The ULTIMATE Mérida, Mexico FOOD tour! (Trying 10+ traditional Yucatán dishes)

That is the best thing we've had in Mexico so far. We are currently spending two weeks in the beautiful city of Merida, which is located on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and so far we have explored its colonial architecture, lively plazas, and local events, but now it's time for us to eat our way through the city. Merida and the Yucatan Peninsula as a whole is known for having some delicious foods, many of which have Mayan influences, and our goal over the next few days is to try as many of these delicious Yucatan dishes as we can. For our first stop on our food tour we're at Taqueria La Lupita, which is a stand located at Mercado de Santiago, and has become more famous recently due to its appearance on Netflix's Taco Chronicles. We've got a few different things to try here, and first up we have salbutes. Salbutes are thick tortillas that are dropped in hot oil, and once it puffs up it's taken out, and then the top is crushed down and is filled with toppings. And for our topping we got relleno black, which originates from the Mayans, and it's turkey, which is a very popular meat item here in the Yucatan, that is in a thick black sauce that is made from roasted chilies and other spices, and it's served with hard-boiled eggs on top, and also with buch, which is a meatball. You don't see a lot of black colored meat items, so it's very interesting just to look at. They give you a little bit of sauce on the side, so you drizzle a little on top. Here we go. The salbute itself has kind of a nice softness to it still. It's very pliable, it bends up. The meat itself is super tender, both the turkey that's in there is just so juicy, and then that buch, the meatball, kind of just crumbles. It's crumbled up, so it's not a full meatball. It's already kind of crumbled up. And that sauce, I can't really describe the flavor of the sauce. It does have a little bit of a spiciness to it. It's not overpoweringly spicy at all, but just look at this turkey. It is succulent, juicy turkey. The opposite of most Thanksgiving turkeys, I will say. No offense. The salbute is interesting. As you can see, it's a little thicker than a normal tortilla, and like Catherine said, it's pliable, but it's just strong enough to hold all these ingredients in there. And yeah, that turkey is nice, and juicy, and tender. And then the hard-boiled egg. I don't know if I've ever had a hard-boiled egg on a taco. It adds a nice creamy and heartiness to it. We also got panuchos, which is a tortilla that's cooked on the comal, and then split open and filled with beans. It then goes into some oil to crisp it up a bit, and then is topped with meat and other toppings. And for our panucho, we got lechon al horno, which is a popular meat option here in Mérida. It is juicy pork that is topped with a chicharron, which is fried pork skin. I'm gonna add some of this habanero salsa to this, which is also another popular salsa around here. And I read that you only want a couple drops on here, unless you really like it hot. That might be more than a couple, but we're gonna go in. You hear that crunch? Whoa. Whoa. Again, this one is loaded up with juicy, tender meat, and the creamy black beans on there have a nice little flavor and texture to it. And the crispy tortilla, but the star. I don't know if you heard it, but this crispy chicharron on top. Oh man, it's so crunchy. It's like an earthquake in your mouth. It's so loud. Wow, that is so crunchy. This meat with the fried pork skin would be delicious just on a regular tortilla, but I think panuchos are my new favorite kind of taco item because I just love those creamy beans inside of there. It just adds another texture. It adds another layer of flavor. Oh my goodness. Compared to the sabuté, the panucho is so much thinner and crispier. This just like crisps apart right here. It's like a tortilla chip, whereas the sabuté has kind of that thick masa layer right there. That was our second time eating at Taqueria La Lupita, and it won't be our last. We love that spot. And the best part is for the eight items we got, it was 160 pesos, which is about eight or nine USD. We have a 20 minute walk south to our next spot. And while there is Uber here and it's very affordable with all the food that we're eating today, we need all of the movement we can get. We are at the Lucas de Galvez Market, which has been in operation here in Merida since 1887. It has actually been demolished a couple of times and rebuilt into what it is today. And it's now 156,000 square feet and has over 2,000 vendors that sell just about anything you can imagine, including clothing, spices, produce, flour, street food, crafts, and so much more. We are mostly just here to experience the market as a whole, but we do have a list of a few items that we're going to be on the lookout for to see if we can try a couple more Yucatan foods. We're here on a Tuesday and I imagine this is a little bit more subdued, but it is still pretty, pretty bumping in here. It is like a giant maze in here. There are so many different directions you could go. I feel like you could spend multiple days in here and still not see it all. There are also a lot of smells going on, mostly good. There's a lot of food stalls in here, so you smell them cooking. You can kind of smell some of the fruit that's being sold, the spices, just a mix of so many