Unbelievable Mexican Food - FIRE GRILLED MEAT + Cenote and Chichen Itza in Yucatán, Mexico!

(sizzling) - I'm sitting here in the pork steam, and this

fire

is incredibly hot. They are making fresh sauce. You can smell the habanero while they are crushed and the roasted tomatoes. And then they have this giant comal with a big bon

fire

where they cook the tortillas. Oh, this is a great place. I can't wait to try this sauce. (upbeat music) Good morning. I hope you're having an amazing day. I'm Mark Wiens. I am in Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo, state of Mexico. Today will be a road trip. We will start in Playa del Carmen and drive to Mérida, which is the capital of the Yucatán province on the Yucatán Peninsula.

But along the way, we'll stop for some amazing Mexican

food

. We will visit some of the famous attractions. I'm going to share it all with you in this video. I'm the first one up this morning. We just load up the minivan and hopefully we should all be ready in about 30 minutes and we'll be on our way. But first things first, we have to stop for breakfast. We are on our way to grab some

food

for breakfast. This is the place right here. It's like in the industrial zone of Playa del Carmen. There are some factories around.

There are some car dealerships. We are right next to the highway. And yes, this place looks amazing. (upbeat music) (foreign language spoken) - This is a cool place. It is installed under a tent. They have several different tacos that you can order, but they specialize in cecino, which is like a very thin beef, so she cuts a piece, weighs it so it's all right, and then they grill it. They have a list of tacos. I tried four different types of tacos on one plate and it smells amazing. Yes, it smells so good. (speaking in foreign language) - What I already love about this place is that everything seems fresh.

They are doing everything there. They are making their tortillas. They are making the sauces. They are gathering, they are roasting that

meat

on the fire. They are setting everything up. The aromas of

meat

in this store. If only you could smell the aromas of meat in this store. (speaking in foreign language) - Wow, these tacos are amazing. This place is a taco dream come true for meat lovers. It's all meat and a lot of pork rinds, fried skin and all those onions. And then they meet. But I have one of each, so they are all different.

But I think they are all beef based. Oh, except one. One is just chicharrón with a big chunk of guacamole on the bottom. And then a bunch of sautéed onions. And they also cover them with nopales, which is the cactus. And then he added some sauce too. There's nothing better than when your taco spills off the plate and hits the table. Look at that piece of meat. Oh, this is the biggest piece of meat I've ever seen in a taco. Wow. Oh that's amazing. Oh, that's incredibly good. That meat is extremely tender and very salty.

And then you have those soft, sweet onions. You have, oh, the nopal there, which has a neutral flavor. I think it's all those onions and meat. There's nothing like morning taco food. The tacos are very good as is, but I have to try a little more sauce. Maybe something a little spicier. Oh, and I want to try some of the sauce she just made. The next one I'm going to try is everything, he put in a couple of huge chunks of chicharrón, which is just crispy skin, and then he added a huge spoonful of guacamole and then the onions again.

Yes, this is a very interesting taco. I've never had a combination like this before. All this is squeezing the top. Wow, that's just solid guacamole, and then you get that crunch from the skin. Oh, that's a winner too. It also has quite a meaty flavor. The next one is the one with the tortilla. And again, it has beef mixed into the tortilla. She fried it on that same griddle, so that it had all the meat juice. Look how stuffed this taco is. What a beautiful thing. Absolutely gorgeous. The cacti, the nopales. Is very good. It has almost a mushroom texture.

A little slimy. And those onions, magnificent. Maybe I'll put a little lime on this one. Okay, moving on to the final cue. And this is the same meat, but cut into small pieces, and then added a handful of, I think it's pork rinds, but it's already broken up a little bit. So they are also in small pieces. Again, onions, nopales and some sauces. What I love is that they are all totally different. This is not a light breakfast. Carlos, how were those tacos? -The tacos were good. Very cooked tacos. - Those were some serious tacos. They were so good.

And then, we will drive to a

cenote

. (upbeat music) We've arrived at a

cenote

called X'canche, Cenote And we wanted to go to one that was quieter, that was a little more secluded, since we have the minivan. And it is also still on the route we take today towards Mérida. So yes, here we are. (speaking in a foreign language) - It is about two kilometers walking along the road, along the trail to here. Then you can rent a bike, walk or rent a tricycle and get there. So we thought it would be fun to take the tricycle.

Ok, the entrance to the cenote costs 50, and then the tricycle taxi rental costs 100 per person. It's a little harder to ride the bike with all the kids, so it will be fun. Oh, and by the way, you can get ice cream to enjoy along the way. Okay, and we're leaving. Oh. Oh yes, this cycle rickshaw, it is very relaxing. Going down the tree-lined path. Oh, it's windy. This is actually a lot of fun. We are sailing too. (upbeat music) Oh. - That was nice, huh? - Yes, very relaxing. - That's a nice path. - I already love this place.

