Third Day in Playa Del Carmen: Eating! NOM, NOM

9/18/2014

Now it was time to explore the restaurants and food in the region. We ate at tons of places, and had great experiences everywhere! Some places were nicer than others, and some were diamonds in the rough, but overall everything was universally great and we had a fantastic time enjoying lots of varied food in Playa Del Carmen and a few little towns close by.

We had fantastic food (usually breakfast) at the little restaurant inside our hotel, Hotel Cielo.

I've gushed about this place before, but honestly it was great. Great service, we got to sit outside and watch the main drag. They always had high chairs for the kids, and the food was reasonable and good. I had the best octopus dish that I've ever had in my life here.

My only compliant is that they don't accept credit cards--no Visa, no MC, no Amex. Only cash. This isn't unusual for the region, but it is for a hotel.

Carboncitos in Hotel Cielo

Still, I couldn't complain too much about that. There were ATMs literally on every corner in Playa, so it wasn't like cash was hard to come by.

Breakfasts were 50% off for hotel guests, so we had breakfast there each morning before we started our daily exploration.

It seems like a minor thing, but the orange juice was fresh-squeezed every morning, and the coffee was great, too. This is something that's hard to find except in the best restaurants in the US, but in Mexico it's fairly easy to get a "licuado" of real, fresh, delicious fruit with your breakfast. It's something that I really miss coming back to the states.

Octopus to die for

A single plate of seafood from Carboncitos

Starbucks and Haagen-Daaz is everywhere, for those of you who need their North American coffee-fix. We avoided these

El Caguamo Tacos

We found "El Caguamo" within a few blocks of our hotel, and ate there twice. Not much selection, but super-cheap tacos that everyone enjoyed. All four of us ate well, including the kids, for less than 10 dollars. There's a wide selection of salsa and chiles right on the table to choose from.

It was SO HOT on this day, that's the thing I remembered most. We walked for a little while and then returned to the hotel until the worst of the heat had passed.

Fresh fruit stands are common everywhere, especially right outside the main city. Here's my hubby (already charred from the sun) arguing with a lady about the price of coconuts. We were so dehydrated from the heat during the day, and we wanted coconut water, but could never find a vendor to sell us one and crack it open. We tried to explain that we didn't have a machete available in our rental car, but they were not sympathetic. My husband even offered to pay extra, but no dice. American money can't buy everything! Especially a coconut with a straw, it seems. Tomorrow, on to Tulum!