smells. There's also just so much produce in here. I've never seen so many fruits and vegetables in one place. That was not my best dancing, but I did get a thumbs up from someone. This market has been such a cool experience. It's just so authentic and we are maybe two of five non-locals in here. We didn't find the food items we were looking for at this market, but we did pick up a couple items that we're going to have later for dinner, and it's probably a good thing because we're still kind of full from Taqueria La Lupita, and we're going to be trying quite a few items at our next spot. So as we were leaving the market, we found one of the food items we were looking for, which is kibis. Kibis came with the arrival of Lebanese immigrants during the 19th and 20th centuries, and they're kind of like a fried meatball made of wheat and ground meat, and then sometimes they put in, like they did on this one, some cabbage. We read that kibis are usually sold by people walking around with glass boxes full of them, and that's exactly how we found these. We just saw a woman with a glass box, and we're like, there it is! It's very dense feeling. This thing's not huge, but I feel like it's extremely filling, and like we said, we're still very full. Huh, it kind of tastes like just bread, like really thick bread. Has like a very textured taste. There's a lot of textures happening in there. Not like overly flavorful, kind of just tastes like really thick bread. That is a very interesting texture too. It's very gritty and kind of chunky. You can see lots of the little, like the wheat or something. The wheat, I guess, the little bits of it, and yeah, it does taste just really wheaty. Lots of wheat in there and a little bit of meat, and then the cabbage kind of loosens it up a little bit and brightens the flavor because it's got a little tang to it. I like it, but I'm not in love with it. I could take it or leave it. For our final stop today, we're at Manjar Blanco, which has tons of Yucatan dishes that you can try. In fact, you could probably try almost everything we're having in this video at this one restaurant, but we wanted to try as many restaurants as possible, so we just picked a few items to try here. We're starting with sopa de lima, which is similar to tortilla soup with some of the same ingredients and topped with crispy tortilla strips, but what makes this different is the lima or lime, but this isn't just any lime. This is a Yucatecan lime called lima acria, which is a sour lime grown in this area. Look how much is in this. Tons of tortilla strips, and there's also turkey in there. Oh, buddy. Oh yeah, that's really good. The broth does have a little tangy and sourness to it from those limas, but it's not overpowering, and then you have tons of the turkey in there, and tons of these tortilla strips, which are still a little crispy. Even though it's pretty hot here in Merida, and it's definitely not really soup weather temperature wise, when you're in the shade, it is perfect here. For our next dish, we're trying queso relleno, which is Edom cheese, a type of cheese from the Netherlands that is stuffed with ground meat, raisins, olives, capers, hard-boiled eggs, and spices. This sounds very interesting. It has some ingredients that we don't normally like, but we wanted to give it a try, so here we go. Okay, I was nervous there was going to be huge olives in here, kind of like this guy over here, which I'm not a big fan of. Everything else I'm cool with, but it looks like it's pretty ground up in there. As you can imagine, this is super cheesy. The cheese on the outside, the Edom cheese is very, is kind of a firm cheese, as you can see. It's not super melty or anything, and the meat on the inside has tons of flavor. Not really sure how to describe that flavor. Like Adam mentioned, we don't normally eat some of these items. I'm not a huge raisin fan, not a huge olive fan, but I am a big cheese fan, so I figure stuffed cheese with stuff, man, I'll probably like it. The cheese is so interesting. Even though it's not fully melted, it is still kind of a more melted consistency, and it's kind of stringy, and just kind of crumbles apart in your mouth. It kind of melts in your mouth. The sauce almost has like a kind of a pasta sauce, like marinara flavor to it, so it's a little different than the kind of salsas and sauces we've been having here that have been very habanero based. This one's a little more mild and tamer. On my second bite, I got a raisin in there, and you kind of need that in there with this cheese, because it kind of cuts through a lot of the savoriness of this, and adds a burst of sweetness. Good eat. Similar to Taqueria La Lupita, Manjar Blanco was also featured on Taco Chronicles, specifically for their Cochinita Pibil, so we obviously had to get that here. Cochinita Pibil is one of the most iconic Yucatan dishes, and it's pork that is marinated in citrus and seasoned with achiote paste and wrapped in a banana leaf before being slow cooked in a fire pit underground. In fact, the word pib is the Mayan word for earth oven. So the Cochinita Pibil comes with pickled onions, we have a habanero salsa right here, and you normally will eat it in a taco. We did get some tortillas on the side, but I'm just going to try it by itself first. You can definitely taste a little bit of citrusiness in there, and just so many spices. Out of everything we've had today, this is the