Very popular with cruise workers exploring as a free day, Chi (assuming short for 'Chinese')…read morerestaurant is very close to the downtown port in Cozumel, Mexico. In my experience, whenever a restaurant tries to promote dishes across multiple Asian cuisines, the results are not good. However, in this case, both my brother and I were impressed with the restaurant: in the dining space, service, and especially the food.
Chi is located less than four blocks from Punta Langosta cruise port, on the second floor of a busy retail building. On one hand, the second floor is not ideal to attract prospective passerbys, with a ground level entrance hidden away around the corner of the main street. Plus I didn't see an elevator, so accessibility is an issue. On the other hand, being on the second floor allows a less frenetic dining experience away from the bustle of the street, as well as great al fresco dining on the open air balcony dining area with a great view of the city.
We wanted A/C so chose a table inside, next to big windows. The menu is huge, with the largest devoted to classic American-Chinese dishes. There is also a page for Filipino dishes and one for Indonesian...definitely catering to folks from the nearby cruise boats. They do offer fresh fish as well, chosen as you enter, and they will cook it for you for minimal charge.
I wanted to try their Chinese stir-fried conch dish ($21.79), and it came out first. It came with a thin white sauce, which isn't usually my favorite, but it was perfect in this case, with the fresh ginger and scallions adding a light flavor to the dish. The Nasi Goreng House Shrimp Fried Rice ($14.19 from the Indonesian Menu) came out a bit later, and was really well made. We had asked for it at 'No spice' level, and this resulted in it tasting just like a shrimp fried rice from a good Chinese restaurant. These two dishes really highlighted the wok-skills of the chef, and would be something I would get again.
Next was the Adobong Pusit ($17.04 from the Filipino menu): baby squid in the typical adobo sauce that I enjoy. Appreciated the fact that the baby squid had been cleaned before cooking, and the removed tenacles were part of the dish. The sauce was really strong (no subtlety here).
The final one was one recommended by the waitress, classic shrimp pancit ($14.19 from the Filipino menu), using thin rice noodles. This wasn't very good: decent pieces of jumbo shrimp, but the fish sauce overpowered everything else...OK for a meat dish, but not so much for a noodle dish that tends to absorb everything.
The dishes did come out as they were prepared, which meant they were served hot, but came out pretty staggered. None of the dishes include white rice. The restaurant had no issues if you bring your own bottled water.
There is a $1.50 service charge for each diner, and I believe additional tip is expected. They do a good job of making sure the USD to Mexican pesos conversion is fair, and give the choice of local currency or USD. They do provide free WiFi for their customers, and it was fast and reliable, definitely better than the spotty cell service we were getting inside. Ended up spending a bit more time here than anticipated, which good food and a pleasant dining experience tends to do.
