 |
| Tulum Beach, Riviera Maya |
I haven’t travelled as much I would have liked to recently because life happened. However, things are changing - and last year I did get to spend a week on holiday in the Riviera Maya, Mexico. The Riviera Maya is a long stretch of Caribbean coastline on the eastern side of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, known for its beaches, blue seas and archaeological sites. In short, I’ve always wanted to visit. To see Mayan ruins, yes, but also - and unsurprisingly for me - because of the food I would get to eat! However, while planning my trip I struggled to find (English language) blogs with recommendations for places to try. Hence now that I’m back, I’m putting together this post listing places to eat by area.
I have no expertise whatsoever on Mexican food, so these are just my favourites from the establishments I managed to visit. One of my cooking teachers sent me a great cartoon infographic illustrating the different terms used to describe Mexican dishes. Do check it out as a starting point if you're not exactly sure what a fajita is (I wasn't before I went!!). Be aware that everything below is "post-Hispanic" cuisine, and I didn't make it to restaurants like Axiote which serve grasshoppers and ant eggs. Also don't worry if insects don't appeal to you, as there'll be plenty of meat, cheese and tortillas abound instead. The list is also by no means exhaustive, but hopefully I'll remedy that by traveling back over the years and adding more to it! On this trip I was mostly in Playa Del Carmen, with a couple of days in Cancun and a day in Tulum, and my picks are based on these areas.
The parts of Mexico I managed to see, downtown Cancun in particular, really reminded me of Bangladesh. The local buses with their loosely defined stops, the rain-worn buildings that could use a lick of paint and the chillies in my food - all this felt a little like home. Of course, a lot of this in my imagination, and Mexico is far more economically developed. The local buses may look rickety, but many of the drivers speak English. Gleaming new buildings are the norm if you head to the hotel zone, and not everything is still under construction like it seems to be in Dhaka these days. For now, I live in hope that one day Dhaka will catch up!
I have no expertise whatsoever on Mexican food, so these are just my favourites from the establishments I managed to visit. One of my cooking teachers sent me a great cartoon infographic illustrating the different terms used to describe Mexican dishes. Do check it out as a starting point if you're not exactly sure what a fajita is (I wasn't before I went!!). Be aware that everything below is "post-Hispanic" cuisine, and I didn't make it to restaurants like Axiote which serve grasshoppers and ant eggs. Also don't worry if insects don't appeal to you, as there'll be plenty of meat, cheese and tortillas abound instead. The list is also by no means exhaustive, but hopefully I'll remedy that by traveling back over the years and adding more to it! On this trip I was mostly in Playa Del Carmen, with a couple of days in Cancun and a day in Tulum, and my picks are based on these areas.
The parts of Mexico I managed to see, downtown Cancun in particular, really reminded me of Bangladesh. The local buses with their loosely defined stops, the rain-worn buildings that could use a lick of paint and the chillies in my food - all this felt a little like home. Of course, a lot of this in my imagination, and Mexico is far more economically developed. The local buses may look rickety, but many of the drivers speak English. Gleaming new buildings are the norm if you head to the hotel zone, and not everything is still under construction like it seems to be in Dhaka these days. For now, I live in hope that one day Dhaka will catch up!
