Tag Archives: pizza

The Casual Restaurant Critic – Quick Picks and Pans

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It has been some time since the last entry in the Casual Restaurant Critic’s online ranting journal and so, post-pandemic and with renewed interest, the Critic puts forth a number of short and sweet reviews. Please note that you can also see these on Instagram now, consisting of a short blurb with some photos to get the latest takes on some Merida favorites and then some.

Eureka

Located in the Itzimná area, next to the Mexpost post office (does anyone even use the horrendous postal service anymore?) Eureka has been the Critic’s favorite go-to for the longest time and several recent visits confirm that this place is still in the number one spot on the Critic’s list. Fine home-crafted dishes along with impeccable, personalized service in a tiny restaurant that always feels like home, make for a perfect outing whether it’s lunch with clients or significant other, evening dinners with friends and loved ones, or a scrumptious solo meal before heading home to an empty fridge. Highly recommended, always.

Carbonara, done right – Eureka

Due Torri

Another entry in the Italian cuisine category, this place is STILL around after decades of delighting people with great, authentic food. Service is as professional as it i going to get in Merida and the pastas taste authentic. Located across from the Cri Cri pre-school and near Plaza Fiesta, this restaurant is worth visiting if Eureka is full up.

Wine and dressings
Puttanesca – Due Torri

Pizza Neo

Located just off 47 on or in the so-called Remate del Paseo de Montejo, this place had some great reviews so the Critic had to try it out. Ordering a Margherita pizza (just the basics) was a good choice. The crust was perfect, the cheese was fine and the basil was, well basil. Where it didn’t quite come together was in the sauce. On such a simple pizza the sauce has to shine and this one did not provide the oomph that would change this pizza from a casual good to lip-smacking outstanding. Looks amazing though.

Margherita Pizza – Neo

La Quinta de Elena Roldan

This place is on the highway to Progreso, right across from the Coliseo, that concert venue with the stadium feel and hard plastic on concrete seating where you can see once-famous Mexican pop stars on their giras de despedida (goodbye tours) and the Critic has been there on a few occasions but it never seems to gel and there is something about the place that is a little shall we say different. Anyway, on this occasion, the Critic ordered a beer and a pizza and while it was fine, it wasn’t going to win any pizza awards any time soon. They do have a great ceviche and the beers are cold, so stick with that and forgo the pizza.

Pizza w Bacon and a few other items -Quinta de Elena Roldan

Refettorio Merida

The Refettorio is tucked in here because it is a place where one can certainly eat, but likely readers might (or not) know it because it is a social kitchen designed to feed those who are in a vulnerable state; which could mean homeless, jobless, or just having a bad month.

Run by a core staff and many volunteers (you can be one) the Refettorio, an idea from the mind of Italian chef Massimo Bottura and brought to life in a beautiful restored mansion in Merida by Grupo Palace, headed by hotelier and philanthropist José Chapur, the kitchen churns out 200-300 meals per day to provide people a respite from their problems and enjoy a chef-prepared meal in a dignified, serene environment.

The food is nutritious, colorful, delicious and beautifully presented by guest chefs and kitchen staff/volunteers. If you can, take a day and spend a few hours volunteering here and you will be a better person for it.

Pasta in a Cream Sauce with Grilled Vegetables – Refettorio Merida
Fruit Salad “Xec” First Course – Refettorio Merida

Happy 2022 – The Casual Restaurant Critic Mini-Reviews

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The Critic has been getting out and about, eating here and there but not finding the inspiration or time to write about it. Please add your comments and finger-wagging at the bottom of this post, he would love to hear from you.

As a reward for your feedback, here are a few little takes on some recent culinary outings, complete with a photo or two.

Kinich – Izamal

Always amazing and one of the Critic’s favorites for Yucatecan food. A sure-fire go-to (so many hyphenated words) when you have company from out of town. Great people, great food, and kudos to owner Miriam for hiring mostly female serving staff – a refreshing change in a traditionally male-dominated industry. A solid operation overall.

  • Relleno Negro
  • Queso Relleno

Habaneros

This unassuming restaurant near the convention center Siglo XXI is extremely popular with locals and visitors who come for the excellent breakfasts that are full of flavor and reasonably priced. They have the added attraction of hand-made tortillas and salsas made to order just for you.

