Eating Our Way Through Playa del Carmen, Part 2

It was a day worthy of two columns as I continue with the second part of our eating tour of Playa del Carmen.

In the first half of the day, we had some great food (and drinks), but it just continued to get better as Riviera Maya Tourism selected a great range of Mexican and Mayan eateries for us to try. It was also nice to get the chance to walk around Playa del Carmen, a suburb of Riviera Maya which offers beautiful beaches, hotels, shopping and (obviously) tons of places to eat.

Luna Maya Restaurant is upstairs and appears to overlook the entire city.  The selection here is gourmet, with a cross between Mayan and Mexican. They got our attention immediately by cooling us off with anise soaked cold towels and a fruit juice drink. This restaurant, which just opened in December, was a bit more formal than the others and the service was first class. It appeared that we had a 1-1 ratio between servers and patrons.  A Mango Tequila (mango, tequila and Green Curacao) quickly appeared before us and then the food soon joined it.

Our first course was a Duck Salad with baby lettuce and orange vinaigrette. It was flavorful, but the duck was served carpaccio style and I am not a fan of raw meat. It was fine with me to skip something on a day full of gluttony and I wouldn’t have to wait long for more to appear – along with a fruity 2009 Casa Madero (cabernet sauvignon, merlot and tempranillo). From the Pork in a Bag to Lamb Wrap to the Beef in a Jar, we had an unbelievable meal. Everything was full of rich flavors, without too much overwhelming spice.  We all ate more than we shoulds, and had a hard time having more than a few bites of desserts – warm, fresh Churros with Chocolate Sauce!

It wasn’t long enough to get hungry again until we arrived at La Cueva Del Chango. Fortunately, they gave us a few minutes to relax with some yummy Mango Margaritas before bringing out the food. Then we feasted on Habernero Cream Soup, a perfect Guacamole and the best Fried Cheese I had yet in Mexico. I was happy to digest while those not allergic tasted some Grouper and Tuna (giving it the thumbs up).  I was also a fan of the décor here, very casual and a great place to hang with friends  -- with lots of those Mango Margaritas!

Our next stop was actually at Hotel La Palapas, an adorable boutique property with only 76 rooms. I had a Mexican-style Chicken Cordon Bleu, made the same as the French, but with a green sauce that gave it more of a local flavor. I really enjoyed the creativity in the dish. My fellow writers also raved about the Shrimp, also served with just an accent of Mexican rather than a typical Mexican dish.

I think we all felt bad at Yaxche, our final stop.  We were all so looking forward to this Mayan restaurant and the wine pairing dinner, but we just couldn’t find room to eat much more! We tried to work up an appetite with a glass of Sala Vive, a Mexican sparkling wine. The Tortilla with Chaya (a vegetable similar to spinach) was cheesy and worth a bite. We were then offered a glass of V. from Casa Madero, a cabernet sauvignon rose that could have been fruitier, but I really liked the 2009 Santo Thomas Valley Viognier, especially with the Grilled Pork.

We apologized to our hosts that we couldn’t possibly eat any more before heading to our final stop of the night, Rufino Mezcalaria in Playa del Carmen.  Just like Champagne is only champagne if it comes from that region, it’s only tequila if it was produced in Jalisco, but the blue agave plant can produce a similar spirit if it’s grown someplace else. Mezcal is best known as the one with the worm in it. That’s only one type, though. We got to sample a selection of mezcal at Rufino.

It was all from the Imperial brand and I have to say I was not thrilled with their straight stuff, but if you are looking for something sweet and tropical while on the beach in Riviera Maya, definitely pick up some of the Imperial Coconut. You don’t even need to add anything to it, just throw it over ice. It definitely sealed my food and drink consumption for the day and the only thing that was left was shower and sleep because another full day was coming in Tulum.

Eating Our Way Through Playa del Carmen, Part 1

My blogs almost always follow me for a day, but I don’t usually have a day where I’m going to eight restaurants. That was the planned schedule for our first full day in Riviera Maya's – eight restaurants in Playa del Carmen.

We actually started the day with some free time. I met up with the PR rep to learn more about Grand Velas Riviera Maya, an AAA Five Diamond resort. We were staying in the Adults Only Grand Class section, but it turns out that the main resort has quite a family following and even more restaurants. I was fine with the delicious breakfast we had at the Bistro, with my Egg White Omelet with Spinach and Tomatoes, Hash Browns, Beans and Pineapple. All served by two attentive waiters as we overlooked the Caribbean Sea!

I had a short chance to look a bit more at the water as I took an hour to lie by the infinity pool before getting ready for the Playa del Carmen food tour. The first restaurant, La Casa del Agua, was up a long flight of stairs and I’m still not climbing because of my back. I heard from my colleagues that the food and drinks were delicious. I spent the time with Amber, our host from Riviera Maya's PR agency, and bought a great hat to help block out some of the strong Mexico sun. We then waited for the rest of the group at our next stop, Mi Pueblo.

We were served a Mexican feast of Chips & Salsa, Quesadillas, Tostadas and Cochala. Everything at this restaurant (which has only been open for six months) was delicious and we wanted to stay and finish it, but we had to get to Tropical, where there was a Fondue Cheese waiting for us in a large bowl. It was a bit sweet and a bit spicy, very good overall. We also ate an excellent Chicken & Mushrooms dish, which had been wrapped in a pineapple leaf to bring out more flavor from the chicken. It was hard to leave on any food on the plate, but we had more places to go and food to eat.

The sun was getting stronger and we had a bit of a distance to our next stop, so we hopped in our air conditioned Riviera Maya Tourism van and headed to the newer section of Playa del Carmen. It was hear that we would take a “food” break and focus on dessert. Ah Cacao Chocolate Café was founded in 2004 and is definitely my kind of place. I have never met something in chocolate I didn’t like and since my job for the day (fortunately not every day) was to taste, I had no problem with being here.

We learned about how chocolate is such an important part of this culture as it goes back to the ancient Mayans. The Mayans are still a big part of the Yucatan Peninsula, especially in this area. We also listened to how the chocolate comes from the cacao bean and how the Mayans (and Mexicans) often add chili to their chocolate. And then, we started our tasting from the bitter to the sweet. First it was unsweetened chocolate with almonds before we moved to a perfectly dark chocolate and Tejati, a drink that is a spicy hot chocolate. After I had the most delicious chocolate milk I’ve ever had, someone brought out a small serving of a perfect Mocha Frappe!

It was fortunate that we had some time to walk around Playa del Carmen a bit before our next food stop (which would not be or last). Although this is not the end of the day, I am going to stop here. I don’t think I can possibly do these places justice in one column, so forgive me if I make you wait a bit to continue the end of my day. Use this time to grab some Mexican food (with a chocolate dessert, of course)!