most loaded with flavor. It has so much going on. It's just so juicy, there's all this sauce on it. Yeah, that is super delicious. It is just pull-apart tender, you can tell how long this has just been roasting in the underground oven in the pib, and then you can taste all the spices in there too. The garlic, the chilies, tons of spices, and then with these little bits of, you know, the pickled onions, there's adds a little burstness of brightness. Oh, juicy. Oh no. Be careful. Thankfully, it missed me. It's got all over the plate. That salsa takes it to the next level. That is delicious, and you can tell, just dripping in juice. All right, we've got to give our stomach a little bit of a break, so we'll pick this food tour back up tomorrow. This morning we're at YNA, which is said to be one of the best taco shops here in Merida. We're here specifically for one item, costa con. Costa con is the Yucatecan version of pork belly, and pork belly is one of my favorite meats. So I'm so pumped for this, and we hear that it is best to get with cheese, which is basically our life motto. Everything's better with cheese, and just look at how gooey this cheese is. It is so melty, so creamy, so gooey. I'm so excited. Wow. Oh my gosh. That is the best thing we've had in Mexico so far. This meat is so just fatty, melts in your mouth, just so tender. It is, oh, and then just put gooey cheese on it. It's, it's perfect. I don't know how else to describe it. Everyone has raved about these specific tacos, and they were all right. I also got a taco, but I'm switching it up a little bit, and I got a torta, my first torta in Mexico. I'm just gonna warn you guys now, I'm sure you've been missing me label something pillowy, but this thing is the definition of pillowy. Look at that torta bread. I'm trying to be really selective with my pillowys from now on, but this one has earned it. Here we go. I haven't even bit into it, and I already know. That is insane. Meat, cheese, awesome bread, and I got grilled onions on there, and then I'm gonna toss a bunch of salsas on here. Oh, the meat and cheese, like Catherine said, just melts in your mouth. Incredible. Oh, look at that. We had over a mile walk from our Airbnb to get here, and we are 1,000% coming back at least one more time, probably more like two or three more times, maybe every day, maybe every day. I will walk far for tacos. I don't care if it's a two mile, three mile, four mile walk, I'm coming back for this. The more you walk, the more tacos you can eat. That's right. It's science. We also got this aguas frescas. This is chaya con piña, and chaya is a spinach that's grown here in the Yucatan, and pineapple, and it is phenomenal. For our next stop, we came to La Chaya Maya, which similar to Manjar Blanco yesterday, has tons of Yucatan dishes, and is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, restaurant in Merida. We are here for two specific dishes, but while we wait, they actually give you free chips and bean dip. I just love when restaurants give you a free appetizer. It just makes the experience even better. For our dish, we're trying papadzul, which is said to be one of the oldest traditional Yucatan dishes. They are corn tortillas dipped in a creamy green sauce made of ground pumpkin seeds, broth, and epazote, which is an herb with notes of oregano, anise, citrus, and mint. Then the tortillas are stuffed with boiled eggs, rolled up and draped in even more sauce, plus some habanero salsa on top, and it looks like they topped ours with even more egg. Man, there's just tons of egg in this. It's interesting. Oh, that's really good though. That sauce is super creamy. You can taste some of those herbs and spices that I mentioned, but then all the egg in there. Man, look how much egg is in this. All the egg in there just adds a heartiness, and there's lots of egg yolk in there too, so it's really rich, and the creaminess of the sauce just adds a little moisture to it, I guess. It's just a really good combo. It's unlike anything we've ever had. Very different, yeah, but very good. So I unfortunately have a sensitivity to eggs, so I try to avoid them as much as I can, and I haven't actually had an egg by itself in years, so I'm going to skip the egg part. I'm just going to try the sauce. Oh, that's really nice. It's super mild in flavor. It's just really creamy. Has a little bit of a nuttiness to it from the pumpkin seeds. Delicate. Delicate's great word to describe that sauce. And this dish right here is poke chuk, which is a pretty simple dish. In Mayan, poke means to toast, and chuk means charcoal, and basically all it is is pork that has been marinated in citrus and then grilled. The presentation on this is so beautiful. Just all of the tomato and avocado on top, some sides to go with it, the biggest bowl of beans, a humongous bowl of beans, and they gave me some tortillas as well. As you can see, the pork is nice and thin, and you get bursts of that citrus marinade on there. You can really, really taste it, and then you also just get such a strong, just kind of grilled flavor. Just the smell, oh man. You really do get a lot of the tanginess from the citrus that it's marinated in, and again that charcoal and smoke flavor on there. It's just hard to beat, you know, just simple grilled meat. It's just hard to beat. This is awesome. Are you ready to eat more food? I am always ready to eat more food. We have two final items we