Tag Archives: michelada

El Pez Gordo – Monterrey Style Seafood in Merida – This One’s a Keeper!

After a recent – and stomach stretching – visit to the Casual Restaurant Critics favorite Merida sushi restaurant, Miyabi, who continue to remain in the running for the Slowest Waiter in Merida Oscar, the Better Half pointed out a new restaurant right next door, called El Pez Gordo (literally, the big fish) which looked very eclectic and hip. The Critic and BH popped inside for a better look and wow! The place looks amazing; a funky bar counter covered in colorful broken tile, plenty of mirrors, themed vinyl decorations and phrases on the wall and loud rock music and the most friendly of owners, who hails from Chiapas but lived in Monterrey and wanted to bring some of that cuisine to Merida.

Seafood in Monterrey you ask? Yes, and the Critic reviewed the fabulous Pacifica restaurant there.

Today, it was the El Pez Gordos turn for a visit and the food did not disappoint! Not at all, not even close. It was amazingly delicious and fresh; nothing like yet another seafood restaurant with the same old tired creations.

To start, a warm shrimp broth in a little cup to open up the stomach and get the gastric juices flowing. Then, three scrumptious appetizers and three orders of delectable seafood tacos for the Critic and his beloved Better Half washed down with an icy Coke and a spicy Michelada were enough to convince both that this was their new favorite seafood restaurant in Merida!

First up was a mixed seafood ceviche, featuring shrimp, fish, calamar and octopus soaked and cooked in lime juice. The twist here was that there was also mango, jicama and pineapple chunks in that ceviche! Refreshingly cool and different and very good. Then, a pair of calamares stuffed with shrimp, cooked in a very spicy tomato-y sauce and served on a bed of guacamole. Hot, spicy and bursting with flavor, these were the best of the three appies. The third appetizer was a crunchy corn tostada topped with a smoked tuna and mayo salad and garnished with raw red cabbage. Unusual and pretty to look at, but the tuna was a little overpowered by the mayo, although I would order this dish again without hesitation if it wasn’t for the fact that there are a hundred more little items on the menu that need to be sampled first.

The tacos were delicious and the Critic cannot, unfortunately, recall their names, but one that stands out even now, several hours later, was a shrimp, chorizo, onion and tomato concoction that came in a melted cheese tortilla. That’s right, a melted cheese “tortilla” and it was absolutely fantastic.

Service today was a little on the slow side, but not as bad as our friends next door. And the bill? About 13 dollars per person for the meal described. Highly recommended!!


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Los Barriles, Chicxulub, Yucatan

Back in the Yucatan and away from all that Vancouver pan-asian-ness, the Casual Restaurant Critic had good reason to be in Chicxulub at 5 in the afternoon and found Los Barriles open for business. The owners were lounging about and the waiters were entertained by new flat screen TV´s hanging on the walls.

While enjoying the National Geographic Channel in Spanish and learning all about municipal cowboys in Delhi that are charged with clearing the bovines from the streets, the Critic enjoyed a crispy and deliciously white-meat tender boquinete – which is called hog fish on the menu in English (no idea if this is correct) – in the classic ‘pescado frito’ format, where they clean the fish, cut a few diagonal slashes on either side and throw it, head and fins intact, into a vat of bubbling oil. The result is pure fish-lovers heaven. Highly recommended, even if you can only get the more readily available grouper aka mero which is a bit dryer.

Before the fish arrived, and while the Nat Geo channel was still in Bangladesh, the Critic had a refreshing Modelo Especial michelada accompanied by 3 botanas; a crab/fish mayonnaise salad, minced shark cooked in a tomato sauce and a cold rice that resembled a paella, Chicxulub style. All good and served with tostadas that were actually crispy.

Cost of a meal like this – plus a Coca Cola for dessert – for one person? $155 pesos before tip. It’s good to be home.