Dinner at La Isla at El Dorado Royale

We saved the best for last!!  The best overall dinner was Sunday night at La Isla which serves a Mexican menu.  The restaurant is right next to the La Isla pool so you can guess how it came up with the name. They are currently serving the same menu at lunch and dinner.  Any of these items by themselves would be a great pool side snack. 

Dinner starts with a platter of freshly fried tortilla chips with three sauces.  One was a salsa Verde, another was a red salsa with mild heat and the third alluded me but was the most interesting.  We think it was pureed pumpkin combined with some sort of beans.  It had an interesting, sweet flavor, almost like peanut butter or some other nut. 

I just love elotes and esquites. Elote is perhaps better known as Mexican street corn outside of Mexico and served on the cob. The corn is grilled and then is coated with a paprika mayo and then dusted with cojita cheese.  Esquites is a version where the corn is removed from the cob and combined with mayo, cream, spices, lime juice and cojita cheese.  La Isla had a really excellent version of elote. 

Drizzled with mayo, coated in paprika then dusted with cojita cheese and cilantro.  

Next up was a chorizo cheese dip.  This cheese was unlike any I have had in Mexico. It tasted alot like a creamy French brie.  The addition of crumbled chorizo added a bit of spice.  It was served with some warmed tortillas.

The tuna tostada also didn't disappoint. It started with a crisp tortilla shell that has avocado mousse. Then some fresh chopped tuna in a slightly sweet soy glaze top with crunchy onions.  Great combination of flavors.  If you wanted a lighter entrees I would suggest ordering a few of these. 

The stuffed poblani pepper was so tasty.  Normally these are stuffed only with cheese.  Here they had also included some sweet grilled corn which was great for some texture.  And the pickled onions provided a great acidic contrast to the creamy cheese.  

The Barbados short rib was "fall off the bone" tender. Notes of coriander, paprika and cinnamon seasoned the meat.  

The.poratoe puree was some.ofnthe best, buttery mashed potatoes I have ever had.  A lot of.times potatoes can be a throwaway side item.  This is the third entree I have had where the potatoes were really cooked well, including some delicious fresh cut fries I had with a burger two days ago. I also have seen great respect for the vegetables.  Both the carrot and zucchini were cooked to just tender and well seasoned.  

The rib eye tacos were also.outstanding.  They were my favorite beef taco at the resort - beating out the flank steak ones at Rincon.  Such flavorful and tender beef.  And they provided you some roasted bone marrow which was a great savory, creamy and salty addition for you to spread on top of the tacos  They were also served with a roasted onion sauce.  I had never had something like this before but it was such a claver addition.   Great onion flavor with just a bit of char to contrast with the meat.  

The chicken thigh mixiote was very much like the shredded chicken you find in an enchilada.  Well seasoned and the addition of nopale and peppers added some texture. 

Overall my favorite meal of our five night stay.  The other restaurants all had some great dishes z but also had some.misteps.  Everything here at La Isla was terrific.  

Dinner at Fuentes: Mixologist vs. Sommelier Dinner

Saturday dinner was at Fuentes.  On most nights Fuentes has a chefs dinner that costs $10 and then you can add wine pairings for an additional charge.  On some nights, such as Saturday, there is a special dining event where wine pairings are included in the charge.  And Saturday's dinner had the added feature of both a mixologist and a sommelier. 

The concept is that the chefs prepare a five course meal and for the first four courses the mixologist and sommelier each pick a cocktail and wine respectively that will pair with the food. After the fourth course, the diner each vote on who had the best pairings. 

They start you with some potato chips (or crisps for any friends in the UK.  These were served with a slightly mustardy aioli.   This was a great palate cleanser.  

The first course was a hibiscus salad with crispy prosciutto. It was paired with an albarino white wine from Spain.  The cocktail was mezcal based. 

The cocktail won this round since the smokey mezcal paired so we'll with the crisp and salty prosciutto.

Next course was an onion soup paired with a Chablis from France.  The cocktail was very bitter - perhaps made with Campari.  They brought you a bowl with a crisp crustini with pamesy on top of sauteed onions.  Then they came and poured the broth.

It was a delicious onion soup that truly tater like onions.  Too often you get a broth that is more beefy.  Here I think the chef used a vegetable stock.  The parmesan crustini added a bit more saltiness.  Neither the wine or cocktail paired well so this round would not move the meter. 

Third round was a sous vide chicken breast along side a mushroom risotto. This was paired with a burgundy from France and another medical cocktail.   The chicken breast was moist due to the cooking method used which keeps meats at at a temperature the chef sets.  The real star of the dish was the savory mushroom risotto.  It was creamy from cheese and the starchy arborio rice that had been married with the rich stock. I would have liked an entire bowl of just the risotto. 

The cocktail paired slightly better than the wine which didn't go with the chicken at all. The wine was okay if you just were eating the risotto.   Close call, but I went with the cocktail this round.   Mixologist is up 2 to 1.

Fourth course was a beef filet mignon served with some Al dente carrots and zucchini.  The beef was cooked medium well which is not my preferred temperature for a filet but since they are serving over 100 guests, it is not possible to have them cooked to order.  The beef was topped with what they called bacon but was more like a crumbly, crispy chorizo.  The beef had a great flavor.  The hidden star of the late was a potato cake. I think they had taken think slices of potato and layered them in a casserole with cheese, butter, cream and salt and pepper then baked it.  The layers were almost like a lasagna. Still had a little bite to them with some great flavor. This was paired with a Pinot noir red blend and the cocktail was based on horchata.  Horchata is a Mexican beverage that has a vanilla and cinnamon flavor.  The cocktail was delicious and we asked for another.  I thought this round would certainly go-to the sommelier since a red wine is an easy pairing for beef.  But he wine disappointed. It was too thin to stand up to the beef.  In a huge surprise to me, the horchate cocktail was a great pairing. Something about the cinnamon and vanilla paired so we'll with the chorizo.  Mixologist is now in commanding 3 to 1 lead. Time to vote.  

