In January, we had a one-week winter escape to Mexico’s famous Riviera Maya. In this post, I want to share my favourite meals of the month.

Top-left we have a Matcha tea cake topped with pistachio cream, mango and passion fruit sauce. I’m more into savory but this cake was very fluffy, and the pistachio and fruit sauces blended very well with the matcha.

We decided to take a day trip to Puerto Morelos. Our lunch was at Puerto Knna Restaurant, my little lobster tacos with chipotle mayonnaise, avocado, black beans, and xni-pec sauce (red onion with habanero) were delicious. Paired with a local cocktail that had mayan licour “Xtabentum”, it was even better since we had the place all to ourselves because we arrived before the lunch rush started. We had a conversation with the chef, Carlos Bocanegra, about the logistics of sourcing ingredients in the region.

Next, we are moving more inland to the center of Yucatan. The top-right is the Day’s catch Ceviche at Sikil, a restaurant that recently entered the Top 100 in Mexico, located in Valladolid. We were about to enter another place in a hurry because we were already starving, but it gave me bad vibes. The place was empty, and all the staff were just sitting on their phones. I’m no expert, but restaurants always have something to do, to prep, to clean, and as we were about to sit down, I changed my mind and walked out. I’m so glad! Sikil had a nice atmosphere, excellent service, and they are trying and succeeding at delivering an amazing experience.

We changed locations again to our last stop in Merida. We had Pizza Carbonara at Olivia Pizzeria. It made the list because it tasted like eating a plate of carbonara pasta. We went back the next day for another.

The last two photos are from a local favourite from my hometown in the north-west of Mexico, tempura vegetables and the “Special Favourite” sushi from Yuniko. I keep coming back to this simple sushi every single time because even after 15 years, it still tastes like the first time I tried it. I’m a sucker for consistency.

M