DH and I started with the carrot ginger bisque. Mayan Cafe has a practiced and accomplished hand with soups. Soups are not always as easy to produce really well as many people assume. This was velvety smooth with the addition of goat cheese and a garnish of crunchy toasted pumpkin seeds, with the proper kick of ginger. It tempted me away from the seafood bisque and I was glad I went. DD had the Mayan Cafe salad (with the goat cheese, which was an easy change to make it vegan.) She enjoyed the fresh crunch of jicama. it's a veggie we all proclaimed that needed to be used more often.
DH had the salmon over Forbidden rice and a side of the wonderful lima beans. I'm gong to assume it was to his liking as the plate didn't look like it needed washing when he was done if you get my drift. (Yes, they will wash the plate.) The rice tasted faintly of mint which was a refreshing and bright note to the dish.
I, along with DD had vegetable plates. Hers had limas, cactus (a first for anyone in our group) mixed seasonal veggies and another dish I can't remember. I had plantains, limas, seasonal veggies and the corn cake. The seasonal veggies were turnips, carmelized onions and squash - perfectly prepared and perfectly seasonal. The corn cake had a quite noticeable kick from mustard which I enjoyed a lot. There's not much to be said about the limas other than you should go have some. Now. And if you don't like limas, you should definitely have some. Plates were garnished with the signature flash fried sipnach. I could be very happy eating a plateful of that garnish.
DH ended with the bread pudding with chocolate sauce and cinnamon ice cream. I can only conclude that a random passer-by in the restaurant must have stolen the dessert out of DH's bowl because I was only talking for a few minutes and when I looked back, the dessert was gone. Obviously I didn't get a bite. I ended with the Mayan Mocha (decaf) which is hard to describe but a coffee drink I will often have when there's no room for dessert. There were notes of toasted marshmallow and florals totally distinctive.
We asked for a large order of limas to go.
About $90 (pre-tip) for 3, including one glass of wine, iced teas and soft drinks, three apps, three entrees, one dessert and one after dinner coffee.
We send a lot of our B&B guests to Mayan Cafe and every one comes back raving about the food, the service and the entire experience.
Happy New Year!
Just kidding - your experience is of course valid, and you present your review in such a detailed, respectful way, so the only thing that makes me go "hmm" is the fact that we've been there dozens of times and not had that experience. We love them so much we had them cater our wedding rehearsal dinner. There's a lot of flavor to be had in that place. I haven't had the pork enchilada you mention, but I have had the salad. Try the lima beans; they're famous!
), and, after trying most of the menu over the years, here are my Mayan favorites: