If you are the least bit hungry you’ll want to step away from your computer right now. Seriously. Get a snack or something before you read this post because I am going to be showing you pictures of all of the fantastic food we ate in Mexico. Okay, not all of the food. I never took any photos at breakfast – although I should have since the omelets made to order are fantastic and the beautifully sliced fresh fruit is very photogenic – and I think I missed a photo of my super fish tacos and maybe another night or two but still, you are about to be bombarded by food photos.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Let’s start with this one:

Lunch on the beach in front of our hotel. Please understand that I use the word “hotel” very loosely. We stay in bungalows, right on the beach. Each bungalow has 2 rooms downstairs and 2 rooms upstairs. We prefer downstairs because we like to step outside our door and right into the sand. Anyway. There is bar service and food service on the beach all day and one afternoon we ordered cervezas and sandwiches. It’s not the most glamorous food we ate but it certainly came with the best view and service.

Next up:

Mushroom and blue cheese bruschetta from La Luna. This restaurant is a short walk up the beach and the inside looks like something out of Arabian Nights. (I’ll show you restaurant photos later, today it’s all about the food.) This was a wonderful appetizer and really different. I don’t have pictures of our entrees but I had fettuccine with prawns and Dale had grouper.

Of course you know there were cocktails. This is a margarita, naturally, from Las Estrellas, also a short walk up the beach, but in the opposite direction.

We ate here twice and on the first visit I had this black ravioli filled with lobster and garnished with tomatoes and avocados

And Dale had this amazing seared tuna. I had seared tuna a different night, at Ziggy’s, and he loved mine so much he ordered it himself at this restaurant. We eat a lot of fish in Mexico.

One day we had lunch on the beach at Ziggy’s. I started with a shot of Clase Azul Tequila. It’s pricey but it makes anything else taste like rot gut. So smooth!

And Dale had coconut shrimp

While I had tequila shrimp tacos with a chipotle cream sauce. They were heavenly. Tacos in Mexico are pretty different than tacos in the U.S. They are smaller, for one thing, and they are almost always made with soft corn tortillas. I had tacos several times last week but these were the absolute best.

Back to Las Estrellas on a different night where I had a flank steak with sweet potatoes and onions. So tender and rare and perfect.

Dale went wild and had the couscous stuffed lobster. These aren’t are cold water Maine lobsters but spiny lobsters that don’t have claws. They were grilled and very tasty – he was glad he tried them – and I was glad, too, since he’s not always very adventurous when it comes to ordering.

Happy Hour is a big deal in the area and we participated just about every day. Who can resist dos para uno margaritas? Certainly not us!

Finally, on our last night, we went to Ziggy’s again. It’s hand’s down our favorite place on the beach. The atmosphere is wonderful and the food is incredible. On this night I had shrimp with passion fruit and coconut.

Dale was all set to get the tuna but the waiter suggested the surf and turf and Dale was very pleased with it. There were herb grilled shrimp and a filet of beef with a mole sauce plus – a rarity in Mexico – mashed potatoes.

I saved the best for last, though. This is a photo of the tuna nachos at Ziggy’s. We get them as an appetizer every time we go because they are fan-freakin-tastic.

Three crisp wontons each stacked with fresh tuna, avocado, srirarcha mayo, onions and coriander. My mouth is watering just thinking about how amazing they are!

So there you have it – food in Mexico and not a refried bean in sight! Seriously, the cuisine is wonderful and not at all what you might expect. The Yucatan influence is strong and therefore there are lots of fish dishes, lots of sweet potatoes, achiote seasoning, limes and more. It’s all delicious and the best part is that the prices are very reasonable. Meals like this where we live, with service close to the beach (not on it because that’s pretty rare even on Cape Cod) would cost us upwards of $100 or more. In Mexico, though? Most of our dinners, with appetizers, entrees, drinks and tip, averaged $55. Factor in the no shoes thing and it’s worth even more! Sweet, right?

It’s no wonder we keep going back.