We were walking around Mercado 28 in Cancun and tired of touristy restaurants. We decided to drove around and determined to find a place where the locals eat. After couple blocks, we saw this small restaurant with couple locals in there and they were having dinner. They looked super delicious and we decided to gave it a try.
Advance warning: this was a tiny mom and pop local place; therefore, english menu was not available. I used google translate to communicate with the waitress and we worked it out.
The place was small, only has six tables with couple chairs. The kitchen was also tiny. The food however, was authentic! We tried the following:
- Drinks: honeydew juice, orchata, and tamarind juice. They were all great drinks. The orchata was not too sweet, just perfect. The tamarind and honeydew juice were fresh!
- Pollo frito (fried chicken): it was so delicious (5 stars)! This was not a breaded fried chicken. They seasoned the chicken and then deep fried it with no added flour whatsoever. It was perfectly seasoned, crispy and tasty. It came with macaroni and tomato soup, rice, beans, salad, and of course Habanero! That habanero sauce was sooooo good I had to ask for extra for TO GO.
- Pescado Frito (deep fried fish): 5 stars also. It came with the macaroni tomato soup, the whole fish deep fried, rice, beans and salad. The fish was seasoned well and tasty. Even better with the habanero sauce, of course!
- Asada burito: yummm. The best burito I have ever tried!
- Garlic butter and lemon shrimp: this was a special request, I just google translate what I wanted and they made it. This was my least favorite, it was tasty but it was too salty for me. I think they added too much butter.
Great local place to visit. Price is super cheap. We spent less than $50 for the whole dinner (we ordered 7 full entrees).
If you are okay with couple of little downsides: no english menu, no english speaking staff, restroom was not clean, and water at the sink was so slow when we were there.... in exchange, you get this wild experience and eat like the locals....then try this place out when you are in Cancun. read more