Do you like Mexican Food?

OK - as an uneducated European, what Mexican dishes should I be looking out for?

Anything with tequila in it.

Does anybody agree that is seems difficult to find quality Mexican food on our cruise lines (in general). We are curious to see if anybody agrees (or disagrees) and why that may be true..

 

We have taken many cruises and just have never seen tasty or quality Mexican food dishes at either main seatings or lunch buffets.

 

Let us know your thoughts

 

Jerry and Judy

OK - as an uneducated European, what Mexican dishes should I be looking out for?

That's a big list. Here is a sample of what I'd like to see on a Main dining room menu.

Appetizers/Salads/Soups:

Cerviche

Camerones de Mariscos

Avocado slices

Mixed Garden Greens with Avocado Cilantro dressing

Caeser Salad (originated from Tijuana)

Chilled Watemelon Gaspacho (thank you SadieN)

Tortilla soup

Abondigas soup

Entrees: (served with pinto or black beans and spanish rice)

Chile Verde (stewed pork in mild chile verde sauce)

Enchiladas Chicken or Beef

Baked Tilapia

Dessert:

Fried Banana with Vanilla Ice Cream

Might be if you only eat restaurant Mexican food but if you eat at a home with authentic Mexican cooking it can truly be quality Mexican food. I have experienced Mexican food you'd rarely find in a restaurant. Delicious!

I have been hooked on Mexican cuisine since high school. I was invited to go hunting in Mexico twice. We stayed with the mayor of the town who owned a couple of restaurants. Even the big shot government officials ate at his house. He and his wife were fantastic cooks and we literally lived with them for two weeks each trip.

Now when I go to Mexico I am in search of the perfect Tamale.

:hearteyes: The Table side Guacamole @ NCL's Los Lobo's is very good. :cool:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2405704&highlight=los+lobo%27s

That's a big list. Here is a sample of what I'd like to see on a Main dining room menu.

 

Appetizers/Salads/Soups:

Cerviche

Camerones de Mariscos

Avocado slices

 

Mixed Garden Greens with Avocado Cilantro dressing

Caeser Salad (originated from Tijuana)

 

Chilled Watemelon Gaspacho (thank you SadieN)

Tortilla soup

Abondigas soup

 

Entrees: (served with pinto or black beans and spanish rice)

Chile Verde (stewed pork in mild chile verde sauce)

Enchiladas Chicken or Beef

Baked Tilapia

Dessert:

Fried Banana with Vanilla Ice Cream

Sorry - nothing there to get the old taste buds going. Think I'll stick to Thai, Indian, Chinese, or Italian.

Sorry - nothing there to get the old taste buds going. Think I'll stick to Thai, Indian, Chinese, or Italian.

Wowzz, more and more, different Mexican regional specialties are being introduced to the U.S. OK, it's not clear to me whether you live in the U.S., but, regardless, try a Google search on "Yucatan cuisine" or "Veracruz cuisine." I think you will find that there are dishes from these cusines that are, frankly, quite exotic. They are not the Tacos, Enchiladas Burritos plates that are served all over the U.S. OK, I enjoy tacos and enchiladas as much as the next guy. I'm so-so on burritos, but there's really nothing wrong with them. ;)

Living in a giant metropolis, I am pretty lucky, because I can find restaurants that serve less familiar dishes. Alternatively, we can find so many ingredients for these regional specialties, even in chain supermarkets, and my wife is clever enough to be able to read a recipe and make her own version.

Anything with tequila in it.

Good one. But make mine a shot.

Sorry - nothing there to get the old taste buds going. Think I'll stick to Thai, Indian, Chinese, or Italian.

I live in an area with great Italian food, almost all of it I've tried on cruise ships is awful.

Sorry - nothing there to get the old taste buds going. Think I'll stick to Thai, Indian, Chinese, or Italian.

Then you haven't had good Mexican [emoji6]. I like all mentioned foods except Chinese but the only thing that can hold its own with GOOD Mexican is Thai.

