Sounds like you need to rent the condo for a few more weeks & do some exploring. The best people to ask where to eat are the help at the condo. Ask the guy at the front desk & go into a couple of stores & ask the sales people where they eat. Then you will find some real gems!
Al
We were down in march, and did exactly that when we found our resort meals to be less than desireable, Al. A site called cozumelmycozumel is hosted by ex pats that live here and has a lot of good local fav spots, we're only about halfway through our list in two stays so far, so you're right about another week or two. We've seen most of the sights already though. Lunch from Los Otates was today, for delicious arrachera tortas, which is skirt steak sammies, and they are seriously better than philly cheese steaks from philly.
Casa Denis at the town square. La Mission just a couple of blocks south of the square. Pancho's Backyard couple blocks north of the square come to mind. We'll be there in 35 days
Which reminds me that La mission was on our list last time and we didn't get to it. Maybe a good late Friday dinner option, thanks rexster!
Hope you're enjoying your stay, zerowin.
I used to go to Cozumel a lot during the 1980s and early 1990s for diving but gave up when, on our last trip there in 1994, I saw a lot of construction cranes and barges being used to build new and enlarged cruise ship piers. Another paradise lost. Any of the places I might have known are long forgotten, or gone.
However, my daughter and her boyfriend arrived in Cozumel last Friday for a week of diving and relaxation. After seeing your thread, I texted her and asked if she had any recommendations for restaurants. Friday and Saturday night they had dinner at two different places in downtown San Miguel that they thought were very good. One goes by the name of Kinta and the other is La Choza. If you're not already familiar with them, you may want to check them out.
Unfortunately, they abruptly left Cozumel yesterday. Though I warned them, they didn't expect to encounter 20,000 additional tourists milling the streets that had been disgorged from around 8 or 9 cruise ships in port on Saturday and Sunday. She called me on Sunday looking for alternate suggestions and I suggested Isla Mujeres. They had already checked that out but had no luck on finding decent last minute accommodations. I made a couple calls and found them a nice place on Isla Holbox, and they arrived there late yesterday afternoon.
Enjoy the weather, and the rest of your stay.
I agree, the cruisers are far worse this trip being high season than they were last march, but that's why we stayed on the south side of the island in a condo, so we have a fully working kitchen with blender, juicer, etc. Makes for cheap drinks and we are closer to wild side beaches which are less crowded. Paradise across from the rasta bar has some killer burgers, and good cheap beer. Win and win! La Choza is also on our list.
Eat plenty of true Mexican seafood options!!!
Ceviche, all the seafood they throw on a grill, etc. Eat it in tortillas, as plated dishes, etc. Also get your hands on the various cheeses from the crumbly kinds to the string cheese kind that are often in the shape of chicken drumsticks lol.
For seasonings to bring back hmmm. Some powdered pepper varieties or chili powders. Also if you or your wife bakes get the true Mexican Vanilla. Oh if you can try some Mole sauce and you like it then get your hands on some of that so you can make Chicken Mole, Chicken Mole Enchiladas, etc. etc.
Oh if you get adventurous ask the bartender there if he knows what a Flaming Cucaracha is and try one.
It's Kaluha with some Tequila on top and something flamable like a splash of Bacardi 151. It's poured into a shot glass and set on fire. They then give you a full sized straw. You quickly put the straw all the way into the bottom of the shot glass and drink the thing as fast as possible. You get a toasty, smokey, flavor out of it and it looks cool too. It's fun to do once in your life... or 10 times :D
That's about all I got for ya. Have fun!
Yesterdays lunch was from camaron dorado, delicious fried shrimp and fish tacos, for a buck each. I'm not a huge seafood fan, but they were great! The steak tortas had machengo(sp?) cheese, which taste every so slightly like pickles, and we might bring some of that home. I ask lots of questions about ingredients, helps that my wife speaks decent Spanish. Surprisingly it's hard to find decent seasonings that aren't a total mix, which I found out today after I posted this. I hunted through five shops looking for a Mexicali blend of dried pepper and lime, but almost everything down here has a lot of cumin in it, along with achiote, and picante seasonings. I did find some very good achiote and recardo spice balls hand rolled at the market to bring home, hand rolled and they are popular for seasoning meats here. We have 6 bottles of vanilla to restock, and we plan on getting a good bit of cacao nibs from the choclateria. We throw it in the coffee grinder at home and use it in place of cocoa powder in cakes and brownies, and it is insanely rich for chocolate taste. Sinful! Thanks for the mole tip, I'd read about it and assumed it was just short of guacamole. I gotta find a bar with that shot! Thanks for the tips tallbm!
It's still shocking to see how much cheap and incredibly good food down here. I guess I'll have to go on a free tequila tasting to find my groove there. Darn! Thanks for the suggestions folks!
