I am not a connoisseur, plain and simple. (The closest I come, perhaps, is that I'm coffee snob!) Although I may not have a refined taste, nor am I able to isolate flavors to improve a sauce, for example, I do enjoy food. I can recognize an inspired meal and revel in it!
We have started a another journey and it began with a YUM! Our departure was early out of San Francisco so we decided to go up the night before. Some wonderful friends took us up and we enjoyed the evening together. Of course dinner time came around and looking at our options around the hotel we settled on Italian cuisine. This restaurant had one of those classic Italian names - West Coast Cafe! :) Honestly with a name like that I expected standard fare and "nothing to write home about." Certainly nothing to blog about!! However, I was in heaven from beginning to end. The bruschetta was perfect and perfectly messy with diced tomatoes piled high and olive oil running onto my fingers. The basil and garlic tantalized my taste buds, waking them up and they hungered for more! They and I were not disappointed! The marsala sauce for the main course was exquisite and had to be sopped up with delicious bread to get every drop. I could go on and on, continuing with the vegetables, polenta and on through dessert. Naturally dessert was accompanied with espresso done to perfection - rich, dark and smokey. An awesome, over the top experience along with the company!
The next day we were off to Mexico, a direct flight to Cancun. We made our way to downtown, found our hotel and settled in. Tired but needing food, we opted for the easy route - the hotel restaurant. Again, would the hotel restaurant across from the bus station be inspiring? I didn't hold any high hopes. Silly Me!!
Brian and I split two meals. One of them was "chicken fillet mignon" and the other was flank steak fajitas. I figured the name of the first meal was just some sort of translation mix up. We made our orders were asked how we wanted the steak cooked and then the waiter was off to make it all happen. A minute or two later he comes back to ask how we wanted the chicken cooked - medium or well. Confused having never ever been asked how I wanted my chicken cooked, I thought maybe it was supposed to be "beef fillet mignon." No, he was asking about the chicken so I definitely said, "Well!" The mystery was partly solved when the meal came. Yes, we had chicken for one meal and beef for the other. The chicken steak was wrapped around the edge with bacon! Often I have seen fillet mignon served that way so I think that is where the confusion in translation stemmed. In any case, both meals were wonderful and a delight. I know I was really hungry, however, the flavors were amazing. We topped it off with flan, the classic Mexican dessert!
As noted earlier in my blog, a big part of traveling for me is the food! I love trying new things. The notable exceptions have been octopus and beef tongue. There are a few items I just can't get past. Although, by and large over the years and the many places I've traveled, I've let my prejudices go, having enjoyed some delicious food adventures! It's been quite a beginning to this trip.
We are now in Merida, Mexico!