We have to change, and then they said we have to take a shower before we go to the cenote to keep it nice and fresh and clean. Okay, I'm going to change. Well, completely changed. I'm ready for the cenote. I had to take a quick shower. Wow, that water is cold. (talk) It's absolutely wonderful. A sinkhole in the rock. The water is clear, it is a deep blue. It is also extremely deep. There are vines falling. It's the jungle canopy. And part of the reason it's so beautiful too is that it's so quiet, so peaceful here.

You can hear the birds. (birds chirping) Yeah, you wouldn't really want to slip and fall here, but if you did, luckily you'd land in the water. (water splashes) (screams) Oh, that's beautiful. That? It's not that cold. It is perfect. Oh wow, it's incredibly beautiful, especially when you're swimming and then you look up and see the trees and the opening. It is spectacular. Back to the rickshaw. Okay, that's it, we're ready to go. The cenote was very fun. Swimming, and then just the natural beauty, and part of the reason this particular cenote is so nice is because it's very quiet, very peaceful.

When we were swimming, there was only one other couple there. The serenity, the peace, the calm, the natural beauty. This is a beautiful cenote to visit. (upbeat music) We're just passing through this little town. It's called Pimcoko and this little town is full of meat, so we'll just stop for a quick snack. Actually, this isn't where we're going to have real lunch. (speaking in foreign language) - So the sausage was going to take too long to cook, so we decided to buy some of it, what did they say, is it fried and smoked? - Fried and spicy smoked pork. - Fried, spicy, smoked.

Well, every kind of delicious pork flavor you can imagine, and there was a lot of it. This little town, it's just a little town, but there are like 10 meat shops in this place. (laughs) We just got a whole steak. Look at this thing. Carlos, you take half, I'll take half. (laughing) How so? - Well well. Salty, very salty. It tastes very good, very salty. - Oh, wow. Oh, that's amazing. Extremely salty, but very smoky. It's like it's dry from smoking it for so long, but not like it's still wet. That's incredibly salty and delicious. Yes, it almost tastes like ham and bacon.

It's also cute. Wow. That's like ham, but like a good, crazy salty ham. It's like too salty. (upbeat music) We got closer and closer to Chichén Itzá, but along the way we stopped in this small town. It's called Kaua. And along the way you will see so many restaurants called La Tia, which is the aunt. A dish called Poc chuc is served, which is a roast pork dish. They call her The True Aunt. So it is the real one, the original. Oh great. (speaks in foreign language) This is just a family restaurant, so they have invited us back into the kitchen to see how it is cooked.

Oh great. (speaking in foreign language) - From the garden here. (speaking in foreign language) - This cuisine is amazing. It's all family run. (speaking in foreign language) - The beans are straight from their garden. (speaking in foreign language) - And she is the original aunt here at the restaurant. This is the place to come. And it's a great kitchen. They're shelling the beans over here. And they are cooking on this side. They are making fresh sauce. You can smell the habanero as they mash it into the roasted tomatoes. And then they have a giant griddle with a big bonfire, where they cook the tortillas.

Oh, this is a great place. (speaking in a foreign language) (roosters crowing) (people chatting) (speaking in a foreign language) (meat sizzling) (laughing) I'm sitting here in the pork steamer, and this fire is incredibly hot. Wow, I can feel that heat rushing through my face. It's so hot. That pig smells incredibly good. They're just grilling it on a giant griddle, along with the tortillas. And she added a little lard to make it richer. Oh, I can't wait. This is going to be very good. Oh, a little more butter. Oh yeah. (sputtering) Okay. God, that fire is so hot. (speaks in foreign language) -We also ordered longanisa, which is a sausage, and right now he is showing me how he makes it.

They just throw it on the coals, and it must be a greasy sausage. You can see the flames coming out of those sausages. Oh, that's beautiful. Wow, I'm sweating here in this kitchen. The fires are so hot. And they throw everything out. They threw the tomatoes on the fire to roast for that sauce. You can hear that sausage hissing with that package. (people chatting) (rooster crowing) (upbeat music) (speaking in a foreign language) - Okay, we have all the food and it looks amazing. And the family that prepares this food is simply amazing. They are so friendly, they are so kind.

We have all the roast pork. I think it's called Poc chuc, poc chuc, that's what it is. And the tortillas are all made by hand. Everything is made by hand, even the sauce. They gave us all the mortar. Those fire roasted tomatoes are there, then he added some habanero and there are some tortillas. One is dipped in lard and salt, and the other is plain. We also got longanisa, which is a type of sausage. And she said that the longanisa is actually from that town where we got that meat. So we were thinking of trying some sausages there, but it would take too long.

We actually get some sausages from there that they made. Fire roasted. But yes, the main thing to eat here is what we have, and it looks spectacular. But we started first with a plate of beans, which the aunt was peeling and then they were also boiling over the fire. Yes, those are good. Oh, and they come straight from the family garden. Like pure beans. Yes, they are really good. They have a really soft, silky and creamy texture. In fact, you can see your reflection in this bowl of beans. Good beans. Now let's move on to the pig.