  • Huevos Motuleños
  • Benedictinos
  • Salsas
  • Corn Bread

Hennesseys

The Critic hadn’t been here in a while and so was delighted to enjoy a superb curry and guests enjoyed a steak. Service was friendly, Sean was gracious and the beer was excellent.

  • Curry w Shrimp

Zinc

After attending the restaurant’s inauguration, the Critic hadn’t been back to Zinc either and having visitors over Christmas opened up all kinds of not so regular restaurant outings. The food here is much better than you would expect and the service courteous and prompt. The location across from the Museo de Antropologia or Casa Canton or whatever it is this month, is fabulous as you can sit outside and not worry about stray omicron droplets.

Pueblo Pibil

Another favorite and among the top two for Yucatecan cuisine in and around Merida. If you go, go around 1 PM when the food comes out of the pib in back. Their house cocktails are showy and delicious. Try the Xibalba, a study in black. And do say hi to chef Silvio or his daughter chef Silvia.

  • Lomitos and Taquitos
  • Papadzules

Ramiro Cocina

This is the latest restaurant visited by the Critic, based on a recommendation from the fine folks at Yucatan Today. It’s so good, it deserves its own review, coming later.

La Libertad

Breakfast in two locations in the city – check their Facebook for locations and times and such. Great decor and feel to this place, if their service can occasionally be a little disjointed. They are busy, so they have an excuse but also they have been open for a while now and have two locations so some of these issues should be superados by now.

  • Benedictinos Libertad
  • Chilaquiles

Flamante Burger

The Critic had heard about this place and it wasn’t until just very recently that he had a chance to try the burgers they are known for. Fabulous flavor, great presentation and some delicious camote fries/chips as well. Thanks to Romina for great service and definitely another visit or seven is forthcoming to try all the burgers on the menu.

La Quinta de Elena Roldán

This place, just opened and had to be checked out. When the Critic asked what the menu was he was told:

“Son mariscos”

“Ok, ¿cómo los preparan? Tipo Yucatan o Pacifico?”

“Tipo Holbox”

The Critic went with the always gracious and lovely Better Half. The best part of the experience was the live music which was a conjunto of cubanos playing Cuban music in an unamplified setting. So refreshing and they were very good. The food was OK at best -they’re famous for their pizzas apparently – and the best part of the meal was the complimentary shrimp broth (hot) that was served. Service on this occasion was slow, however they were extremely busy (over the Christmas holidays) with extra-large groups seated at tables for up to 16-18 people at a time. Looking around, the people all seemed to be NOT from the Yucatan. A different-looking crowd. Maybe they all came over from Holbox. Who knows.

Another attempt will be made to further check out their menu.

  • They’re famous for their Pizza
  • This is a speciality apparently.
  • The complimentary Shrimp Broth

The Casual Restaurant Critic visits Radio Station Pizza

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Radio Station Pizza

With Better Half (BH) and Cincinnati Girl Invited (CGI)  along for giggles, the Critic visited this brand new pizzeria which is owned by a distant family member.

((begin disclaimer)) If you – dear reader – are wondering what the policy is regarding the reviews of restaurants owned by friends or family, it is this: if the restaurant is crap the Critic will not mention it so as not offend sensibilities and cause massive discussions at Thanksgiving dinners. If it is good however, and worth a visit for the seventeen readers of this column, then the Critic will go ahead and write about it ((end disclaimer))

The view from out front

Back to the Radio Station. It is called Radio Station as the owner – let’s call him Rach for now – is a big fan of all things music. He plays in a band. Has regular jam sessions. Loves rock and has traveled extensively. And he loves pizza. So pizza and music = radio station pizza. Signature pizzas are named after rock songs and there are musical referencesthrough out the simple but functional locale.

Clients w Rach, music and pizza lover (and pizza maker too)

You can also create your own pizza with plenty of ingredients to choose from. These, by the way, are quality ingredients. The cheese (along with the flour) comes from Italy via Mexico DF. Lomo canadiense (not the Critic’s the stuff you put on the pizza) is the real thing. Pepperoni, salami, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes. Rach is not going to Super Aki for his ingredients and when you bite into a slice of the pizza you created and that popped out of his brick oven in 3-5 minutes, you will see that this is what makes these pies taste great.

