Restaurants

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Lovely Ambiance

I had dinner with my friend Sue tonight. I didn’t realise until the bill came that I was being treated for my part in the Great iPad Rescue, so what a lovely surprise that was! Thanks!

We started with a glass of wine and a sunset from her roof, which has an amazing view of the harbour where the cruise ships come in. We then went nearly next door to a restaurant that is open in the evenings, a rarity on Isla. This is a fairly new place just up from the beach off of the road to Goat Island. Sue has been there a few times and you really need to know it’s there because there’s almost no lighting. Best way I can describe it is that it’s on the new access road to the beach, about halfway between the beach and Goat Island road entrance points. They have a sign listing their offerings and that they are abierto (open).

The restaurant is really charming. The furniture is made from pallets. You can sit out in the open overlooking the water…

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Or under a giant palapa on a brick terrace.

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This is not a “cendaduria” like Miguel’s with inexpensive fast food, but a proper sit down restaurant to enjoy a gourmet meal. Sue had had the garlic shrimp before and loved it, so we went for that, plus a Pacifico each. The garlic shrimp were plump and cooked to perfection. They came with the standard tomato rice and a surprising salad made of romaine lettuce, onion, cucumber, tomato, and pineapple (!), with a really good dressing made of oil and lime juice. We also had a basket of tortillas.

Dinner for two was $280, so $120 for the garlic shrimp and $20 for the beer. Definitely too much to make it a regular haunt, but what a great spot for a romantic date or just relaxing with a friend. I will definitely be back!

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Been a While

Not counting my adventure with Sue, today marked a full two weeks since the last time I went to town! I’ve just been insanely busy with work and haven’t lacked for anything. I can get all the basic groceries I need right here on Isla, as well as cold beer, and meals out. The only reason I went across the bay today was to make a withdrawal at the bank.

On the way there, I popped into a little Chinese restaurant on Juan Carrasco and had a really good lunch of beef and broccoli (and carrots) with an egg roll, rice, and ice tea. The main was really good and not too heavy, with the broccoli perfectly cooked. Good deal at $44, even if I ended up leaving most of the rice.

My stop at the bank didn’t take long. There will be a Scotiabank near my place in Mérida, but I didn’t want to arrive with just the cash I had on me, even if I know it will go far even with the cost of transportation to and from the airports. I’m really glad the expensive parts of the trip are paid for and out of the budget and that the first half of the month was almost expense-free. I’ll be able to have a good time in Mérida and maybe even get out of town for a day… I really haven’t made any plans yet for my time there, much like I didn’t do much prep for Durango. I’ll figure it out when I arrive.

Since I was out where I was, I continued a bit further to the big Waldo’s since I’d forgotten to bring my travel-sized bottles for toiletries from Canada. I was able to find inexpensive small plastic bottles to transfer shampoo and body wash into and I also bought a travel-sized container of hand cream and one of toothpaste. I haven’t actually checked if Interjet has rules for liquids or not, but I’d rather not bring big containers anyway. I also restocked on wet wipes. You can never have too many packages of those in Mexico!

My total at Waldo’s was higher than expected. I checked my receipt and realised I’d been charged twice for the hand cream. It was only $10, but it was the principle of the thing. So I went back in and the cashier told me to just go get another bottle so she wouldn’t have to process a refund. Fine for $10. I like have those little bottles handy in my purse anyway.

I was seriously drooping as I made my way back to the embarcadero as it’s back to being really hot out. Mérida is going to be about the same, high in the 30s C, so I’d better get used to it!

Sue and I are having dinner tonight, a nice treat before heading out. There’s a new restaurant by her place that apparently makes amazing garlic shrimp, so that’s what’s on the menu as long as the place is open. Mmmmmm.

Well, I’m off to keep packing. I hope that I can do all carry on luggage, but I might be over the weight allowance for that. I don’t fly out till 3:05, but I’m getting to the airport for noonish. That will give me plenty of time to get through security and possibly have a bite to eat before I take off. I’ll be in Mexico City by 5:00 my time here (6:00 their time) and will have just enough time to grab some dinner thanks to a 1.5-hour layover. I should be landing in Mérida around 9:30 their time (8:30 my time) and if I don’t have to wait for luggage, should be in a taxi by 10:00. The airport is within city limits and I’m told a ride to my apartment in Centro should only take about 20 minutes. Someone will be waiting for me when I get there. It’ll be a long day, but just think where I’ll be when I finally land!

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A Change of Scenery

Whew. I’m leaving for Mérida on Friday and I don’t think I could possibly deserve — or need — a vacation more than I do now! After taking it pretty easy in January and reorienting myself with new clients, I’ve worked my tail off in February! I can’t believe how much I earned in just two weeks this month. I also have the peace of mind of knowing that I’ll have a full roster when I go back to work March 1st.

One of the most exciting projects I’m going to start on is a new transcription project for Gutsu films. I am very proud to have been their Transcription Coordinator for the forthcoming documentary Freedom for the Wolf and am thrilled to be on board for their next project. I’ll be doing some law enforcement work on top of that, as well as a little proofreading and general transcription. I don’t think I’ve been this happy with my workload in ages (outside of the proofreading contract that just ended, of course).

