Uh, oh! It's after 1 PM the following day and no review from Steve. Delhi Belly? Confined to the Karsi?
Sorry guys, got back late and then was off to a hotel early the next morning. Overall it was good but far too pricey, portions too small and too far away for us to make it a regular haunt. The place is very nicely furnished as you would expect being at La Isla, the waiters and hostesses all dressed in Indian dress, a little OTT I thought - but it is geared towards tourists. It was surprisingly busy, quite a few Brits there. Service was very attentive, constant asking if all is OK, the waiter watching you discretely all the time, reaching over every time a dish or plate was empty. Some call this good service, personally I find it a little annoying. Opening times are 6pm - 11pm. On to the food. The menu was fairly extensive, but states it's a temporary menu so lots more dishes to come I think. Starter: Vegetable Samosas: 70 pesos. Very Good Popadums: 40 pesos. Disappointing, not flat like I'm used to but rolled up, too crumbly and clearly microwaved. Served with dips, tamarind, Mint yoghurt (not half as good as Jannet makes), some finely chopped vegetables in yoghurt and some pickled onions I thought strange and didnt try. Additionally these same pickled onions were listed as being ia key ingredient in the Tikka Masala which seems weird to me. Mains: Murgh (Chicken) Vindaloo 235 pesos. Excellent, very spicy probably too spicy for me normally but as a Vindaloo should be. Portion size was way too small though. Vegetable curry with paneer cheese (forget the exact menu name): 170 pesos. Jannet said it was fine, I didnt try it because I dont like cheese. Again portion way too small. Pilaw Rice: 70 pesos. Fine but again not enough of it. Probably not much more than 2 heaped tablespoons for each of us Garlic Nan: 70 pesos. Ok. More like a big chapati than a proper Nan but not bad. Couldnt taste the garlic but it was same price as a regular Nan and I was eating the vindaloo at the same time, so no biggie. With a couple of beers and two limonadas, the bill came to 860 pesos, plus tip you're looking at around 1000 pesos for two. In the UK, which isnt exactly cheap, you'd expect twice the amount of food for half the price. We will definitely go back, but unfortunately it wont be a regular occurrence due to price, distance and portion size.
Thanks for the report Steve, that's crazy money they're asking and small portions too, i think i'll be avoiding it, that's a real shame, i expected it to be a little bit more expensive than a normal curry dish (100-120 pesos in the UK) but that's for a huge foil tin of madras or tikka massala, not 235 pesos for what i bet was a few chunks of meat? The more i hear about and experience the restaurants in the hotel zone, the more i get put off, the most recent we tried was Magaritaville and that was the biggest let down ever, horrible food and rip off prices! I'm sticking to that Xtanbeum place opposite The Forum, down the little alley on the left, still 45 pesos for a huge burrito with beans and rice and beers are only 15 pesos! Sadly, it's not curry though and i think i'll be going without until i get to go home, as the last time i ate in the one in Tulum it tasted of soap! Everytime i go to that place, feels like luck of the draw, never know what it's going to taste like or how spicy it will be!
Steve, any chance you can get me Jannets mint yoghurt dip recipe? No idea what yoghurt to use here or even where you can get mint from?? Ingrid loves the stuff and being 7 months pregnant that would really put a smile on here face, just a shame they don't sell those home make poppadoms in Cancun!
Anyone else been yet? If so what did you think? Sorry Sam, missed your post re Jannets Mint Yoghurt recipe, it's very simple Just mix the following: - Mint Sauce (you can often get jars of Colemans Mint sauce at Europea - like you would have with lamb, but I think they are out at the moment) - Natural Yoghurt, any will do as long as it's not flavoured. - Finely chopped cucumber
That sounds simple enough, can't say i've ever seen natural yoghurt here but they must sell it everywhere! I thought Europea only had that Mint Jelly, if it has mint sauce i'm getting some!
Oh by the way, i went to go to the Indian, looked at the menu and then walked away and then checked out the Thai place opposite and it was probably more expensive, it's a real shame that they don't have decent Indian and Chinese/Thai food at reasonable prices in such a big city, I had a hong kong takeaway the other day, it's okay if you need a fix but why is the crispy chicken balls, never crispy and always tastes like it's been microwaved, i'm sure if any Mexican tried a proper crispy chicken, pork or prawn ball with decent sweet and sour sauce from the UK, they'd never want to leave, it can't be that hard to do or is it they just think the Mexicans won't like it that way? The only thing that is good (that i've tried) are the vegetable crispy rolls.