The crust is thin and if you want it cooked normally, it takes about 3 minutes. If you like it charred and crispier (highly recommended) it will be about 5 minutes.

While you wait you can enjoy the music and drink the home-made jamaica, infused with rosemary and brought to your table in glass bottles (no plastic!). No alcohol license just yet, it appears.

To give you an idea, the Critic, BH and CGI had two pizzas, which are ‘one-size-fits-all’ approx 8 inches or so across. Not too huge. Another pizza was ordered to take home to the MiniCritic, who had not come along on this particular outing, preferring to stay home  andhave the food brought to her as is befitting of the queen she is.

Almost ready for the oven

 

Some meat, gorgonzola, sun dried tomatoes on this one – note the extra crispy crust

parmigiano on top, tomato sauce, basic pizza

The Critic can recommend Radio Station Pizza without hesitation, family member or not.

And do save room for dessert – available right next door at Shüteln – which will be dealt with in a separate review.

The Casual Restaurant Critic at Pizza Rock, Las Vegas USA

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A short visit to the “city of sin” which is such a silly term for the bleached and bland Vegas of plastic malls, outlets full of fake Chinese merchandise you don’t need and fountains of fake breasts bursting out of skimpy outfits in every direction, prompted the Critic to sample some new restaurants along with some perennial favorites.

One of the restaurants falling into the “new” category, at least for this Critic, was one of Vegas’ best pizza joints – Pizza Rock. They have a margherita pizza, Napolitano style and cooked in a 900 degree oven in seconds, approved by the folks in Naples, where it actually received a ‘best pizza’ recognition, no small feat. The Critic had one, luckily it was still available as they only make 73 per day. BetterHalf had a Sausage and Stout pizza with dough that incorporates stout beer (only 23 made each day) which to the Critics tastebuds was a little too sweet.  A Cuatro Carnes pizza for the MiniCritic and the Americano for the CanadianCritic.

The waiter informed the group that this was going to be a lot of food and was appropriately amazed when only two pieces of pizza were left after the feeding frenzy ended.

The pizzas are amazing. Don’t miss this place! There are no photos as the pizzas were devoured before the Critic had a chance to take a picture!

http://pizzarocklasvegas.com/_pages/pr-menu.html

 

Il Casual Restaurant Critic Visita il Ristorante Scatola a Merida

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The Casual Restaurant along with BetterHalf, MiniCritic and NewAdditionCritic  met at the latest pizzeria in Merida, which of late have been popping up all over the place. There was a time when you could only eat pizza at Messinas, then the chains came with their corporate American style pizza, then Boston’s arrive to reaffirm one’s faith in the possibility of a good chain restaurant pizza and then the Italians who were getting tired of sand in their pasta and hurricanes on the Riviera Maya themselves came and said what the hell are all these crappy excuses for pizza and started making the fantastic crispy thin crust version that you can now find all over Merida from El Centro to El Norte (de Merida).

After that run-on sentence, perhaps it’s time for the restaurant critique portion of this essay.

Scatola is the newest of the Italian thin crust pizza places, having just opened the day before yesterday. In fact, there was no one else in the restaurant except for one table and the hosting and wait staff was apparently glad to see someone and made a real effort to be welcoming and friendly. As is always the case in Merida restaurants, a solid training program would make these friendly people much more professional and basic errors, such as reaching across the front of the client to place a glass on his/her left therefore subjecting said client to back, shoulder and arm in face as well as thumb getting dangerously close to food on plate, could be avoided.

The food, mainly appetizers and pizzas, was great. The mushroom appy has real, thick and juicy mushrooms, cooked to plump perfection with chipotle chile and what the Critic supposes is olive oil. Delicioso. The salmon carpaccio is not razor thin and could be a little more marinated/flavorful for the Critics’ taste, but if this is the way they make it here, who is he to argue. Critic prefers the La Tratto version of this dish, where it is thinner and has a little more flavor for some reason. The third appetizer was the Mejillones al Tequila. It seems that mussels are another item that is popping up on menus all over Merida and while these ones are very tasty indeed (and huge), the flavor of the spicy cream sauce of the mussels at Hennesseys are still the Critics favorite. However, the Scatola mussels hold up well in comparison, especially if you can tilt the dish they are in and get some of that broth to dribble over each mussel before popping it into your mouth.

