by

Dinner at La Chaya Maya, Mérida

I wanted to try Yucatán cuisine while I’m here (duh!) and yesterday Buzzfeed Mexico helpfully published a list of 12 of the best Yucatán restaurants in Mérida. Number two on the list, La Chaya Maya, was about 2KM away and really well reviewed, so I decided to go there for dinner. I must have walked close to 20km today, btw!

I’ve passed these former beauties several times today:

IMGP2925

There are two Chaya Mayas and the best reviewed is this one at the corner of Calles 62 and 57.

IMGP2926

I was given an English menu. It was actually pretty well translated, but not particularly helpful. I gave up trying to imagine what anything tastes like and zeroed in on this “Flavours of the Yucatán” deal that would give me four different items for just $95! I ordered it as “sabores del Yucatán,” though. 😉

IMGP2928

I ordered a XX beer, but the server said that the bartender wouldn’t sell me one because they weren’t cold enough. Dinner was off to a good start! I picked a beer at random, Montejo, and discovered that I have a new favourite Mexican beer! It is a pale lager that is incredibly smooth. I could have downed several of those!

Beer came with totopos, two kinds of refried beans, habanero sauce, and salsa mexicana (“pico de gallo”). The habanero sauce took out a layer of my taste buds. The brown beans had a strange flavour that was okay, but not really to my taste. The black beans were awesome and the salsa mexicana had an extra ingredient in it, possibly sweetened vinegar, that made it addictive!

IMGP2929

So here’s my meal. Isn’t it pretty?!

IMGP2931

The turkey on the left was soaked in a black sauce reminiscent of squid ink in appearance only. The middle one was also turkey and I’m pretty sure the other two were pork. Yucatán is not an agricultural state like Sinaloa and so the cuisine is very meat-heavy.

Using their online menu and my incredible powers of deduction, I think I had:

Top: vaporcito (not on the menu). It’s shredded meat with masa around it and a red sauce over top.

Bottom Left: relleno negro taco (black-filled taco). The black apparently comes from a mixture of a bunch of spices and chiles…

Bottom Middle: panucho (black beans smeared on a tortilla) with shredded turkey and veggies.

Bottom Right: cochinita (pulled pork marinated in sour orange and other things) and topped with purple stuff.

Everything was just delicious (and nothing was even remotely spicy!). It was all foreign to me and I’m having a hard time remembering what each individual thing tasted like. I know the panucho turkey tasted like a well roasted turkey that had been brined, but had no other seasoning. It was the best plain fowl I’ve had in Mexico. The black stuff was my favourite. I sampled everything, then worked my way around the plate to finish with the black taco. I left one and a half tortillas and the egg behind, but otherwise gobbled up everything. I really need to go back and try each thing individually. But, hey, now I know there are four things on the menu that I like!

The bill had a cute presentation:

IMGP2932

I found the beer very pricy at $31 (and I ordered off the cheap menu!), but even with a generous tip, my dinner came to only $150, or 12.35CAD. I know! If that’s the going rate for a gourmet meal in Mérida, I’ll be able to eat out like this every night!

Needless to say, I’d recommend La Chaya Maya!

I was pretty stuffed and actually looked forward to my walk home after. But I did mull over whether that was a good idea. I’m in a very residential neighbourhood that is very dark and quiet at night. It is well kept up, though, and the bulk of my walk was up a street with buses passing frequently, so I decided I was okay to walk. I passed three people on my walk home and they were all women about my age walking alone. There you go!

Not only does Mérida have street name signs and addresses, it actually let’s drivers know they are turning on a one-way street and which direction to go. *squints at Guamúchil*

IMGP2933

16 thoughts on “Dinner at La Chaya Maya, Mérida”

  2. I’m a guy so it’s a bit different, but I walked all over Merida and rarely had any sense of unease in the daytime. I passed through a few run-down areas further out that I’m not sure I would have wanted to see at night on a few of my longer ambles. One was on a long walk to the zoo that my guidebook assured me was just a short walk… uhm… no..

    Most of my night walking was more or less in the area you are staying and I was never accosted for more than a conversation. 😉

    Speaking of nights, be sure to take in one of the ‘traditional dance’ shows in the parks one evening. The best one I saw was in the main Zocalo. Although the dancers and all seem to just go from one park to the next night by night as far as I could tell. It was just easier to get a good seat there. They blocked off one of the streets on the side of the main square for it.

    • That’s my experience with Maz. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere there that I feel uneasy during the day. But at night, I won’t walk near the embarcadero. No problem around Centro, though.

      I just landed here and don’t have a feel for my neighbourhood yet. “Stuff” can happen anywhere, but if my number comes up, I don’t want to be the tourist who was where she wasn’t supposed to be! 🙂

      I have heard about the shows at the zocalo. I am going to ask about that tomorrow.

      • Definitely check into the shows. It’s been several years since I was there, but at the time there was a show in a different park each night dotted around the centro. I think the big one in the main square was Sunday night because the first time I arrived on Sunday and seems like I saw it that night. I saw two of them that trip and they are fun to watch but after two I felt like I had been there, done that. 😉

        It’s been long enough now that I would totally go again. In fact, reading your posts is making me want to organize another visit. It’s been too long. But I’ll go the vicarious route for now.

  5. .. one way is to follow the music, there was a show at the Santa Lucia Park on Thursday night with Yucatecan dancers, we had a burger there and I took photos and last night there was a show at the park behind the statue of Montejo brothers on Paseo de Montejo. They have little stalls on either side selling the usual trinkets bags and blouses but at the back there is a painted backdrop and stage.
    I have been wandering around clicking as I go, so much to see so little time. For the most part it is very clean and considering the horse and carriages that are to be seen all over, I haven’t seen any poop!
    The pizzas at “Los Trompos” are very filling, just an 8″ is enough for two of us but there are other choices and then there is happy hour.

    • “Follow the music” is good advice for Mexico in general!

      Mérida is very clean compared to other cities I’ve seen. I did find the area around the central market to be a bit rough, though.

      Pizza sounds good… 🙂

  6. Ok, bring on the spam!!!
    Great pictures. Will have to look at your video later due to data.
    You got some good tips today & maybe a tour is in our, um, your future.
    Looking forward to it all.
    Bring on the spam!! :D. Ha

    • Sorry for bothering you. I really should stop posting about this trip. 😉 😉 😉

      It was a good day. I’m surprised by how much I got out of it considering that it felt like I did nothing!

  7. Hola Rae! And Greetings from Calgary! I have a friend who is familiar with Merida and would relate to your entries. How do I send the Merida parts to her? Or, maybe you are able to send them to her (as if you haven’t enough to do…). Her email: ctucker2008@gmail.com (Carol) She tells us that Merida has an unusual number of police presence because the families of the “cartel” live there thus the protection. Have you heard that?

Comments are closed.