Sickofsnow, V and Tori, 2 of my good buds, are both 100% correct. The little collectivos are at El Crucero, which is the exact corner of Lopez Portillo and Av Tulum. All R-1's go this far. On that exact corner is a great place for a breakfast of a Torta de Lechon and an Agua de _________, many options but I prefer Melon. Yummy and cheap and I bet I have eaten 200 of them over the years.
Thanks TJ and everyone! OK, so to confirm directions... we will take the R1 bus to the end of the R1 route which is on the corner of Lopez Portillo and Ave. Tulum. There we will catch a cab or collectivo to El Mecaloco Trailer Park. While there we will also grab a breakfast of Torta de Lechon and an Agua Fresca ____. My favorite is the watermelon. I love the ones you get at the back of Walmart! But, TJ....what kind of sandwich is Lechon? I had some wonderful tortas of minced pork on the square in Merida and off the street somewhere in Progreso, but I can't find these pork sandwiches in Cancun!
Lechon is slow roasted baby pig. Its is pulled apart usually by hand like pulled pork bbq. Served on a roll with pickled red onions. These are so good and I have eaten almost as many as Tj from the same place...in fact he took me there my first time years ago. Thanks Tooj!
Gonzo and Sickofsnow, The answer would be the SE corner of Tulum and Lopez Portillo. Walking distance from Mkt 23. If you go to Trina's link and hit the "-" zoom out one time, you are looking south on Tulum. The next major intersection that way is Chichen Itza. The red building you see on the right is Plaza 2000, where you have probably wandered around in before. I originally decided not to describe Lechon but Trina did it for me and now has me started. It is to pork as veal is to beef, hence baby pig. As Trina says, it is like pulled pork so usually no globs of fat but it sure is not bbq so don't read that into it. Sickofsnow, it sounds like what you describe getting in Merida. You sound adventurous and experienced enough to go there and you should. Not sure how your Spanish is but "without fat" is "sin (seen) grasa (GRAH-sa) although Trina teases me by saying they will serve it how they serve it and it does not matter how I order it. It comes with some mince minced onions and on the table is some killer hot salsa. You can usually tolerate this, and get the flavor, by sort of spooning on the liquid but straining off the green colored chilis themselves. As to what you got at Walmart for the agua fresca, my bet is that i was made from a mix. At this place, they are made with fresh fruits, blended on the spot and actually served in plastic cups accompanied by the blender container so you get every last drop. The watermelon version is agua de sandia. Back to Spanish 101, the "a" is always pronounced like the "a" in "what", "i" is like "ee" as in "keep", "e" is sort of like "a" is in "day", but more like the "e" as in "eh" and the accented syllable is typically the next to last on. So, AH-gua day sahn-DEE-ah and TOR-tah deh Leh-chon. I love the sandia too and if they don't have it, I get the agua de melon (cantaloupe) that usually comes with a foamy head on it. Please don't tell Trina but sometimes her hubby and I go there without her and we each have TWO of the tortas de lechon. Provecho.
Thanks TJ! I am in Cancun right now...arrived yesterday. We spent a beautiful day today at the pool, then went on the obligatory Walmart run. Arrived too late to get my favorite Aguas Fruitas (Sandia)...oh well, love it even though it is a mix! I have three 18 year olds with me. All have just finished their 4th year of Spanish, so they have helped a little bit. Tomorrow, another day at the beach, then off to Parque de las Palapas in the evening to try the street food you described in another post. May stop at Market 23 so they can see that too.
If you go to Mkt 23, early is better. It starts dying out about noon. If you walk in on Cedro, the one where you would be walking the same direction as the traffic, my suggestions would be when you get to the first corner of the market, the grocery is on your left a little past the corner. On the right, there is a shop that makes keys and a pedestrian street going to the right. First place on the left is a little juice place where you can get fresh orange and carrot juices for sure. Grab a large one in a cup or a liter in a bottle. My g/f loves the carrot, but I am an OJ guy all the way. Go a bit past there and you will see a line of people, from wealthy to poor, buying mostly cheese but all sorts of other things. Just past there make a left and you will see sights from beef and chicken hanging on hooks. There are a couple of small cart style merchants where they sell chicarones, also known as pork skins, only these are bigger, like the whole side of a pig and some have what look like pork chops attached. Two other places I frequent but we have to visually get back to square one, that being Cedro. When you get to the place where traffic is coming at you from the right, take a right and on the right there is a big "store" full of all sorts of Mexican pottery and wicker stuff. Sort of looks like a Mexican Sanford and Son from the street. If you are tall, be careful as you will bang your head from the low hanging mdse. If you are clumsy stay out of there as they have signs everywhere saying Do Not Touch in both languages, and some of the shelving is I swear to God, cardboard, stacked precarilously with stuff that will break. But a nice place to get a salad bowl or a platter for a practical souvenir or gift, in a brightly painted style of pottery called Talavera. Not cheap but no two are exactly alike. This stuff is not necessarily cheap. OK, now for what to me is an interesting thing to watch. Back to the corner and this time take a right, you are going away from Tulum. You almost need to end up at the outside diagonal corner of this big square. So pass the key place and keep going to the end. Then cross that street where you see lots of brooms and mops and go right. A couple of shops before the end of the block you will see this all white place with a 100 or so chickens laid out in large metal trays. There is a young guy there who will be wielding a giant pair of scissors. This kid can skin and cut up a whole chicken, including de-boning the breasts, in about 90 seconds. This sounds stupid but it just amazes me. I guess maybe such a thing would indicate that I have no life. My g/f serves up a lot of chicken and goes there a couple of times a week. I always try to go with her, mainly just to watch this guy work. There is also, yeah, I know, this is 3 things and I said only 2 more. a food court of sorts. Be adventurous if you dare. Salbutes, panuchos, aguas, tacos and more. If you see something that looks interesting, buy one and try it. You won't hardly spend a dollar on anything. The salbutes are my favorite, but loaded with grease, so I don't go there often. They take a tortilla and drop it in this wok looking thing filled with oil and it sort of blows the tortilla up like a pocket pita. They pile on some turkey, chopped hard boiled eggs and some relleno stuff. You add your own hot sauce. Yummy but a heart attack waiting to happen. It is not a clean market at all, compared to Market 28 and it has much more than what I described. Hope you enjoyed this visual tour, well, at least the chicken part. Friday and Saturday are the mid month paydays so people will have money and be spending it. The crowds should be nice. Makes a good show. Hell, I may even drop by and get a chicken.
TJ: Enjoyed the Parque las Palapas yesterday. Tried the corn in a cup (no chili powder though), and the crunchy crepe filled with cheese and some type of sweet sauce... deelish. The girls were serenaded by a guitarist/singer. He was really talented...and we watched in amazement a group of cheerleaders being tossed in the air on cement! Dangerous. My daughter has a gymnastics background and she was amazed that they were performing and practicing without mats. They were fun to watch. We enjoyed it! I think they are going to Plaza La Isla today and we will try to get to Market 23 next week. Thanks for your excellent tips!
Sick, The corn in the cup is called Esquite. On the cob is Elote. The rolled, crunchy crepes at Marquesitas. Enjoy M 23 and PLEASE, don't forget to try the Tortas de Lechon on the corner of Tulum and Lopez Portillo. The kids may be stopping there every day after that on the way to the animal shelter. They also have another thing there, Cochinita Pibil. Both this and Lechon can be ordered in a torta OR a taco and again, I always toss in the "sin grasa" on the chance they may look for some stray fat in there. I like my pork lean.