Well, we each received a plate of our own pork, and yes, it is very fine pork. They roast it on that griddle. It just radiates heat. It's so hot. And then she continually bastes it with lard while she continues to sizzle and sprinkles a fairly generous amount of salt on it. Let me try the pork first. Wow. Yes, that's salty. It's really rich. It has a natural pork flavor. That's what makes it good. Yes, it tastes like country pork, that's for sure. These are the. You can see how shiny they are because I also drizzled a bunch of lard on them.

I have to try this one. It seems a little oily though. Okay, let me take that piece of pork, stick it in and this time I have to try that sauce. I can't wait to try this sauce. (people chatting) Wow. It's so salty, so porky. The tortillas are awesome. That sauce is, we asked him to make it spicy. She made it quite spicy. You can taste the habanero in there, and then just those fire-roasted tomatoes, which are slightly crushed in there. They are still in pieces, with delicious pieces. You know, I like the omelet with lard which makes it even tastier, but it's kind of unnecessary because you taste all the richness of the pork.

I think what I like the most is the normal tortilla. Let me add a whole piece of pork, kind of split it. Squeeze in some lime. And then I think I'll put some onions in here and a little cilantro too. This sauce is absolutely crazy. It's so good. Oh man, it's so juicy. It's leaking from behind. (upbeat music) That's ridiculously tasty. The whole combination. Well, the next step is the longanisa, which is the sausage. Fire literally roasts charcoal. You know, you can see the burnt ends, and then on this side is the inside of that longanisa.

That's why it tastes a littlebitter. You can taste the charred ends, that's for sure. A little spicy. Yes, that's a good thing. That could get really addictive. (upbeat music) Yes, I really love the combination of onion, cilantro and salsa. Squeeze in some lime. That's delicious. That sauce is incredibly good. Oh I love it. Wow. (speaking in foreign language) Wow, where did she go? Well. - One more shot, let's do it again. - One more time. (laughs) (speaking in foreign language) - We are leaving La Tía. There really isn't much going on in this town. He is quite sleepy.

I mean, there's quite a bit of traffic, but it's a very quiet city. But man, they have amazing food. They are really friendly. I loved watching them cook. They make Poc chuc very, very well. Or not, chuc poc? Chuc poc or Poc chuc? I think it's Poc Chuc. Oh man, that's delicious. My mouth is tingling from the salty taste right now, but that was incredibly good. The total bill was 300 for four of us eating, and I got the official receipt for the napkin. (upbeat music) Next stop, Chichén Itzá. We have arrived at Chichen Itza. That was about a 10 minute drive from lunch, but it's already mid-afternoon.

We hope it won't be as crowded as it might be in the morning, but I'm sure it will still be packed. Yes, there are still about 50 tour buses parked here. Entry was very easy. It costs 242 pesos per person. And now we are passing all kinds of souvenir shops. And on the way to the complex, the Mayan city complex. (people chatting) Wow, it's a very short walk, and then you come out of the trees and all of a sudden it opens up and you see. You have an incredible view of what is called El Castillo, which is the castle.

It is the central stepped pyramid, the main landmark of Chichén Itzá. This entire Mayan city complex. And this whole complex dates back a long time. It was thriving between 600 and 1200. And it was very powerful. They were very advanced for their time and architecture. They are known for their architecture, for their pyramids. It is in incredible condition. Mika, Mika. (speaking in foreign language) - You can see the giant steps that form the pyramid, and then the steps that go up. Hey, it's pretty amazing, pretty amazing. Chichén Itzá, in its time, was one of the most powerful Mayan cities, one of the most influential and also one of the largest and most diverse of all Mayan cities, and that is why it is so well preserved now.

Because they built so well and had such an amazing construction. Actually, what I love to do when I visit ancient sites like this is imagine what it would be like to live without the technology we have today and just live among them, nature plus these incredible buildings and the constructions that they built. All of which serve various purposes in their culture, and the Mayans also had many interesting traditions. And yes, it's great to visit. (man screaming) (laughs) - Come on, Mika. Come on, friend. Come on. Good job. We will always remember Chichén Itzá because little Mika already took a couple of steps before, but nothing like that.

He really started, he got very excited walking, using the stroller as a walker. And then he decided to get up and start running. Chichen Itza was amazing. Now we are back on the road and heading to Merida, and it should be about an hour to get there. (upbeat music) So we arrived in Mérida after an incredible day. We will be staying in this cool old house in the central district of Mérida. And yes, today was a fantastic day, starting from breakfast and driving from Playa del Carmen. Stopping at the cenote was incredible. The food was amazing.

And finally, Chichén Itzá, and tonight we are quite tired. It's been a long day, so we grabbed some takeout for dinner. So I'm going to finish this video, this day trip, one day road trip right now. Thank you very much for watching this video. Remember to like it if he enjoyed it. And I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below, and if you're not already subscribed, click subscribe now. I will be posting many more food and travel videos, and I will also click the bell icon so you will be notified of my next video.

Thanks again for watching and I'll see you in the next video.