Private Wine Tasting at Planet Hollywood

We had a private wine tasting tonight with Edgar the head sommelier at the hotel. He did it "blind" so we had some fun trying to guess the grape variety, whether new world or old world and the country. All of them were from Mexico although we guessed elsewhere. The most surprising was the Barbera which is a relatively new grape variety that has a lot of characteristics of the Pinot noir grape.  

This cost $35/person and was held in Sixth Sense.

Sutra - Planet Hollywood

My favorite dinner of the first three nights.  Sutra was fabulous.  Indian is one of my favorite cuisines and the flavors here did not disappoint.   They start you with what I will call fried wonton skins. 

 Super crispy. And there are mango, mint and tamarind sauces you  an dip them in.  The tamarind was my favorite.  If you have never had a tamarind margarita, add it to your bucket list.

I tried both of the red house wines (included) and the merlot was my favorite.  The Cabernet was okay but merlot was a better choice for me based on spice level of the food to come. 

Starters were the paneer pakora and tandori chicken tikka.  The paneer was my favorite of the two. 

Such a crispy outside batter and a creamy inside. Not sure exactly what was in the middle but I am going with cucumber.  It added a nice extra crunch. And it came with a great dipping sauce of yogurt and spices.  

The chicken was very flavorful. 

Some garlic and curry flavors came though as well as a little sweetness. Could have used some kind of sauce.  Perhaps the one user with the paneer.  

The best dish of the night was the fish curry. 

 Such a well cooked piece of grouper.  And that would usually be enough.  But the delicate sauce flavored with curry was the star.  Creamy and spicy.  You needed to use the garlic naan to sop up every drop.

The biryani was also good.

 A hint of mint and curry accentuated the vegetables.   And who can not like a great butter chicken, perhaps the signature Indian dish for American palates.  

A deep tomato flavor, but watch out for the slight heat that comes in the background.  

No dessert tonight.  We sat outside at Twist and did some people watching while waiting for the circus show.

Dinner at East - Planet Hollywood

We had a fun first night!! Dinner was at East. While the menu is a bit small, all the items we ordered were very good to excellent. I was surprised that the menus are not online via a QR code. They bring the dry erase board to your table.  

Gyoza (not pictured) was crisp with what I think was pork. It came with a savory sweet and sour dipping sauce.  

We had two orders of both the tuna nigiri and the dragon roll. Both were tasty. 

The chicken teriyaki had a very flavorful sauce and the chicken was very tender.

 I think this would have been even better with all vegetables since they were cooked so wel. The zucchini and carrots were just al dente and went so well with the sauce.  

The pad Thai had lots of flavor.

 Instead of fish sauce, the dominant flavor was ginger. So while it was unlike any pad Thai I ever had, the seasoning was spectacular.   

No dessert tonight. We hung out by the Twist Bar and had some Tanqueray and Tonic. If you haven't tried it with an orange, you should. It makes it so much more refreshing. They had staff membera who were in costume as Slash, Freddy Mercury and Gene Simmons. That was before the rock band started their show in the outdoor theater. They played one song about 9:30 and then it stopped. Not sure whether there was some technical issue. We then headed back to our room at the Adult Scene. First full day tomorrow. We plan to go to the Star Class Adult pool and the Star Class Grill for lunch.  

Dinner at Catch - Planet Hollywood

Dinner tonight was at Catch Seafood Grill. We started by ordering a bottle of Chenin Blanc. 

Itt was about $50USD. Some standout dishes but the highlight was the Three B's Mussells. 

These are cooked in beers butter and bacon - this the three B's. I had never had mussels prepared this way. They were so tasty. These are the tiny morsels that you could just eat dozens of with crusty bread.  

The green pea and avocado terrine was the surprise of the night. 

Such great pea flavor in the terrine accompanied by a great supporting cast of fresh avocado, endive and radish. This dish would throw a lot of people off due to the texture. But if you can get past that, the flavor will win you over. 

The scallops were cooked perfectly medium rare and simply seasoned.  

The octopus was similar to what was served at Star Class Grill although this seemed a bit more buttery. It needed more salt for my taste.

The seafood bisque had a deep flavor from the sea although could have done without the slice of bread in the bottom of the bowl.  

Dessert was a trolley they brought over and plated what you wanted. 

They had a creme brulee, cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberry and what I think was a chocolate Carmel tarte. I went with the creme brulee and cheesecake.

