We have now stopped to eat at Gran Jirafas in Merida two different times and enjoyed dinners both times. This restaurant is located just off the Paseo de Montejo in Merida north of the new underpass on the right side of the road. Very friendly and accommodating staff and if you need them to, several of the waiters speak very good English.
We stopped here after watching the bull fight at Plaza de Toros in Merida. Hmmm I had a salad and a baked potato. Lyn had a salad… There was not a lot of meat ordered that night. The menu is good and has lots of very affordable items on it. I had the baked potato loaded and it was quite tasty, especially after you add some of the fantastic “onion salsa” that was quite spicy to it. This mixture had a great flavor and was really good on anything, it was a little spicy but certainly worth trying.
Evan had the Sopa de Lima for 45 pesos and really enjoyed it. Noah had Quesadilla which was a lot of food for a five year old. Lyn had the Jirafas Especial Salad for $75 pesos and it was a very large salad but could have used some more dressing on it. The MEGAPAPAS are something kind of unique, loaded potatoes – I had the Megapapas De Arrachera, yes it had some meat on it! The bull fight did not extinguish my appetite but I did not order a steak. Several of the kids shared a large pizza, this took a little bit of time to cook and these kids were the last ones to eat much to their disappointment.
It was Bruno’s birthday so we sang him happy birthday and the restaurant provided him with a complimentary piece of chocolate cake. The kids had a great time as there is a large play ground attached to the restaurant. It also seems that due to the time of day we eat at, which is sometimes considered very early at 5-7pm, we are often the only patrons in most restaurants. This allows the children some freedom and they certainly take advantage of it. The playground attached kept them amused for an hour or so as they all played tag and new and inventive games.
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Do you guys ever cook? That’s what I want to know! Or is it actually cheaper to eat out? Hope it’s warm enough when we are there to sit outside to eat.
It really seems as all we do is eat at home and are constantly looking for new recipes to try our hand at. Typically dining out four our family is between 200 and 300 pesos ($15-$22.50 CDN) including a tip. If you go to a Mexican styled restaurant the prices are about 40-100pesos per item. Evan almost always gets the Sopa de Lima for around 40 pesos and Noah will get a taco or quesadilla. Sometimes the ‘bebida’ (pop) is more expensive than the entree we order! Most pops are 15-25 pesos and tacos can be as little as 3 pesos each, although mostly the tacos are 10 pesos or more depending on the selection of tacos.
We try to eat out once per week and are always looking for new places to try. We do have some new restaurants we cannot wait to try out when all of our ‘Canadian Snow Birds’ arrive!
We are still eating outside for just about every meal. It does cool down to about 18 Celsius at night… but mostly we are eating outside in shorts and t-shirts all the time.