  BH thought that the sliced, cooked bananas over the ground meat underneath were a little under-ripe and took away from the dish.

The Critic thinks this would be a decent place for breakfast and will try it again, in the morning. This will also give him a good chance to check out the grounds around this tree-filled oasis. For dinner however (and lunch, it’s the same menu) the Critic would recommend staying away until some changes are announced in the kitchen.

The austere dining room at the Hacienda Misne

Sauteed mushroom appetizer

Caesar Salad

Platanos Rellenos entree

Stuffed Chicken Breast entree

La Tradicion Yucatecan restaurant

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic and his Better Half once again enjoyed a fantastic Yucatecan lunch at La Tradicion on Merida’s calle 60.

The restaurant has finally been enlarged, almost doubling it’s original capacity, and this new space was also full with visitors.

Great food, good service as usual.

And don’t be alarmed if you see machine guns and armed police; it’s to protect the US consulate nearby.

Eladios Progreso

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , , , ,

After sitting at the San Marino restaurant in Progreso waiting on a clueless waiter, the Critic took his guests to Eladios, and the group was not disappointed!

Abundant botana is served with each round of drinks including papadzules, little polcanes and kibis (photos) and one of the better dishes ordered was the shrimp al ajillo (photo), which is garlic and guajillo chile; a little spicy and a lot tasty!

That last photo is of a little girl who was swimming in Eladio’s little pool – the water was really quite disgusting – next to the restaurant, and kept asking the Critic and Better Half to count up to three so she could jump in the water.

Great food and even better service! Highly recommended.

Rosas y Xocolate for Dinner

Casual Restaurant Critic, , ,

After getting such a good impression from their breakfast the other day (the review got lost on this blog as old stuff was imported from blogger.com – oops) and hearing nothing but raves, the Critic invited the always gracious Better Half out for dinner at Rosas y Xocolate.

It was a Saturday so the Critic called ahead to reserve a table for two. “Inside or out?”  Inside, since it was a bit ‘chilly’ by Yucatecan standards. A few moments later, a phone call to inform the Critic that the restaurant was full inside; would the interior patio be OK. Fine. Packed an additional layer of warmth and off to dinner!

Upon arrival, a hostess at the door either didn’t understand the Critic (he mumbles occasionally) or was so distracted by the amount of people inside that it was not immediately clear that she knew about the reservation. Another hostess-like person appeared and took the Critic and BH to a small table for two in the interior patio area, where a lovely, quiet breakfast had been had before.

However, this Saturday night the place was far from quiet; Rosas y Xocolate was packed, and not just with tables of 2 or 4; most were tables of 6 to 12 people, raucously celebrating perhaps their good fortune at having been born into the ‘haves’ category. Waiters ran this way and that, trays in hand while the hostesses moved among the tables with their arms behind their backs, seating people at the few remaining tables. The owner himself moved smoothly among the tables like a grey wolf, patting arms and chatting with his guests.

After about 10 minutes of sitting at the table, listening to what was obviously a talented singer doing the usual bar/lounge classics at a volume inappropriate to the space involved, the Critic and BH debated leaving since no one had actually acknowledged the fact that the table was now occupied. The Critic decided that it would be an interesting experience to see how long it took to get some service. Another 10 minutes passed before the owner showed up at the table to ask if everything was alright, at which time the Critic and BH mentioned that a menu or a drink would be a nice touch.

Watching the action, the Better Half noted that the staff were running around like ‘chickens with their heads cut off’.

To make a long story (and wait) short, it was 40 minutes before anything edible arrived at the table in the form of the restaurants’ homemade bread and this only happened because the Critic literally stopped a busboy passing by who has a tray of bread and some pats of butter.

The food, six appetizers chosen from the menu, was fantastic.

A duck salad, sauteed shrimp, fried octopus, beef carpaccio, palmitos and salmon chunks on crispy wontons were brought out in twos and each was exquisite, especially the octopus and the salmon.

But the service throughout was haphazard and extremely unorganized from what could be observed. Of particular concern was the cleaning lady who passed the table at least 7 times on her way to and from the bathrooms, wearing one white latex glove with which she apparently cleaned the garbage baskets in the bathrooms, and carrying everything from the mentioned waste baskets with toilet paper in them, fresh and or dirty towels depending on the direction she was walking, toilet paper rolls etc. BH commented that this was the first time she had ever seen something like this and was absolutely fascinated in an unbelieving and incredulous way that this could even happen in a restaurant of any caliber.

In short, Rosa y Xocolate is a fine place for dinner, but the Critic recommends not going on a Saturday night when the place is packed.

S’Tai Restaurant – Review by Chris

Casual Restaurant Critic, Inspired, , , , , , , , ,

Hi William. I check out your reviews whenever I’m looking for some place decent to eat out in Merida. We’ve been curious about S*Tai for a long time and finally went last night. Have you been there and did you review it? I didn’t see a review if you did.

