Early Dinner at Bluewater Grill at Dreams Natura

Because there were no restaurants offering outside dining tonight (only Bordeaux and El Patio were open) we had an early dinner at Bluewater Grill.  They were serving the lunch menu until 5pm so we left the pool at 4pm and went to Bluewater.   

Started with the ceviche.   

You can always tell if a ceviche is freshly prepared by whether the fish is mealy.  Mealy fish means that the fish wasn't fresh to begin with or it has sat too long in the acidic dressing.  This was definitely freshly prepared chunks of fish with diced Serrano pepper and slices of  onion and red pepper.  The lime juice didn't overpower the fish which can sometimes happen.  It was served with a single soggy sweet potato chip which was the only misstep with the dish.  Highly recommend. 

Next was the chicken fingers.  

Now some may think these are a throwaway items on a menu.  Only there for the kids.  I will usually try them to see whether they are generic boxed nuggets or something freshly made.  I am going with freshly made here.  These were pieces of white meat chicken, not a formed patty, that had been coated in panko crumbs and deep fried. And you could tell they had been cooked in the proper temperature oil since they were not greasy.  When oil is too cool, then it will soak into the food.  Here the chicken had an excellent crunch.  It had also been salted right from the fryer which is a critical step when deep frying anything.  Well prepared dish.  I have found the fried foods at this resort to be all well made.  Even the french fries.  

My main dish was the Philly Cheese Steak.

For those who have been following along, on check-in day we had lunch at Bluewater and I had the skirt steak nachos.  It was that same delicious steak that was used in this sandwich.  Now I think Pat's or Geno's might cry foul for the resorts using this instead of the traditional rib eye, but I think it was a brilliant move.  The steak had crispy edges and paired nicely with the salty provolone and sauteed peppers. Surprisingly, it came on a pillowy rye roll, peppered with caraway seeds.   It added a welcome flavor to the sandwich.  

Dessert was a stop at Coco Cafe. 

 From left to right, there is mango sorbet, carrot cake, chocolate cake, a fresh fig tart and chocolate ice cream.  My favorite was the chocolate ice cream. Everything at this resort with chocolate has been excellent.  And this was no exception. Such deep notes of cacao and subtle notes of coffee in the background.  Runner up for me was the carrot cake.  Really moist with a light frosting.  Sometime carrot cake has a thick, goopy, sugary cream cheese frosting that takes away from the carrot flavor.  Not here. This was halfway between buttercream and whipped cream.  Light enough to not interfere with the carrot flavor but heavy enough to coat you pallet.  

The fresh fig tart certainly had Instagram appeal.  However I failed to get any significant flavor notes from the figs.  The base of the tart was a vanilla pudding.  And the bottom of the tart had a thin hard shell of chocolate.   That had the most flavor.  The figs may not have been ripe enough to yield any flavor.  Kudos to the pastry chef for coming up with this.  It just failed on execution.   

This is our last night here.  We are off to Dreams Riveria Cancun tomorrow after lunch.  I took one last picture of what it looks like at nightime from our balcony.  

Dinner at Bluewater Grill at Dreams Natura

Dinner tonight was at Bluewater Grill which is the steak house.  Don't be too concerned. There is much more than steak.  You can access the menus at dreamsnatura.info.  

Sometimes when you go to a restaurant that you think will feature one type of food, you can be surprised how well they do another.  I think the old cliche saying is you don't order fish in a steak house.  And if a place is known for their burgers, don't order the fish sandwich.  In the case of Bluewater Grill, defined as a steakhouse, make sure you don't dismiss the "turnovers".  Now I put that word in quotes because these are really authentic empanadas.  And I think more people would order them if they were labelled that way on the menu. But you should order them because of how delicious they are.  The restaurant offers two varieties. One is beef that has ground beef, carrots and onions.  The other is a caprese. 

The caprese is the one I suggest you order.  I had never heard of a caprese empanada before.  Normally empanadas have a filling that isn't too moist because otherwise the pastry will break in the fryer.   I am not sure how they accomplished it, but the filling was still moist like you would expect from a caprese salad.  Finely diced tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil but inside a gloriously flaky pastry.  Crispy yet fresh tasting. I would even go so far to say that you may want to think about just ordering several of these per person and call that your dinner.  But that would be a disservice to the rest of the menu. 

The next appetizer was mushroom soup.  

Mushroom of my favorites and they make such great soup.  The menu didn't specify, but I expected this would be a cream of mushroom soup.  How surprised was I when out came a clear broth with loads of cremini mushrooms.  Such deep mushroom flavor.  I think they started with a beef broth and then simmered it with mushrooms.   Mushroom lovers rejoice!!

Next up was beef carpaccio.  

This was thinly sliced beef that each had been made into a roll.  Dressed with a bit of olive oil and garnished with miniature tomatoes, black olives, slivers of cucumber, salt and pepper.   I think there needed to be a sauce (perhaps a runny egg) to bring this all together.  The beef tasted okay but the dish wasn't composed enough for me.