want to try on this food tour, and this morning we came to Mayis Canela y Cilantro to try Juevos Motuleños. But before we get our Juevos Motuleños, they bring out some nice bread, some bean dip, and looks like some salsa. This salsa here is maybe one of the best I've ever had. One very important thing to know about visiting this restaurant is that they are only open on the weekends, so we've had to wait quite a few days to try it. Also, just look at this gorgeous courtyard we are in. One thing we have loved about the restaurants here in Merida is that so many of them have this outdoor seating in a courtyard, and they're just filled with so many plants. You just feel like you're eating in a jungle. Also, you can see into their kitchen and watch them cook, and it looks just like the kitchen inside of a house. So it kind of just feels like we're at someone's house, and we're eating in their backyard. So this is Juevos Motuleños. This dish is named after the Yucatecan city of Motul, and it is eggs, refried black beans, ham, peas, and other toppings all on top of a tostada. It often comes with fried plantains, cheese, and habanero salsa. You need a little bit of everything on the bite. You've got some sweetness from this toasted plantain here, contrasted with the saltiness and savoriness of the ham, creaminess from the cheese and the egg, a little crunchy from that tostada, and then more of this delicious salsa. It's just the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and spicy. That is super good. I don't think I've ever had peas on a breakfast item before. I actually don't know if I... I don't eat peas that often, so it's a really unique thing to have on here. You instantly just get that sweetness of the plantains. The plantains have a nice kind of carbiness, heartiness to them, a little bit of a kind of just smokiness flavor from the ham. So much going on in this dish, but it works perfectly together. It came with this habanero pepper, and I decided to be brave and just spread it out onto this. It's really getting me, and it gave me a hiccup. All right, we have one more food item to try, but we need to wait until tonight. It is hopping out right now. I guess this is what Merida is like when you're out past 8 p.m. We're on the hunt for our final item, marquesitas. They are usually sold from carts, which pop up all along the streets at night, so we're on a mission to find some. Well, that wasn't too hard. We saw about five in one minute. This is a marquesita, and if you watched our last video, you saw that we had this in gelato form at Pola Gelato, which we absolutely loved. This is our first time trying the real deal. Marquesitas are like crunchy crepes and are a very popular sweet treat here. The batter, which tastes similar to a waffle cone, is poured onto a grill and is traditionally filled with queso de bola, which is Edam cheese, the same cheese for the queso relleno we had the other day. They then add your topping of choice and roll it on up. So we hear the most popular way to get them is with cheese and Nutella, so we got one of those, and we also got cajeta, which is caramel, lechera, which is condensed milk, and cheese, and we don't remember which one is which, so we're just gonna bite into it and find out. Tastes just like a waffle cone. It's so messy. So I've determined that this is the caramel one, and I got a bit of the caramel in there with the cheese. It's that perfect sweet and salty combination. It's kind of like having a cheesecake, but in shredded cheese form, and it's crunchy on the outside. Very flaky, huh? It's so flaky. Why didn't yours break apart as much as me? So at the end, they put a bunch of shredded cheese at the top. That's all you get at the top. You gotta keep working at it. It's an experience. The cheese is really good, though, like a tangy cheese. I like that. Like, it's kind of like parmesan, actually. I do like the crunchiness and the flakiness of it, and then like some of the inside rolls is still a little chewy, and the outside's really crispy, and the Nutella is always delicious. You can put that stuff on anything. Put it on a shoe and eat it. Super good with the Nutella. We read that Marquesitas were created here one winter in the 1900s. An ice cream cart owner noticed his sales were down, and he wanted to find another way to use his waffle cone, so he created the Marquesitas. Don't know how true that is, but I'm glad they created it. I'm kind of torn on which flavor I like better, so my advice is bring your friend and get both. It has been a delicious few days getting to try many of the dishes that make Mérida and the Yucatan a unique food destination here in Mexico. Half the reason we travel is for the food, and Mérida's food has yet to disappoint us. But holy cow, we are stuffed. What you did not see is that right before we ate these Marquesitas, we stuffed our face with tacos, so we are extremely full. It's time to roll on home. I just love the song. She's just jamming over here while I'm trying to get the jams. It finally happened. I got pooped on, including clothing, spice, including... I can't breathe. It's just a perfect balance of sweet, savory, and salty. Spicy. Spicy. It's just a perfect balance of sweet, savory, and salty. Oh. Similar to Taqueria La Lupita. What's this place called again? I always call it La Chayamana. Similar to Taqueria La Lupita. What is this place called? Manjar Blanco. Manjar Blanco. Okay.