| Cancun
Night Out |
| Where To
Go |
| by Dorothy Aksamit |
| Break away
from your all-inclusive and sample Cancun cuisine.
O.K. So you've
had eight meals at your All-Inclusive-Resort, have tried their "reservations
only" restaurants and while it was all savory it's time for a change
- it's time to sample Cancun's culinary offerings. Not as simple as it
sounds as.
Cancun has
several hundred restaurants. The first decision will be "What kind of
food". Check your hotel lobby for brochures such as the Restaurant
Menu Map and be sure to check with the tour desks and the public relations
manager. To get you started consider one of the following, a meager offering
from the many available, hop in a taxi (they're cheap) and you'll discover
another Cancun. |
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| The Palm.
Homesick? For a taste of New York or Chicago and the only 21 day-aged Prime
Beef in Cancun head for the classic American steak house, the Palm,
newly opened in Cancun by the grandchildren of the original owners in New
York, Pio Bozzi and John Ganzi. Décor is woody barroom with framed
reproductions by the artists (Bill Stein) and writers who paid for their
steaks with art work during the roaring twenties. Prices are the
same as the U. S. $37.50 for two courses: Crabmeat salad and 10 oz
Filet Mignon. Lobster is available. Palm: Blvd. Kukulcan kl. 7.5 Phone
848-8747
La Casa
de las Margaritas Restaurant. For a Mexican evening in the mall, go
several hours early to El Embarcadero. Stroll along canals lined with upscale
boutiques, walk over arched bridges, swim with dolphins, feed sharks and
change your idea of what makes a mall.
Grab a drink
at the restaurant with dolphin leaping from pools on one side and sharks
slicing through a giant aquarium on the other. Save an hour or more
for the Mexican Folk Art Museum, three rooms of musical instruments, clay
figurines, masks, tree of life crosses and every type of folk art found
in Mexico today. |
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| Pick up souvenirs
and Christmas presents in the Museum Store. Then go to La Casa
de las Margaritas Restaurant where you will enter a Mexican Village as
costumed waiters and waitresses serve authentic Mexican food and strolling
musicians serenade the diners. Extensive menu. Shrimp salad,
$8.20, Wild Mushroom Soup. $6.10, Sea Bass, $17.30. La Casa de las Margaritas:
El Embarcadero Mall Phone: 883-3222
Three restaurants
for an "Old Town" dining experience. Even though old in Cancun means
the late 70s, nevertheless coming from the Hotel Zone, downtown Cancun
definitely feels "yesterday". For the best salsa and Margaritas
start at the hidden La Adelita Mexican Cantina.
Entered through
a covered passageway into an expanded bar setting where you might expect
Pancho Villa to come roaring in. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| On the other
side of the same block near the park are two very different choices. In
La Habichuela, originally the home of owner Armando Pezzotti, the small
but elegant dining room features dark wood, original paintings
and Mayan artifacts. The lush patio is filled with intimate niches nestle
among tropical plants crowded around replicas of Mayan sculpture.
Their most
famous dish is Cocobichuela: curried lobster and shrimp served in a coconut
shell with tropical fruits. ($31) Save room for Xtabentun Coffee
Brandy.Xtabentun is the anise-flavored liqueur manufactured by Yucatan
bees who favor nectar from white morning glories. Margaritas 25 Downtown.
Phone for reservations: 884-3158
Labna Restaurant
is a must destination for those who want to sample authentic Yucatan cuisine.
Labna takes its name from the Mayan ruins near Merida. The décor
is simple and uncluttered with the major design element a tall window in
the shape of a Mayan arch. The menu, printed on a map of Cancun , shows
the origin of each dish. Seafood, beef, chicken and turkey are prepared
with a Yucatan twist. Caribbean shrimp cooked in a lime sauce ($19.00)
takes on a spicy tang from the piquant Yucatan lime. |
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| Pavo en Pipian
($8.00) is turkey cooked in pumpkin seed sauce seasoned with achiote.
Filet Mignon Mestizo ($16) is filet with a spicy goat cheese sauce. For
dessert try the light Tres Leches Cake ($3.00) The chef has
studied abroad as well as with cooks from all over Quintana Roo and can
give you background and information on the dishes. Check to see if there
is a Mayan Dinner Show. Labna: Margaritas 29, Downtown Cancun Phone: 892-3056
The Club
Grill: Jazz & Super Club at the Ritz Carlton. For a swish night
out save your best black dress for a sophisticated evening in The Club
Grill. Have a drink in the intimate bar surrounded by dark wood and polished
brass and then repair to an old world dining room gleaming with silver,
crystal and enormous floral arrangements. Call first to see if there
is a special event such as the most unusual Vinegar Gala celebrating Camcun's
International Gastronomic Festival held in November. |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| A different
vinegar was an ingredient in each of the four courses beginning with a
sip of Dandelion vinegar in an impossibly tall thin glass. Melon Soup incorporated
Orange Blossom Honey Vinegar; Rabbit Filet contained Medici Vinegar in
its marinade, Beef Tenderloin had a hint of Balsam of Roses: Passion
Fruit Crème and Jelly on Grilled Pineapple was finished with Elderberry
Vinegar. And of course there were Vinegar Truffles.
The dinner,
including a cocktail and California wines served with all courses, tax
and service was $120.Tasting and A la carte menus available.
Ritz Carlton:
Retoma del Rey 36 Phone: 881-0808
You owe it
to yourself to try one dinner out but be warned: one night out might lead
to another.
The following
is the first article that Dorothy wrote for the magazine:
To contact
Dorothy Click Here
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