Tuesday 5 January 2016

Where to drink (& dance) in Mexico Cocktail Bar & Restaurant Review


This day a month ago I was waiting at Mexico City airport about to fly back to the UK after 2 weeks of gorgeousness in Mexico. Now I'm using my blanket to wrap me up like a sausage roll as I type this. 

Bloody hell what a difference a month makes.


This photo gives you some context of how much I like to research into places so to spare you the 5 days that would be needed to read a post on my holiday and what I got up to, I will only be writing about the places I went to for drinks that I liked (genuinely only a short list and not all the places I went too...that would span 5 days too).

First night after 24 hours total travelling and I am straaaight on the margaritas

Cabo San Lucas
A great location if you want to stay put in one place. You could do lots of activities or chill by the beach (although we did both just fine). Other than the infamous El arco, there's not a great deal of things to see that's famous to that area. The place is jam-packed with resorts, a lot of American families and balloon animals. The town mainly centres around the marina and we were staying on the Land's end side of the marina, not the Medano beach side. It's the quieter side but it's quick to get to where the noise is. 

Apparently 30°c sunshine is considered out of season so when we storming the streets on our first night ready to have it large (seriously, could you actually imagine me have it large) it was pretty empty (funnily enough spring break with riotous students happens in...spring). Cabo San Lucas does also have more of a family / honeymooner vibe but don't worry we found out where to party...

El Squid Roe is a necessary pilgrimage to make if you have a general sense of wild abandon and disregard for socially acceptable behaviour. You will be drinking yard cocktails before dancing on the table...or the bar...basically anything that you think resembles a stage. Make friends with strangers. Must be prepared to get involved in group line dancing about 5 times.

I will spare you the photos of me dancing on the tables; you can just appreciate that photobombing couple

Mango deck is kind of like El Squid Roe but the day time equivalent. Being on the Medano beach side it also has a more spring break type vibe to it with activities like lap dancing competition, guys chugging beers and any opportunity for girls to just wear bikinis (calm the jealously down girl. Calm) going on. Weirdly I don't get why families are amiably sitting around eating fajitas and guacamole while it's all happening. Their tequila list is as long as train delays in the UK during winter and their mojitos and mango smoothies were also tip top.

I don't think this really requires any kind of caption

Everywhere in Cabo serves great seafood but Lorenzillos is a proper nice joint. Get a dress on, celebrate a birthday (OK maybe that was just us), have the specials, massively overestimate the weight of lobster you can eat (and totally forget how much it costs in £££). Most importantly, it's also right next to El Squid Roe. Oh how the mighty FALLS.

Being civilised in Lorenzillos

Being a town primarily for tourists it's hard to find an authentic Mexican restaurant and Mi Casa still definitely depends on tourists but was probably the closest to being the kind of place Mexicans may actually go when eating out. Rustic interiors, live band, me engaging in some table boogey-ing as a mariachi band wondering around your table, the fish of the day was gorgeous and the mango margaritas were the best.

With my jazzy little cup

Cancun
Does it even need an introduction? Sunbathe. Drink. Party. Repeat. Organise a tour and get out of town if you want to do something remotely cultural. If you look on the map, we stayed on the thin strip bit (technical term) as opposed to the mainland part. Benefits of this is super nice beaches (assuming you stay in a resort although I doubt there are any other options) and right by the party bars but generally a bit soul-less culturally.

Coco bongo - book the VIP tickets, get involved with the unlimited drinks, grab a balloon, go dancing on the stage and the bar and - oh yeah - enjoy the show.

Man they love balloons there

Chuchito Perez is that excellent mix of great food and cocktails and the music was banging. Maybe it's because we went out of season but given it's location (right next to the Coco Bongo club) and the kind of drinks it serves, you'd expect it to be party central but actually it was more sedate go-for-a-few-drinks with friends type place. This was the first place in Mexico I had tequila because it was served oh-so-pretty. Me and the bf were also working (work it!) through their house cocktails list served in huge ass mugs / jugs? Loved it so much I think we ended up going there 3 times while we were in Cancun.

Possibly the size of my head

The tequila actually tasted as good as it looked

I have more Perez cocktail photos but I'm just getting bored now

Oh look, guacamole served in a...pig...turtle...? Fresh guacamole da bomb but nachos (as we know it) a disappointment

Playa Del Carmen
Truthfully having spent some serious time on the beaches of Cancun working on my tan, I was well used to their white soft sandy beaches. Playa Del Carmen in comparison is more bohemian and less manicured. Spent less time (well little time) on the beach we mainly stayed by our fabulous roof top pool (I don't mean to brag but just look). Some parts of town quite party but it's seriously developed for American tourists. Good base for day trips to other places like Tulum and Xcaret.

Mi Pueto does not seem to have any online presence but location wise is just down the road from the utterly fabulous hotel we stayed at. Mexican cuisine restaurant (in amongst a sea of Italian restaurants). A tower of a mango margarita (I can think of no other adjective) and good wholesome food.



So there you have it. Some of my favourite places while I was in Mexico. Obviously so much more to the country than just margaritas but that requires a book not a blog post!

Is Mexico somewhere you are considering visiting?






3 comments:

  1. The cocktails are so big lol! Must visit Coco Bongo when I go Mexico ;)

    Hanh

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    Replies
    1. Definitely! Let me know if you have any questions xx

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