Let's Talk Soup–Nuevo Vallarta

I’ll bet you thought this would be a recipe posting.  Ha! It’s not. However, it is a food posting of sorts. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d go to Mexico and enjoy eating soup so much. I had it for lunch, and frequently had it at the a la carte restaurants for dinner while we were in Nuevo Vallarta.
We arrived to Dreams Villamagna in the late afternoon close to the end of the lunch time for some of the restaurants and we were waiting for our room to become available, so we headed to the buffet which would be quick and keep us close to the lobby so we could get our room key after eating. Now, I’m not usually the biggest fan of buffets in an all-inclusive resort, but it made sense logistically since it was the closest restaurant to the reception area.
Trying to keep it light, since we were getting closer to dinner time, I opted for a bowl of soup and a salad. The soup was a Cream of Chicken and Vegetable and man, it was incredible! You’d think in Mexico that a spicier option would have been more appropriate, but the cream soup was spot on.IMG_1785As the week proceeded, I sampled a lot of soup. Despite the warm weather, that first bowl had won me over and started a quest for my favorite.  First up, was lunch the next day, which was a Chicken and Vegetable. This was a basic take on Chicken Noodle soup without any noodles.  I was amazed at how flavorful the broth was.IMG_1786Later that evening, which was Valentine’s Day, we went to Portofino, the Italian restaurant. Just when I thought I had been eating some pretty tasty soups, they really impressed me with a Cream of Asparagus soup. It was off the chain and even came with a small, crunchy breadstick as garnish.


The next night we had dinner at the Seaside Grill, which would lead you to think we were dining at a seafood place. It was not. It was what I would consider to be the Steakhouse, since the majority of options on the menu were grilled beef selections. Considering I’m not a fan of creamed corn back home, I had low expectations for liking this one. To my surprise, I had a Corn Cream soup that would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any. This stuff was delish! I hope someday to go back to Dreams and get a hold of this recipe!IMG_1913Oddly enough, the next night’s dinner was a Mexican BBQ in the courtyard of the pool area. This was also the location of my least favorite soup selection, which was a Chicken Tortilla soup. Granted, I didn’t add the tortilla garnish or cheese to the soup, which may have been what was needed, but this soup just wasn’t hitting the mark for me. It was ok, but not “knock my socks off” good.IMG_2003Basically, I was completely taken off guard by the quality of the soups at Dreams Villamagna Nuevo Vallarta. I had no idea I would end up sampling a bunch of soup at an “unlimited luxury” All Inclusive resort. But now that I have, I tip my hat to whoever they have on their kitchen staff that is making these soups. They have a real gem right there!

Grand Palladium, Riviera Maya Dining

 
IMG_1124Ha! We got off the plane in Cancun, Mexico and what were we greeted by at the airport? Margaritaville! If you’ve read any of my earlier posts Margaritaville Island or Smoky Mountain Getaway you’ll know that hubby and I are HUGE fans. I’m still wanting to get my hands on that frozen concoction maker!  Maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas.

Anyhoo, we actually bypassed Margaritaville this time.  I would have had to order a frozen concoction or a beer and I didn’t think that was a wise idea since I hadn’t eaten anything yet that day and we still had an hour commute to the resort. I didn’t want to be that passenger to stop our bus because I had to use the restroom.
We arrived at the resort in time for late lunch. We headed over to one of the buffet restaurants where I had the most delish cream of asparagus soup and some chicken wings. During the next couple of days we determined that the buffet restaurants seemed to repeat the same items for each meal. They didn’t really knock our socks off with a ton of seafood and we found what worked best for breakfast and lunch.  However, some of the displays were really neat to look at.

We decided that the a la carte restaurants had the best dinners at the resort.  Two of them–Sumtuori, the teppanyaki grill restaurant and the Fish & Rice Resturant were the only ones that required reservations. The rest were first come-first serve.
Here’s my quick rundown in case you are headed to the Grand Palladium in Riviera Maya:
Sumtuori (Teppanyaki grill)–the food was pretty good, but I think our chef was pretty new. He didn’t say a word throughout the show (in Spanish or English and our table was made up of both), and a number of our orders were mixed up. So, we didn’t really get the “show” but his cooking skills were good!
Chang Thai (Thai)–this restaurant was incredible and delicious! I started with the chicken soup and then had chicken for my entrée as well. The interior of the restaurant was very unique in décor as well.