 Both were okay. The brulee certainly needed that candy crack to be able to call it a brulee. It did have a strong vanilla custard flavor. We had some Bailey's with dessert and they served it in a large margarita glass!! 

I think we have a new way to drink Bailey's!! Why hadn't we thought of this before?

They are also open for lunch so we may try that over the next couple of days. We will try Sutra (Indian) tomorrow night and probably Sunset Strip Steak House on Friday. Tomorrow for lunch will probably be Gusto. And perhaps I should try a Guy's Burger - for science of course.

Lunch at Gusto - Planet Hollywood Cancun

Okay,. are you ready?  Lots of things ordered for lunch.  

Eggplant bruschetta, pomodoro bruschetta, fried mozzarella, mushroom risotto, fettucini alfredo, Chicken Parm, roasted vegetables and meat lovers pizza.   

The highlight certainly was the mushroom risotto.  

Deep, mushroom flavor with a hint of onion and paremesan cheese.  Very similar to what was served at Catch restaurant except this seemed fresher. I also liked the eggplant Bruschetta. 

 Crunchy bread with sauteed mushrooms.  The fried mozzarella checked the boxes for this dish.  Tasty, but not better than I have had at other restaurants. 

 The meat lovers pizza was very good. It had capiacola which has a strong flavor.  If you are not a fan of that, order the pepperoni or ask for it to be excluded. 

  I liked the flavor of it, but it would have been better if it was diced instead of in large slices. 

The chicken parmesan was well fried and crispy. It had a cheesey breading.  The waiter said it had coconut also but I didn't detect any.  The pasta was cooked Al dente which was a welcome surprise. It came with the same sauce served with the mozzarella sticks.  

We had the house Sauvignon Blanc which went well with the dishes.  That wine is included in your package.

Frank and Lola's Part Two - Margaritaville Island Reserve

Last night was Part 2 at Frank and Lola's.  We tried some dishes we weren't able to on Friday night.  We wanted to get a bottle of a different Tempranillo but they didn't have it.  Instead we tried this Cab/Merlot blend from Copernicus.  It is from El Cielo Winery which is a resort operated by Karisma in Guadeloupe. It is on our bucket list to visit, so this is the next best thing to being there.  Another great wine with deep bold flavors. I prefer the Tempranillo we had on Friday but this is a very good wine.  It was $1083MX peso or about $55USD which I felt was an amazing  price for this wine.  

We started with the Italian Cold Cut platter and the Bruschetta trio.  

The salami and prosciutto were really delicious.  Smoky and salty and seemed to be freshly sliced.  There was a nice assortment of green and black briny olives and huge chunks of parmesan reggianno. That was great dipped in the balsamic oil from the bread service.  It also came with a freshly made pate.  I couldn't tell what it was made from but very sure it was not liver.  It didnt have a strong flavor and was tasty on the charred bread.  

All the Bruschetta were delicious.  

Whereas we didn't get any arugula (rocket) on our first visit, it was plentiful in the dishes we ordered tonight.  Mild peppery greens complimented the toppings, especially the mushrooms.  That was my favorite one. 

Next course was mushroom risotto and the Mediterranean pizza. 

 The risotto was cooked perfectly for me.  Some prefer it soupier so it moves about the plate. I like the rice grains Al dente and for the risotto to hold together just enough so that it doesn't fall through your fork.  I sensed that the broth they used was, at least partly, a beef stock.  This gave the risotto a beefier flavor with more umami compared to mushroom risottos where a mushroom stock is used.  Very delicious and I would order again. 

The pizza was also excellent. 

Thin crust and crunchy with a thin amount of sauce topped with eggplant, mozzarella, rocket, mushrooms and pesto.  A whole bunch of flavors that worked well together.  

The chefs special risotto was four cheese. 

  It had the same creamy consistency as the mushroom risotto with well cooked grains.  In addition to the bold cheese flavor, I detected a hint of onion in the broth.  

Dessert was terramisu which is plated before you.  They bring you a placemat which shows you all the ingredients use to make it.  And then a small bowl appears that has the marscapone and espresso soaked lady fingers. 

 They also bring out a shot of amaretto and a metal strainer that has cocoa powder.  They then pour the shot of amaretto over the marscapone and dust it with cocoa.  Very creative presentation.  And it had all the flavors and textures you expect in a good terramisu.  

This is by far our favorite dinner restaurant at the resort.  Great food and very deep wine list.