I was going to get takeout last night, but was too beat to fathom putting on my flip-flops and schlepping “all the way” to Miguel’s. You know I’m tired when cooking feels like less work than eating out! But tonight, as I sent off the final transcript and invoice for a major project, knowing that I have a couple of easy days of work left before my vacation, I just needed a change of scenery.

So, being the classy gal that I am, I transferred the rest of my white wine to a water bottle (the wine bottle being too large to carry in my purse) and went to Miguel’s. I brought a book, but ended up spending most of my time talking to Angela about different things and getting in some much needed linguistic practice. My word of the day is “castigar” (to punish).

I ordered a shrimp burrito and a chorreada.

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I still don’t quite know what the latter is all about, but it’s yummy. I like the base, which is a charred maize product. It’s much thicker than a tortilla and has a strong corn taste, but is not crunchy like a tostada. I like a lot of guacamole, hot sauce, and lime juice on my chorreadas!

I haven’t really had many cravings for the shrimp burritos this winter for some reason and each time I have one, I wonder why because they are so good!!! I like these with just the avocado sauce normally, but tonight added both hot sauce and chiles curtidos (pickled jalapeños) and that hit the spot tonight for some reason. Usually, I like the burritos because they’re not spicy, but I must have been in a mood tonight.

Miguel and Angela had a sign by the counter today announcing that they now have agua frescas made from fresh fruit. I asked what kinds and it was hibiscus (jamaica), horchata (which Angela qualified as being riced-based, which I knew, but haven’t tried yet), and… guava. My favourite! I bought a litre bottle from her and will finish it tomorrow as it is very dense since it has so much fruit in it. YUM. Look at the pretty colour!

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Dinner was $80 with the tip (6.58CAD or 5USD). That was it for Miguel’s for February. I can’t believe it’ll already be March next time I go!

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A Feast On the Beach

I met up with my Wednesday crowd again today, only this time at Pili’s/Rudy’s restaurant. It was a bit of a last minute thing and I didn’t know that the food and booze had all been ordered ahead of time and that whomever was there would split the bill evenly until huge platters of food showed up! What an inspired idea! Lunch ended up being $250 each, and that includes the beer and the tip!

Our event organiser had asked for a variety of foods to be made up so there would be something for everyone. We all got a plate with refried beans, salad, and rice, with access to a bottomless basket of tortillas. To share, we had:

-guacamole (topped with cheese!) and totopos

-garlic shrimp

-coconut shrimp

-BBQed chicken (cut in pieces)

-French fries

-a whole grilled red snapper topped with veggies (I’d never had cooked red snapper before!)

-flan (I declined since I don’t eat eggs)

What a spread! The fish in particular was gorgeous, with lots of caramelised bits. There was more than enough for everyone to gorge themselves.

Most of this crowd is French-Canadian, so it was really nice to break out the joual for a couple of hours. I have to laugh that one couple is from Moose Jaw and another couple was practically neighbours with some of my relatives and know one of my uncles!

The blanket guy did some brisk business with us. I might have come home with a small tablecloth, which will be used to cover my couch… 🙂

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One of Those “Why Do I Bother to Cook in Mexico?” Meals

I’m out of propane (despite being proactive and getting the order in before I ran out) so I can’t really cook much. I was feeling a little off today after yesterday’s carb overload, so all I wanted for dinner was some solid protein. Therefore, I went to Miguel’s and had a sit down dinner there of an “orden de carne asada” (order of grilled meat, in this case beef). I asked for four tortillas to go with it so I could make tacos out of my meal!

Dinner consisted of a really generous portion of perfectly marinated and grilled thinly sliced beef (including a little gristle to eat around), a ladle of refried beans, salsa mexicana, cucumbers, tomatoes, raw sliced red onion, grilled jalapeños, and, knowing that I like grilled onions, Angela quartered one and threw it on the grill with my meat. So dinner was a little of all of that piled onto a tortilla, then drizzled with freshly squeezed lime juice, guacamole (the runny stuff), a spicy red sauce, and a few pieces of chiles curtidos (pickled jalapeños).

There was enough for me to make four generous tacos with tons of filling leftover. I could have probably made eight tacos if I had wanted to, so this is definitely a meal that could be shared or should have been split in two to take half home if I hadn’t been so ravenous from not having had much to eat today. 🙂 And, really, it wasn’t that heavy of a meal. Four tortillas are about equivalent to a slice of bread, one of the reasons I love them so much.

I usually get takeout from Miguel’s, but there are some meals that are better eaten there because you don’t get all the condiments with takeout and they’re what make the meal truly Mexican and so flavourful.

The cost? A mere 70MXN (5.76CAD or 4USD)! I know from buying that same cut of beef for myself now that it was worth about $40 and the other ingredients are really inexpensive staples. So while they do make a decent profit, I couldn’t have made that meal for myself at that price. Definitely a case of it totally being worth it to eat out.

It’s amazing how much better I feel now after feeling terrible all day. I know my body well and what it needs. It’s too bad I had to wait till 6PM to get this meal when I would have done well to have it earlier in the day, but better late than never!

Debbie, I hope your order of carne asada was as satisfying as mine was! 😉