Ribs & More (Ribs/Steaks)–my food was awesome!  I had a rib-eye (cooked perfectly to order) and baked potato.  I do think the food seemed even better because of the company we were with, the Beards.

Portofino (Mediterranean/Italian)–this was my favorite dinner at the a la carte restaurants. I had salad and lasagna that was incredible!

La Adelita (Mexican)–I had the steak fajitas, which were very good.  I loved the plates and décor of the restaurant and the menus were especially gorgeous!

Lola (Spanish tapas)–last but not least, the Spanish restaurant was good, but I had expected more of the Brazilian steakhouse. We had a lot of tapas (the salad bar was mostly tapas and our entrees were tapas) that were very yummo. Beyond that, the décor was beautiful and there was live entertainment which made the dinner very romantic.

I do have to mention some additional food and beverage options that added to the gastro experience at the Palladium. The beverage options were not only endless, but they were always presented beautifully, even when we ordered drinks to go, which were served in plastic cups.

And, one late afternoon, we had the “Chocolate Bar”. One of the indoor bars actually set up a display of nothing but chocolate. There were chocolate drinks, a chocolate fountain, white chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate cupcakes and many other goodies. Some of the goodies were also decorated with artisan chocolates which were my favorites. I really just wanted to take all the chocolate decorations off the desserts for myself.

So, if you are headed to the Grand Palladium, I would definitely recommend you eat at the a la carte restaurants, you will not have a bad meal at any of them. Be sure to try the unique selections and seek out the chocolate bar. You won’t regret it!

Seattle, WA / Great Eats / Good Drinks

This is my own review of restaurants we stopped in at while visiting Seattle. I’ve listed them in order from favorite at the top–but I can’t even say down to least favorite.  There really was no “least favorite”–everything was incredible! The opinions expressed here are in no way based on any iota of scientific data, they are purely my own opinions. They may also be slightly foggy depending on how many adult beverages I had had prior to each stop.

Casual Dining

Fisherman’s Restaurant: http://www.thefishermansrestaurant.com/index

  • we went here for lunch
  • incredible Clam Chowder and Prawn Cocktail
  • amazing atmosphere under the Great Wheel

El Borracho: http://www.elborrachoseattle.com/

  • Mexican taqueria we went to for lunch
  • UNBELIEVEABLE Nachos–they were a work of art

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Palace Kitchen: https://www.palacekitchen.com/

  • we went here twice with the intentions of eating, but never actually ate
  • I discovered Montucky Cold Snacks here thanks to our server
  • this opinion is based mostly on the fact that they put baskets of pistachios on the table instead of peanuts and that our server gave us a huge bag to take with us

Fine Dining

Aqua by El Gaucho: http://elgaucho.com/dine/aqua/

  • we went here for dinner
  • beautiful atmosphere out on the deck overlooking the waterfront
  • another photo worthy meal and my absolute favorite
  • Sea Scallops AND dessert of traditional Crème Brulee


Cutter’s Crabhouse: http://www.cutterscrabhouse.com/

  • we went here for Linner (late lunch/early dinner)
  • had a seafood laden salad that was awesome
  • can’t wait to go back here again and REALLY throw down

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Margaux: https://www.margauxseattle.com/

  • this was the restaurant at our hotel, The Warwick
  • we actually ate breakfast and dinner here and checked out Happy Hour
  • I had a delish Northwest Salmon dish that just makes me think Seattle

The Brooklyn: http://www.thebrooklyn.com/

  • we stopped in for Happy Hour
  • $2 Oysters! Fresh, caught out of the ocean just a few blocks away
  • would have liked to stay for dinner

Drinks

Suite 410: http://suite410bar.com/

  • stopped in for a cocktail
  • the décor was very classy

TapHouse Grill: http://taphousegrill.com/

  • wasn’t really interested in their grill menu
  • FINALLY found a Bud Light here

Margaux Lounge:  https://www.margauxseattle.com/

  • they had a delish lounge/tapas menu
  • 3 tapas for the price of 2 during Happy Hour

Assaggio Ristorante:  https://www.assaggioseattle.com/

  • stopped in here late evening to check out their menu and have a Bailey’s and decaf
  • met our friend Angie (the bartender here) and another lady who accompanied us back over to the Palace Kitchen to close out the night

 
If you check out any places on this list, send me pics and your opinions. I’m also taking suggestions for our next trip.