70 replies to this topic

[Fay Jai]

Yay! I won a contest at work, and will be spending a fun filled week in mid February in lovely Playa del Carmen. We will probably be eating the majority of our meals with the group that we will be travelling with, but we WILL have some free time. I plan to spend most of this free time stuffing my face and trying AS MUCH Mexican/Mayan food as possible.

We may also be going to Chichen Itza, Tulum, Cozumel, (maybe) and basically anywhere there is Archaeology. My wife will do the archaeology, I'll be looking for tasty morsels to eat.

I'm looking for tasty, local, preferably cheap, local, traditional, local, (ok, I'll stop,) that won't make me sick.

Taco stand? A stand in one of the Archaeological parts that has a can't miss offering? Breakfast in Playa de Carmen? The Best place to get our morning coffee? Lunch? What is something I absolutely MUST have before I leave? This may be sacrilege, but tell me the places you would tell Anthony Bourdain!

(And....do I really need to worry about the Ice in the margaritas? I'll be majorly bummed if I can't have a margarita while I am there...)

Can't wait to read your suggestions! Thanks!

~Jason

[omnivorette]

I just stopped by in Playa the other day on my way home (I've been there lots in the past). Playa is a very tourist-y town, packed with Italians mostly, and a lot of Americans and other assorted tourists. There is very little Mexican feeling there. Also, the damage from the hurricane was extensive. You can get some good tacos in Playa, but stay away from the beach area in order to do so.

Don't go to Cozumel. It was very devastated in the hurricane. And besides, it's not interesting unless you're scuba diving.

You do not have to worry about ice cubes or anything like that in Playa. Playa is a totally modern town, basically exists to service tourists.

[omnivorette]

Here's some good info:

http://www.travelyuc...restaurants.php

As you'll read, most of the restaurants on 5th Ave, which is the main hotel and tourist drag, are owned by foreigners.

Will you have a car?

IMHO, Chichin Itza is too far from Playa to do comfortably on a day trip. Go to Tulum for sure though. On the main drag in Tulum, there is a very good taco place, a big sign on the cart outside that says Carnitas, on the beach side of the ave. Same place has a grilled chicken guy, and the chicken is really good. Tulum is pretty tourist-y too, but I like it much better than Playa.

[scamhi]

the place for breakfast in Playa is the square opposite the bus depot. On the corner the the guy with the fresh orange juice cart. In the square there are 4-5 other carts selling tortas and tacos with pibil and carnitas. great stuff- bring pesos cash only.

[pete ganz]

I would highly recommend El Oasis, which is a little hole in the wall with amazing shrimp tacos and guacamole. It's on 12th St. right off of 5th Ave. (heading away from the beach). We also really enjoyed the ruins at Coba.

[tanabutler]

I just stopped by in Playa the other day on my way home (I've been there lots in the past). Playa is a very tourist-y town, packed with Italians mostly, and a lot of Americans and other assorted tourists. There is very little Mexican feeling there. Also, the damage from the hurricane was extensive. You can get some good tacos in Playa, but stay away from the beach area in order to do so.

Don't go to Cozumel. It was very devastated in the hurricane. And besides, it's not interesting unless you're scuba diving.

You do not have to worry about ice cubes or anything like that in Playa. Playa is a totally modern town, basically exists to service tourists.

FWIW, Cozumel is also a place you can swim with dolphins. (The park is apparently schedule to reopen in March, after some damage from Hurricane Wilma.)

[omnivorette]

That swim with dolphins thing is pretty horrible. The dolphins are in captivity, they are not in good shape, and the whole thing is sad. I did it some years ago and regretted it.

[tanabutler]

That swim with dolphins thing is pretty horrible. The dolphins are in captivity, they are not in good shape, and the whole thing is sad. I did it some years ago and regretted it.

Hmmm, I know women who used to do it all the time, albeit in the Eighties. I guess it got worse with all the traffic, which is the way those things usually go. Too bad.

Well, you can always swim with them wild in the Bahamas. I did that, for a week, a few years ago. THAT was a trip.

[Tamar G]

I don't know about that location specifically, but my sister and her friends did it somewhere in Mexico in the last year and loved it. The pictures are great and the dolphins look well cared for.

[omnivorette]

Those swimming with dolphins places encourage that industry to catch dolphins and keep them captive.

Learn to scuba dive. See them wild. I just saw some dolphins last week off the Mexican coast (I was snorkeling at the time).

http://www.wdcs.org/...02569F100437AF0

[Tamar G]

Fair enough, but opinions about animal captivity are a different issue from whether or not this might be an enjoyable activity for someone else to try.

[omnivorette]

Sure - if the whole detriment to the dolphins issue doesn't get in the way of somebody's enjoyment, they should go right ahead.

[Tamar G]

It probably wouldn't get in my way. I happily eat all sorts of things that are most likely problematic for the environment.

[mitchells]

Sure - if the whole detriment to the dolphins issue doesn't get in the way of somebody's enjoyment, they should go right ahead.

Curious if your dining on pork, beef and lobsters are a detriment to pigs, cows and lobsters?

Weren't you the one extolling the virtues of wearing fur? I guess a mink is worth less than a dolphin, which last I checked weren't being killed by the resorts.

[omnivorette]

Me too about the food (and of course the wearing of fur and leather) - but seeing those magnificent creatures and knowing that as a result of tourist dollars they're living their whole lives in captivity is different (for me) than eating an animal that's dead and food on my plate.