We were pleasently surprised – very nice tuna encrusted with black sesame appetizer (but small – order something additional if you’re hungry,) chicken with green curry – overly spicey and salty BUT edible. Last but not least – a delicious Pad Thai (with pretty hefty grilled shrimp) – that was the highlight of the night. It was the one thing we ate that pretty much hit the mark on authentic thai cuisine.

The decors is nice, modern, very loungy and comfortable. Typcial yucatecan service…..after carefully reviewing the menu and the special card that was laid on the table, we were ready to order and ordered the scallops that were on the special card. Of course – they were out of scallops – something the waiter should have mentioned when he laid the special card on the table. Lots of waiters and bus boys walking around but no one got around to cleaning the wet noodles off of the table and we had to track people down whenever we needed anything additional (like a glass of water.) We were the ONLY table in the restraurant – you’d think that they would have been more attentive to our needs. Oh well……can’t have EVERYTHING!

Chris

Welcome to LawsonsYucatan!

Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you have found this then you are on the new William Lawson Yucatan site!

This will be the new repository for all things related to William Lawson and my take on life in the Yucatan, which dates from the NotTheNews days to the elmaloso blog to the Casual Restaurant Critic blog. This is over 10 years of writing about life here. Eventually, it will all be here.

The immediate priority is to get the theme (the look of this WordPress blog) working, and then transfer content from the other online areas and sites to ‘populate’ this one. Sort of a one-stop for all things related to the topic of life in Merida or Yucatan, from a neurotic foreigners point of view.

Comment at will and spread the word!

Ca d’Oro – Italian in Merida, Yucatan

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , ,

The Critic and Co. had lunch yesterday at the new Ca d’Oro Italian restaurant, located in that plaza on Prolongación Montejo where Carls Jr hamburgers (formerly Checkers) is located, across from the giant Interceramic tile store.

The Critic had read a good review on gorbman.com and so was excited to have the opportunity to give this relatively new restaurant a try.

The two appetizers ordered, suppli al telefono and melanzana were good; the melanzana or eggplant was rich hearty and very satisfying while the best part of the suppli was the great presentation in a paper cone. Others in the party thought the suppli a little bland, but the accompanying cooked tomato sauce perked the little rice/cheese balls nicely.

For main courses:

  • an abundant fusilli in a tomato sauce which, according to it’s owner, was good;
  • a roast duck with a lemon sauce;
  • a Pecorino cheese pizza;
  • and the Critic had the tagliatelle with panna and prosciutto.

Overall, reviews were generally good on the food. The pizza and the duck were outstanding, while the tagliatelle was quite bland. If it hadn’t been for the prosciutto, it would have tasted like not much of anything.

Bread seemed homemade and was warm, crispy and light; while the three accompanying butters (habanero, chile de arbol and garlic) were very good although it could be that the butter was actually margarine, if such a thing were possible in the Ca d’Oro.

As usual, the Critic is critical of the service. If you are tired of reading this same old criticism of Merida’s restaurants, stop reading here and go outside and play.

But it seems that the owners of Ca d’Oro have spent a lot of thought, time and money on the decoration, the menu and some wonderful food. The waiter was slow, charmless and not particularly knowledgeable. When asked when the restaurant opened, he seemed unsure and said ‘it’s my understanding that they opened about year ago’. When asked is they had mineral water his answer was ‘yes’. When asked further what kind of mineral water, he replied ‘Perrier’. When asked if they had Pelegrino he replied ‘yes’. Upon returning to the table to remove finished plates, he went on just a little too much about how it was evident that the group enjoyed the food (the empty plates).

If this is nitpicking, so be it. But one only has to have dinner at La Recova, or for really outstanding service, La Dolce Vita in Cancun, to see what a difference well-trained, knowledgeable and professional waiters make.

Final verdict? Try it yourself. There are a lot of items on their menu and the Critic is sure that there are some real gems in there.

What’s the Name of this Fondue Restaurant?

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , ,
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.

The Trotters Burger Trio

Casual Restaurant Critic, , ,

At this time of the year, Merida restaurants respond to the decline in attendance by offering promotions and specials, especially for those husbands or spouses that have to stay and work in Merida while the rest of the family vacations in and around Progreso. These husbands have no one at home to ‘serve’ them their lunch and so the restaurateurs of the formerly white city take it upon themselves to fill in for the duration.

One of these is Trotters, who have an excellently priced lunch special that runs around $150 pesos or so and includes a soup, refillable refresco, a main course and a dessert.

The Critic and his Better Half had the opportunity to sample this lunch the other day. The verdict? Take it or leave it.

The service was really rough at the beginning with an extended gap between the seating and the appearing of a menu and the offer of a drink. Drink refills were sporadic. Appetizer delivery was clueless; the busboy offered the appetizer to an adjacent table (where the diners were finishing their main courses), did not look around and headed back to the kitchen where the appetizer remained for quite some time.

Air conditioning was minimal, making it just a little uncomfortable with the humid heat Merida is suffering these days.

The soup, a cream of asparagus, was too obviously made with Carnation canned milk. The Mini Burger Trio however, was excellent. Juicy and tasty, each little burger had its own little theme going on.

The Critic can not really say that this is a Do Not Miss promotion. Take it or leave it.