How can you still be surprised when you have been visiting the same island for twenty years? Well, it happens to me over and over again. Case in Point: I understand that Kin Ha is a fun place to spend the day with a couple of pools, an extensive dock and fun features like a water trampoline. I did know that you could order food there if you wished. What I didn’t know was how lovely and quiet the setting would be for a romantic dinner for two!

We arrived as the sun was getting lower and various families and groups were packing up and heading home. We did notice that the people in the booths that were set up right in the pool, were the latest to end their day. Why would you?

We started with a couple of refreshing cocktails: a Mojito for me and a Caipirinha for D. The latter featured rum, fresh lime and muddled cochaca!

Mine started with muddled mint, a simple syrup and rum. There was just the right amount of soda to make it refreshing, with the tastes of the individual ingredients still shining through.

We were glad that we hadn’t filled up on appetizers that night because the mains were absolutely delicious and we ate every morsel from two platters. The big draw for us when we holiday on Isla Mujeres are vegetables as they seem to be lacking on many menus. Not at Kin Ha though. Both our entrees were cradled by hot, sauteed vegetables including carrots, peppers, zuchini and broccoli.

The other attraction in this case was a one cup scoop of curried rice, adorned with sprouts and plantains. I think that we ate all those vegetables and the rice before we had consumed the proteins.

The shrimp skewered with peppers and onions were perfectly prepared. You might think that the squeeze of a half a lime was redundant when they had already been marinated in tequila and lime juice. Au contrare, the eight jumbo shrimp just sparkled!

The House Specialty Chicken was a dish that I would have never ordered back home but was a welcome taste on the island. A double-sided chicken breast was topped with crumbled bacon, chopped walnuts, caramelized onions, spinach and cranberries. And it worked! It was savoury and a contrast to many Mexican taste profiles.

The manager Julio and our server who had worked at Kin Ha for 12 years, did an excellent job of taking care of us. All the staff were still smiling and enthusiastic when they must have served many people all day long in the hot sun.

Insider Tip: The dining tables in the pool looked like a whole lot of fun!

Kath’s quote: “The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.” Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Love never fails.

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