Now for the "steak house" portion of this review.  We got both a rib eye and the skirt steak.

The rib eye was my favorite of the two. 

Cooked a perfect medium.  Even though it had more fat than many rib eyes, it had the superior seasoning. It was also juicier - which you would expect given all the fat. Rib eye has alot of fat so you can have it cooked beyond medium rare and still have a great steak.    

The skirt steak had a decent seasoning but had been left too long one the grill. I asked for medium rare and this was more medium well. Cooking any flank or skirt steak beyond medium produces something that starts to taste of liver and is  very tough. That was the case here. 

Dessert was a chocolate brownie.  

I had asked for vanilla ice cream but it only comes with strawberry.  Both the brownie and ice cream were tasty on their own.  But I have never understood those combination of flavors.  A chocolate covered strawberry works since it is not overly sweet.  But strawberry ice cream doesn't pair well with any kind of chocolate.  The brownie was cake like but very flavorful with some notes of roasted coffee.  The ice cream was also very good.  Creamy with a decent strawberry flavor. Just didnt work with the brownie.  I would get them separate if I ordered it again. 

So when you visit Bluewater Grill the next time you are at Dreams, make sure you order lots of the "turnovers".  I would say you could even skip everything else and just get those. You will still leave very happy.

Dinner at El Patio (or is it Our Patio) at Dreams Natura

When we found out Bluewater Grill wasn't the restaurant that would be open and instead it was El Patio (serving Oceana menu) we were disappointed.  El Patio doesn't have outdoor dining which we like for the extra air circulation.  We asked the hostess at  El Patio if we could order off the menu and take it "to go".   She checked and a few minutes later came back and said that we could order and they would deliver it like to service.  So instead of El Patio, it would be Our Patio!!  We ordered at 7:15 and about an hour later our food arrived.  It was rolled in in one of those fancy hot boxes I have only seen in the fanciest of hotels.  

We started with Octopus Carpaccio. 

Super thinly sliced.  To get it that thin they must freeze it and use a deli slicer.   It was simply dressed with some light truffle oil and garnished with some mild arugula and sweet cherry tomatoes. I have never been disappointed with octopus in Mexico.  You may see a pattern forming.  

Next was fried squid.  

I expected this was going to be the generic rings you see in many American fast casual restaurants.  Instead it was some large chunks of meaty octopus that had been fried in a tempura type batter.  And served in a spicy tomato sauce.  

Next was lobster risotto.  

 There was a deep flavor of lobster that can only be obtained by creating a stock with shrimp tails and/or lobster shells.  Seemed to be some hints of brandy, almost like a thermidor.  And some tender pieces of lobster.  The rice could have been a little creamier (it was a bit gummy), but the flavor more than made up for it.  

Last was braised octopus. 

 Another one of my favorite dishes to get in Mexico. This one didn't disappoint.  Braised until tender and served with roasted potatoes.  When octopus is braised properly, it will take on the texture and flavor of cold water lobster.  Only so much better.    The sauce was a ratatouille style of Serrano peppers, carrot, onions and tomatoes.  A bit spicy to cut through the richness of the octopus.  

We will see what restaurants and menus are available tomorrow night.  It is good to know this is an option in case outside seating isn't available.

Lunch at Bluewater Grill at Dreams Natura

We have arrived!!!   Easy check in process.  Our room wasn't ready so we we went to lunch. Bluewater Grill was open and had some great choices.  Started with the Octopus Tostada.  

This had some nice tender octopus on a crispy flour tortilla shells. It had a  base of spicy salsa topped with a bit of chipotle mayo and then a surprise topping.  It had some well fried crispy green onions which gave it a nice crunch and savory twist.  

The shrimp tacos had three to four well fried shrimp in a thin flour tortilla shells. Inside was crispy cabbage, shredded carrots and a delightfully spicy chipotle mayo. 

The skirt steak nachos had everything you crave about a good order of nachos. 

 Crispy chips, spicy salsa, a thin (not goopy) cheese sauce, pinto beans and crema.  These are the kind that you would want as a snack for Sunday football to eat with several cold cerveza.

At check-in I had seen that Coco Cafe also had freshly made ice cream.  So I had to try it. 

 I got one that was similar to a rocky road.  Great chocolate flavor with a few ribbons of marshmallow along with some vanilla. They also have some great looking pastries which I didn't try - yet.  But we are here for three nights.  This might be a dangerous place.  

We checked in the restaurants for dinner.  What they appear to be doing is having all dining in Bluewater Grill and World Cafe but they rotate the menus.  So Bluewater Grill has the Oceana menu tonight and World Cafe has the Bordeaux (French) menu.  They may be doing this since those two restaurants are the only ones with outdoor seating.  Will find out more as we go.