And in a landslide my wife and I both voted for the mixologist.  Although the final tally across the dining room gave a slim ten vote victory to the sommelier.  

Dessert was a deconstructed red velvet cake with a blueberry compote and some delicious strawberry ice cream.  They also brought out some tequila cream and your final cocktail.  

Overall it was a fun experience.  I was hoping some of the food would have been more adventurous but I understand they have to make something that 100+ people will enjoy.   I imagine some of these dishes are in theme us they provide to brides and grroms as options for their special dinners. I also wish they would have provided you a menu to take home of all the dishes along with a listing of the parings and cocktail recipes.  It would be fun to try making these cocktails at home. 

Lunch at Rincon at El Dorado Royale

Saturday's lunch was at the Mexican restaurant called Rincon. They do offer other dishes such as burgers, wings and BBQ but I is primarily Mexican-influenced.  

Starts out with the most delicious shrimp Caesar salad.  Some well cooked, plump shrimp, crisp romaine and a creamy dressing that had hints of garlic and anchovy but didn't overwhelm the delicate shrimp. 

Also had the salmon salad which was just as thoughtfully composed.  Mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, corn, cranberries and tangerines all topped with well grilled salmon.  And it had a slightly sweet mango vinaigrette.  So good. 

Also tried the fried cilantro cheese.   These were well fried cheese sticks atop a savory and warm salsa Verde.  I expected some more cilantro flavor, but didn't miss it. Melted cheese and salsa Verde are a great combination.  

They also offer tacos here so we got three kinds.  Baja fried fish, flank steak and octopus.  The flank steak was my favorite since it had the best overall seasoning.  Some of the chopped flank steak had crispy edges which added even more flavor.  The octopus was very tender and had good flavor. Added the red salsa added some needed zip.  The fish tasted okay but wasn't crispy enough.   It came with a slightly spicy mayo but tasted better with the red salsa.  

Dessert was a chocolate brownie.  It was more like a fudge cake coated in a thin shell of chocolate and had a few dollops of caramel for dipping.  It was delicious and reminded me of the best parts of a milky way.  

Dinner at D'Italia at El Dorado Royale

Dinner was at D'Italia Villas.  El Dorado has two Italian restaurants (the other is D'Italia Casitas) which have some of the same items but enough is different so you could try both.  

Started with the Eggplant Cannelloni.   This was expertly thin sliced eggplant with diced peppers, zucchini, rocket (arugula) and pesto.   While well composed, it needed more pesto flavor. 

Next was beef carpaccio.  This dish showed what a beef carpaccio should be.   Rare, thinly sliced beef with parmesan crisps, rocket pesto and truffle oil.   Accompaniments that didn't distract from the main attraction.  

The asparagus and prosciutto was another well composed dish. Salty prosciutto with Al dente asparagus with a quail egg.  And a nice crisp crustini and a drizzle of balsamic.  

The lasagna had great flavor from the Bolognese sauce.  The trouble was on execution.  This was served barely warm and the cheese hadn't melted. With a bit more attention to detail, this would have been a great dish. 

The mushroom risotto hit it out of the park.  Deep mushroom flavor in a creamy sauce with rice that still had some bite.  Everything I look for in a risotto. 

The ricotta ravioli was another smartly composed dish.  The creamy ricotta paired well with the stay carbonara.  

The Tuscan fish filet had lots of flavor for such a small dish.  A delicate filet of mild white fish on top of a well seasoned chickpea puree.  The fish was topped with shredded potatoes which had been crisped.  And then it had a drizzle of balsamic.  

The duck breast had the best flavors of the night.  While the duck itself needed more fat to be rendered, it had some great flavor from the sauce that had a surprising ingredient: maple syrup. That along with the mushrooms, endive and red wine combined together into a truly delicious sauce.  

Dinner at Kampai at El Dorado

Kampai was one of my favorite restaurants when we visited during our last stays at El Dorado.  And it didn't disappoint on Thursday night. We asked our server if the chef could make up a plate of his favorite sushi rolls.  And then this appeared.  

My favorite was the tempura which is the one on immediate left.  It had a surprisingly light crispy coating and was slightly warm. The second one from the left was spicy tuna.  But the only thing spicy about it was the dollop of siracha on top.  I prefer a spicy tuna roll that had mixed the tuna in with a spicy Asian mayo. It tastd fine.  The other were a salmon roll, tuna roll and the one on the far right was eel. This was another terrific roll with a delicious sweet and salty eel sauce.  

I also tried the tuna taking which was lightly seared tuna which was then thinly sliced.  The flavor of the tuna really came through. 

I also had the shrimp aquachile.  While the shrimp were cooked well, there was a lack of any other flavors.  Usually aquachile will have some like juice and perhaps some serrano pepper to add some character and contrast.  

The carrots and bean sprouts added some needed texture but there should have been some other flavors.  

For main entrees I got the stir fried pork.  This has lots of good sweet and sour flavors with lots of Al dente sweet peppers.  

We also had an order of the Udon noodles. Udon is a wheat noodle, about twice as thick as an Italian spaghetti noodle. Like most pasta,  it has no real flavor on its own so depends on the sauce and other accompaniments.  The chicken, ginger and scallions really worked well to provide a great sauce for the noodles.