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To be fair, I probably haven't eaten good Mexican cuisine. My experiences in the US have been of cheap over seasoned ingredients.

Personally I don't think that Mexican meals will ever be high on the list of 'haute cuisine '.

True Mexican cuisine is divided into 7 distinct regions, each with it's own specialties:

https://www.picos.net/the-seven-regions-of-mexican-cuisine/

Here are some of the famous street foods of Mexico:

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/mexican-street-foods-you-have-to-try/

The corn on the stick (elotes) at first seems like it would be meh, but tastes AMAZING! It is a real mess to eat, but so worth the trouble! I also like the Dorilocos. And who can live without tamales? They are the BEST!

No.

I live in San Diego about 15 mins from the Mexican border. Excellent Mexican food can be found all over San Diego but yeah cruise ships not so much other than Blue Iguana which is just okay.

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I've had authentic Mexican, Tex-Mex and American version and like all 3. Was pleasantly surprised on November sailing of RCI Liberty of the Seas. I was in the WJ for lunch and ran across a buffet line with Mexican food, I gave it a try and was very impressed.

Thanks, this is probably the best answer so far. We've never seen Mexican chefs (or stewards or bartenders) on any of our cruises and that may explain why what we see at the burrito and taco bars are not well represented. BTW we are booked on the Splendor in September of this year. Thanks for the heads up! We'll get our fix at El Indio in San Diego before we fly out to Ft. Lauderdale!

Now that you mentioned El Indio, I need to go get my fix. I'm originally from SD, but moved to Seattle area many, many years ago. Luckily my oldest moved back to SD, so I can get my Mexican food fix when I visit, and I'm down here now.

Blue Iguana was OK, but nothing like California's Mexican food. It's just a bunch of things thrown in a tortilla and called Mexican food. They did have a good variety of salsas. I have some RCI cruises coming up, but I doubt I will try Sabor, since it is no longer a la carte, and is now $19 per person.

I don't have very sensitive taste buds and, therefore, like my food to be very tasty. Subtle flavours are lost on me! I find 'spicy' food on cruises to be generally lacking in flavour - but I have to remember that they are trying to appeal to everyone, not just me.

Coming from the UK, I can't pretend that I have tried authentic Mexican food but I have enjoyed what I had.

I don't have very sensitive taste buds and, therefore, like my food to be very tasty. Subtle flavours are lost on me! I find 'spicy' food on cruises to be generally lacking in flavour - but I have to remember that they are trying to appeal to everyone, not just me.

 

Coming from the UK, I can't pretend that I have tried authentic Mexican food but I have enjoyed what I had.

I have similar difficulty, Slugsta. However, I think my taste buds are declining in sensitivity. I like various cuisines--e.g., Indian or Moroccan--because flavors explode on my taste buds. As you say, cruise ship food is consistently bland. I agree with your comment about their trying to appeal to a mass audience. However, generally, the demographic on so many cruise ships is older. Us old people have lost an awful lot of taste buds. We need more flavors to excite the ones we have left. :)

Don't fret about whether or not you have ever had authentic Mexican food. For some reason or other, Americans seem to obsess about the authenticity of Mexican food. Mexican food, or, if you prefer, Mexican-style food, should only be judged on how it tastes. If it tastes good, it is good. If it doesn't taste good, it is not good. Why make it harder than it has to be?

IMO it probably relates to the ethnicity of the cooks. We went to an all inclusive in Mexico and the Mexican food was great - but most of the other ethnicities were not very good.

 

Since many of the people in the kitchen are Indian or Asian, IMO those tend to come out well. They also do their best at the American style cruisines that represent a majority of their dishes. But think that when you get more into off shoots like Mexican you'll be hard pressed to find a chef familiar with those flavors on a Cruise ship.

 

 

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This is legit the most racist thing I've read on the internet all day. So because I'm white my soul food isn't any good? Because I'm white I cannot cook egg drop soup? I should just stick to casseroles and crock pot dishes based on your logic. Give me a break, this logic is vile and disgusting.

