Coconut Shrimp
I was reminded this morning by a posted comment that I have readers who share our mutual love of Isla Mujeres. I wrote and saved a couple of entries after my most recent trip:
“I have been tempted to sample Coconut Shrimp here in Winnipeg when I been to the The Star Grill on Portage Ave or their sister at The Conservatory in the park. For me tasting is a multi-sensory experience, Winnipeg even in June is not quite the right setting-I need to smell the sea and hear the whoosh of the palm fronds around me.
Sounds like I’m making a case for my constant treks to Isla Mujeres. My first taste was in 2005 at the Sunset Grill. We were staying on the south end of the Island and it was our first full day. With our fabulous map reference we found the Grill on North Beach and ordered exactly what Laura the writer of the map suggested and I was hooked. We’ve returned to the Sunset other years hoping to enjoy the same quality. One year I was with Sister #2 and our girls and we had the privilege of witnessing the most romantic wedding on the beach. That same year our kids treated my husband and I to a progressive dinner and we shared the shrimp as our first course before meandering elsewhere for dinner.
On another trip with Sister #3 and an Honourary Sister, we tried the shrimp at El Pulito near Punta Sur. The restaurant is mostly outdoors with a little covered kitchen. The views are stunning and shrimp pretty darn good.
My husband and I have only been alone to the island on one occasion and we stopped at Chili’s Loco right on the main street of Hidalgo. I was very impressed but for some reason the taste is enhanced by sitting right on the beach when the shrimp is consumed and so we head to the strip of restaurants along Medina.
You can’t get nearer the sea than the Miramar. I’ve been to the restaurant twice-once with my adventurous friends from TO who took a chance on IM with me and are now hooked and the second time with my friend V who also happens to be the mother-in-law to my son. Along this strip of sand where the ferry arrives from Cancun, is where the locals mend their nets sitting on overturned pails. The shrimp is beautifully cooked in a crunch coating and the huge serving comes with all the trimmings. “
Kath’s quote: “We’ve been sold on the idea that travel is no longer a luxury It’s a staple, like soymilk.”-James Morris