Pizza: The group ordered three pizzas. A vegetarian pizza, which looked really great but the Critic wasn’t in the mood for anything remotely health-friendly; a Spanish pizza, with fresh red onions on top of some ham, olives and other goodies and the BetterHalf favorite: the Cold Cuts Pizza. Pizza de carnes frias, which was a sodium packed treat with delicious and quality cold cuts like jamon (not FUD or BAFAR brands thank you very much).

Now the more careful reader among you might be thinking “How can this pizza be the BetterHalf’s favorite since they just opened the day before?” Well it turns out that Scatola is a chain of restaurants operating under the same name, with locations in Campeche and Puebla, among others, and BetterHalf had eaten at the Campeche location and loved it.

No desserts were ordered as the food was just too filling and there was nothing light and fresh on the menu; mostly cheesecake, creamy things that one would need to leave room for. A sweet clericot was offered for dessert, compliments of the house. Very nice.

A couple of glasses of over-chilled Concha y Toro wine (some confusion exists about which wines are available by the glass) and some refrescos and the food above, came to 900 pesos for four people.

La Scatola is located across from Tacos PM on the Prolongación del Paseo de Montejo, in that part of the city that some new NOB arrivals don’t like to visit because it’s not the “real” Merida. And you all know how the cantankerous Mr. Lawsons feels about that misguided perception so the Critic will not comment further.

Enjoy your pizza!

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What the Heck is a Beachstro Anyway?

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It’s a cross between a bistro and a beach, that’s what!

So, as the Casual Restaurant Critic had far too much time on his hands and while surfing the internet for food porn he stopped by Facebook and read about a Beachstro and then read about homemade Rocky Road Ice Cream.

Rocky Road Ice Cream!

“Gotta have me some of that” thought the Critic and away he went.

Turns out this here beachstro is not really a bistro but it is on the beach (between Chuburna and Chelem to be exact) and by golly they have pizzas too so the Critic got hisself some of that as well. They bake ’em fresh right there in a big old pizza oven right there in their kitchen too! And the Critic did taste it and found it to be good. The Rocky Road Ice Cream was tasted and it too, passed the test with flying colors.

Now, Cil (or Sil) and Michael said their crust didn’t work out that well that day but you know what, the Critic’s gonna say it was pretty darn good. It’s hard to eat pizza and drive especially with all the new regulations about what y’all are supposed to and not supposed to be doing while you’re driving, but the Critic did pull it off. Also ice cream eatin’ is a challenge, but he’s got that down as well. It’s getting a Tweet in there between bites that’s real hard.

Here’s their Facebook info:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002413601305

Now there ain’t nowhere to set down and eat right there, but you can get it all to go. So if you are gettin’ just a little tired of eatin’ fried fish for the Nth time on your summer vacation at the beach, well you just go and order yourself some pizza and ice cream.

You can buy the house too, if you want. Ice cream not included.

Rafaellos Pizza

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One word: Go!

Well, that (above) was the original post. Pizza, the Casual Restaurant Critic has found, is like wine or your favorite sexual position; everyone has an opinion and they are convinced that their choice is the best. If you like your pizzas with an ultra thin crust, baked to perfection in a wood fired oven to the point where they have little pockets of black charring in some places on the crust, covered with ingredients of the finest quality including delicious meats like Italian sausage, salamis and prosciutto and fine cheeses from Gorgonzola to Parmigiano, then Rafaellos Pizzeria will be your pizzeria of choice from now on.

The Critic has often said that Bostons Pizza makes what is probably Meridas best pizza, and theirs is still a very satisfying option; so much better than the drab, flavorless ultra-hyped pizze mass-produced by Dominos and Pizza Hut, but now this Rafaellos is firmly tied for top spot in the Merida’s Best Pizza category.

The restaurant is tiny and open in the evenings only; there is a small air conditioner that struggles to keep the place cool and the tables are wooden and it just feels like an Italian neighborhood pizza joint, complete with the Italian pizza chef in the kitchen.

The photo below is of the 4 cheese pizza with anchovies. Yum!

Calle 60 at 49.

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