If you look up 'integrity' in the dictionary, the lady who was managing this place during our Nov. 2017 visit won't be anywhere in the picture.
My two stars here are for the view and the likelihood that I caught this little mom and pop business on a bad day. And then there's that whole 'integrity' thing...
Based on the excellent Yelp reviews of this joint, my wife and I made it our first (lunch) stop during a four-day visit to the island. Like so many other structures here, it's an open air concrete building flimsy plastic chairs and sticky vinyl tablecloths. (And I loved it!) It sits right off the street with a decent view of the water on the island's east side. Wonderful atmosphere!
Our food was lackluster.
I ordered the whole fried fish. While it came out looking beautiful, it was very dry and overcooked. In other words, it took and fork and a knife to separate the jerky-like meat from the tiny bones ... and most of the time it was near impossible. As a cook, I know this is because said fish was pulled from the freezer and rinsed until it was almost thawed. Then, it was over-fried. Plain and simple.
My wife's coconut shrimp was just OK. It was overcooked as well (see the photo), but shrimp is more forgiving than it's finned brethren of the sea.
Sides were OK. Not bad, but nothing special. And then it came time to pay in U.S. Dollars (our mistake).
"The exchange rate on the island is 16 Pesos," the lady told me.
"Ma'am, there's no such thing as an island exchange rate. Banco de Mexico sets that."
"No," she argued "the island's exchange rate is 16 Pesos!"
With that, we knew she was going to stick with her lie, so we paid her the few extra dollars and went about our way.
I sincerely hope that this was a one-time falsehood on her part, but I get the feeling it wasn't. Live and learn, I suppose. But I don't see myself ever returning to this place, no matter the currency.
Feel free to give this place a try, but be smarter than we were: bring Pesos. Because the lady operating this place just isn't honest. read more