I commenced my month long stay on Isla Mujeres with a visit to North Garden, so it seemed appropriate that I concluded it with an evening at Grill Garden.

To start, our female newbie Debbie and I started with Spaicy Mango Margaritas rimmed with Tajin as well as a generous shake into the concoction for good measure. They were different and delicious! She has three granddaughters so I suggested that she take the paper parasols that adorned the drinks, home for the girls. We did so last year and our grands loved them!

You may have an impression that Grill Garden is too romantic/upscale/expensive to drop in for a quick bite or take your family out for dinner. In fact, the night that we dined, there were mostly families. Oh sure you can still get those amazing “cooked and carved at the table” rib eye or tomahawk steaks, and there were a couple of gentlemen also enjoying them that evening, but Grill Garden’s menu and value quotient has gone up, way up!

This came about with their latest menu changes. Owners, Fernando and Brenda made a trip home to Argentina recently, and Fernando came back to Isla, inspired to work on a revised menu, preparing the dishes he always wanted to have listed on their restaurant’s offerings.

As well, Grill Garden also takes advantage of their on site bakery, delivering two appetizers that are served in a hollowed out loaf of bread! The Shrimp and Artichoke Dip and the Mushroom and Ribeye Dip (the later of which we sampled). It was ooey gooey as a result of sautéing the mushrooms and ribeye strips in red wine and cream cheese. The meat was so tender and each forkful a delight!

Of course we also had to have my favourite Crispy Cilantro Cheese, where the crispy is created by covering mozzarella cheese in panko flakes and the cilantro shines through a tomatillo sauce. I dream of this Grill Garden’s appetizer in the bleak midwinter.

For entrees, one of the Newbies ordered Fruiti de Mare on freshly made pasta noodles. Calamari rings, octopus, shrimp and fish were grilled and presented in a full bodied sauce of butter and white wine. She loved it!

I too, was tempted by fresh pasta and chose Chicken Alfredo, but not just any Chicken Alfredo.  The process started when our fabulous waiter Javier wheeled over an enormous disc of Grand Padano cheese and started heating the sides under a flame and then scraping away the gooey cheese. This was repeated many times. Then, he hailed an assistant to bring out a bowl of freshly made noodles which was added to the cheese and butter. Lastly a bowl of grilled and sliced chicken came out of the kitchen and all the luscious ingredients were assembled in front of me. It was the most decadent bowl of alfredo I have ever eaten! When I had to ask for a “to go” container, it must have weighed a pound!

The guys both decided upon the Argentinan specialty of Milanesa. Both dishes started with a breaded flank steak. Carbonara distinguished it from the other options and the cheese and bacon sauce was baked on top. The portion, overflowed the plate and was too much for either guy to conquer, in spite of best efforts. It was so good.

Portions are huge! Presentation is exquisite and the service is top notch. When our waiter Javier teased Newbie Joe about taking home his leftovers, Joe said “For sure, they will go great with eggs tomorrow morning”. Quick-thinking Javier delivered these with Joe’s leftovers.

Javier also delivered these parting gifts. He called them mini-beers but they were actually shooters that we had remembered from a previous visit. So delicious!

The options are now so varied and affordable that you can dine for any reason at all. We saw three hamburger-sized sliders get delivered to another table. All three were only $16.67 USD! They could have fed 3 teenage boys.

Check out hours and prices on Mapchicks App.

Kath’s quote: “Life is batter with a sprinkle of love!”-unknown

Love never fails.

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