We had a delicious long lasting evening on our Gourmet tour with our guide Coco who knew many interesting things about Mexican history and food culture. Although we spent a day full of activity and nearly without food we couldn't manage to try all samples. It was much too much as all visited restaurants wanted to show their best (and did so). Thanks for a wonderful evening Coco!
We absolutely LOVED our tour with Juan. From start to finish, we were impressed with the selection of restaurants, the quality of the dishes prepared, the variety of flavors and the personal attention from the chefs involved.
# 1: C-Grill , a fabulous first taste. 3 dishes exquisitely presented - like a work of art! Tender octopus in a recoto negro, a light as a feather puff filled with chicken in a green mole, rice pudding crowned with a brulee and passion fruit sorbet. The head chef , whose English was limited, brought his assistant out to speak to us about our selections and to answer any questions we might have.
#2: Primo - a quirky corner "tacqueria" that was anything BUT your typical taco place. An in-ground pit was roasting suckling pig and lamb, a Big Green Egg was grilling up whole heads of cabbage served topped with arugula, cotija, pickled radishes, fresh cherry tomatoes .
Our suckling pig tacos - warm and savory, aromatic, sprinkled with cilantro criollo, perslane, a wedge of sour orange to squeeze , and a sweet/savory pineapple habanero salsa.
Then, a pit roasted lamb Barbacoa taco topped with Radisha, Serano, rice, chickpeas, tomatoes, & a salsa Baracho
#3 Axiote – A famous Mexican chef who has garnered much media attention from his television appearances and participation in a variety of public events.
We started with a fantastic dip/ spread made with roasted tomatillas and topped with pepitas, a perfect guacamole and a variety of salsas to sample ranging from super spicy habanero peppers to the mild morita
Scallop aguachile negro & coconut shrimp ceviche were beautifully fresh
#4: Amate 38
A gorgeous tropical setting on a steamy night in Playa, our server Carlos helped us out by moving a giant fan and aiming it right at us then handed us a refreshing cocktail of Mezcal and hibiscus that helped cool us off with its touch of smoky and a light sweet note.
Carlos explained all the interesting spice pastes used in the food we ate, and let us sample each. One of the pastes was used in the prep of the delectable cochinita pibil served taco style with pickled onion and well seasoned black beans. Oh those pickled onions – so simple, but just the right notes to make everything taste bright.
I think you can probably tell that we really loved this tour, and would 100% recommend it to anyone wanting to experience a variety of dishes, nuanced flavor profiles and a high quality personal experience