Cancun, MX

Last month I was lucky enough to take a trip to Mexico. After a long winter and a cold Spring, I was ready to shake off the Chicago weather to kick back & relax. My idea of a successful vacation includes great company, hot weather, and cold drinks. I got all of that and much more. Since this is a food blog, I'm going to try to stick with my food experience.

Beyond eating my weights worth of chips and salsa, I indulged in:

The Westin's Pai Ai:A cocktail and breakfast. This funny pineapple drink with a face offered a fruity pink rum flavored smoothie of sorts. They whole out the pineapple, fill it with a frozen fruit cocktail, then pin fruit to the outside. A cocktail that's fun even before you start drinking it...


Habana Cigar Lounge: The best mojito ever. Sitting on a deck, amazing weather, and a perfect cocktail. It was also sunset which really set the mood. Not surprisingly, I couldn't stop at just one. I had to order a second one...which would have been fine if we hadn't followed it up with a tequila restaurant for dinner.


La Destileria: Amazing shrimp tacos and a delicious Margarita that was way too big. This restaurant specializes in tequila, they import hundreds of them and even have their own tequila museum.



Captain's Cove: This romantic bungalow of a restaurant sits on the water with an amazing deck to sit back and relax with your partner. The waiters were friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed the scallops that I ordered. A quirky aspect to the place is that an enormous alligator is lurking in the water below. The best part of this restaurant is that connected to it is a Karaoke Bar called Pancho Willie's. The boyfriend and I had a blast finalizing our night making a total fool of ourselves (well maybe just me).

Hacienda El Mortero: A little more lively than it's name translated into English "The cement building"... this local favorite did not disappoint. The restaurant served traditional Mexican fare in a welcoming and festive yet more upscale environment than some of its touristy neighbors.

Cambalache: An Argentinian steakhouse located inside a Mall. At first it sounded a little random, but once I bit into my deliciously juicy skirt steak and tasted the salt of the fluffy potato pillows (not a technical term) I knew that this place was special. The boyfriend ordered beef ribs that looked like Dinosaur ribs. Other than our distracted waiter, the dinner was a big win.

Oh, Cancun, you are so much better than I remembered you from my '99 Freshman year trip. This trip to Cancun was a vacation to remember...