Playing in Playa Del Carmen

Thursday we drove in to the big city of Playa Del Carmen. They have a steak place that we had heard about we were eager to see some other sites. This would be the small place people go when they wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle of Cancun. After dinner we went for a stroll on Paseo Del Carmen, the main drag shopping/dining/tourist street. It felt like Times Square compared to where we'd been.
This shrine to the Virgin Mary was in the front porch of a house down the street from where we ate. All this. At the end of a tiled entryway. Visible from the street. I guess that way Mary can find it easier from her taxi.

This is our extravagant dining experience. On a side street off a the main busy street through town. Nothing else around unless you count that wild pack of dogs that was running around at the corner. Total lack of glamor.

Super Carnes HC de Monterrey, on 1st South between 20th and 25th Avenues. 984/803-0488 (open from noon to midnight). They are a hole in the wall restaurant but for $100 pesos you can have "arrachera nacional" (steak), baked potato, 1/2 avocado, hot sauce, tortillas and a soft drink.

In case you don't know what you came for, it's steak. Specifically Arrachera. This is the Mexican term for skirt steak. This place is famous for it. They use some secret marinade (and from what I gathered, it really is a secret as the locals have been trying for years to discover it and not been successful). But here is a suggestion from a cooking site - marinate for about an hour in a paste made of white onion, lime and salt and then throw on a very hot grill approx one minute per side. Flank is not the same but often substituted when skirt is not available.

At Super Carnes you order by the kilo. One Kilo of meat is about 2.2 lbs. There were 8 of us so we ordered 3 kilos. Or about a pound of steak a person.

It was bigger than my head and filled the whole plate!

This was ONE baked potato. It also covered my whole plate.

Brad & Jim are still feeling less than great.

Lyle & Ricky are feeling no pain.

This structure was in front of an expensive department store on Paseo Del Carmen. I didn't go in, but I would love to have this in my front yard for Christmas... or any time.