This is legit the most racist thing I've read on the internet all day. So because I'm white my soul food isn't any good? Because I'm white I cannot cook egg drop soup? I should just stick to casseroles and crock pot dishes based on your logic. Give me a break, this logic is vile and disgusting.

Ok. No one said anything about race; it was ethnicity. And not like African-American or Asian-american. Anyone who was fundamentally raised in America (whether born in or not) will have a similar cultural experience. Someone born and raised in china that hasn't sought out a culinary degree isn't going to be trained and familiar with all the dishes and flavors around the world. And not sure why you would expect them to be.

We were actually pretty entertained when we went to an AI and saw their interpretation of various dishes. It looked like someone read a description of a dish and got a recipe; however the spirit of the dish was entirely missed. As in there was a restaurant advertised as American BBQ. I ordered pork ribs and got a bone in pork chop. No one familiar with American cuisine would have ever had that interpretation of the dish, but you can kinda see how someone not familiar might.

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This is legit the most racist thing I've read on the internet all day. So because I'm white my soul food isn't any good? Because I'm white I cannot cook egg drop soup? I should just stick to casseroles and crock pot dishes based on your logic. Give me a break, this logic is vile and disgusting.

You need to lighten up and quit playing the R card. All the poster is saying is we are usually good at things we are familiar with and not as good on others. That is all.

Ok. No one said anything about race; it was ethnicity. And not like African-American or Asian-american. Anyone who was fundamentally raised in America (whether born in or not) will have a similar cultural experience. Someone born and raised in china that hasn't sought out a culinary degree isn't going to be trained and familiar with all the dishes and flavors around the world. And not sure why you would expect them to be.

 

 

We were actually pretty entertained when we went to an AI and saw their interpretation of various dishes. It looked like someone read a description of a dish and got a recipe; however the spirit of the dish was entirely missed. As in there was a restaurant advertised as American BBQ. I ordered pork ribs and got a bone in pork chop. No one familiar with American cuisine would have ever had that interpretation of the dish, but you can kinda see how someone not familiar might.

 

 

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So true

(Change of cuisines)

Some of the lines really try to go all out for Chanukah and make latkes every night for the menorah lighting.

Over the years it's been entertaining to see how the chefs interpret the description. They haven't gotten a recipe from the home office because it's always different.

Ok. No one said anything about race; it was ethnicity. And not like African-American or Asian-american. Anyone who was fundamentally raised in America (whether born in or not) will have a similar cultural experience. Someone born and raised in china that hasn't sought out a culinary degree isn't going to be trained and familiar with all the dishes and flavors around the world. And not sure why you would expect them to be.

 

 

We were actually pretty entertained when we went to an AI and saw their interpretation of various dishes. It looked like someone read a description of a dish and got a recipe; however the spirit of the dish was entirely missed. As in there was a restaurant advertised as American BBQ. I ordered pork ribs and got a bone in pork chop. No one familiar with American cuisine would have ever had that interpretation of the dish, but you can kinda see how someone not familiar might.

 

 

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Race and ethnicity have enough overlap that I was being more precise in my usage than you were. I will not lighten up. At college orientation, Gordon Gee (who coincidentally is a known bigot - look up what he said about Catholics) said that stuck with me and I've tried to live by it..."Never let a bigotted statement be the last word." I do not know if any of you are bigots but I took the statements to be bigotted and dang it I'm not going to let it be the last word. If you disagree with my philosophy, go fly a kite.

Race and ethnicity have enough overlap that I was being more precise in my usage than you were. I will not lighten up. At college orientation, Gordon Gee (who coincidentally is a known bigot - look up what he said about Catholics) said that stuck with me and I've tried to live by it..."Never let a bigotted statement be the last word." I do not know if any of you are bigots but I took the statements to be bigotted and dang it I'm not going to let it be the last word. If you disagree with my philosophy, go fly a kite.

Well, it wasn't. Cultural differences exist. Pointing them out doesn't make someone a bigot. But it's not the first or last time someone will draw that conclusion erroneously in our overly sensitive world.

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And this is why people should stay away from smoking pot. They get agitated and confused easily.