The Money Bar

We visited The Money Bar last October when we first moved to the island. Great place for the sunset, happy hour drinks and The Red Eye Band, the best cover band on the island.

We visit often to snorkel around the Dzul-ha reef, or to sit under the palms at the small federal park just north of the bar. The snorkeling is usually good, with two spotted eels that are usually seen around the coral heads. Last week, I saw a southern sting ray with a 6' wingspan in 8' of water, and it was swimming toward shore!

We started the Friday night happy hour habit about two months ago. The restaurant has some terrific items on the menu. I particularly like the ceviche.  However, we go for the happy hour, music, sunset and dancing. Usually in that order.

The band starts around 6:00 and the time for conversation is finished. They rock. The guitar player is the real deal on his Fender Strat, putting his spin on famous licks by Santana and Hendrix. The singer struts like Jim Morrison and usually hits the high notes he shoots for.

Another real plus is that Bohemia beer is on the menu. That is good because (I have said it in this space before and I will say it again), Bohemia is, hands down, Mexico's best tasting beer. And, yes, I would take a free supply for plugging their beer, but, no, it has yet to happen. I won't give up.

Sometimes a pro doesn't want to lug around all of their equipment, so some of these photos were shot with the Hipstamatic App for the iPhone and iTouch. With the right lens and film setting, the photos look like the ones that Mom used to take with the Kodak Brownie.

So, here are a few photos from The Money Bar, Hipstamatic and regular.

On the coastal highway, about 2 miles south of Puerto Maya
Live Music - Friday, Saturday and Sunday
Happy Hour:  5:00 pm to 7:00 pm (2 for 1)

See you on Friday!
http://www.mandjphoto.com

Keep watching this space for an all new blog!

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Festival El Cedral

The Festival at El Cedral, the small community on the southern part of Cozumel, is a popular event held every spring.

It features music, dancing, horse races, bull fights and a craft fair. We only attended the opening day festivities, but enjoyed the traditional Mayan and Yucatecan dancing.

Here are a few of our favorite photos.

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Taqueria Molina

Sunday morning at the Mercado.

Jennifer's favorite place on the island - for breakfast.

After six straight days of cereal and bananas at home, a plate of sopes, tacos, gorditas or panuchos really hits the spot. You choices for toppings include, but are not limited to: chicken, carnitas, carne asado, rajas en crema, chorizo y papas or chicharron. I love the green sauce, which tastes like jalapeño and tomates verde with the perfect amount of Sunday morning heat and flavor.

Pair a plate of your favorites with a healthy agua fresca such as piña, melon or sandia. Unless it was a rough Saturday night, then you might want a sugar cane sweetened Coca-Cola. With luck, Mexico will remain a country free of high fructose corn syrup refrescos.

Chorizo y papes sope, carne asada and rajas con crema tacos and a pollo gordita

Danube European Cuisine

The new Plaza i 95 is open across from Puerta Maya.

Under the guidance of the Kwok family, the owners of Chi on Melgar, the new building has a grocery and an internet call center on the ground floor, a Chi restaurant (specializing in Asian dishes) on the third floor and Danube, a new spot featuring new items not often found on Cozumel.

The grocery is well stocked with many local and Asian items. Looking for rice stick pasta? You'll find it here.

But, take the elevator to the top floor and you enter an open, bright space with beautiful wood floors and a flowing fabric ceiling. This is Danube, featuring European dishes like pan-fried braised beef pierogies, falafel with grilled flatbread, shrimp and scallop ravioli, and coconut curry shrimp.

With two Culinary Institute of America graduates in the kitchen, the march of outstanding dishes begins with the appetizers and continues through the desserts. The expresso and smoothie drinks coming from the bar are not to be missed, either.

Three of us tried grilled chicken skewers, shrimp and scallop ravioli, and coconut shrimp with sides of sweet potato fries, herb roasted potatoes and broiled polenta cakes. All had excellent flavors, fresh ingredients and ample portions. We were ordered by Raymond Kwok to save room for dessert, which we didn't. But, we found room for the amazing citrus tart, which makes great use of bursting-with-flavor Mexican limes. You should go for this one dish alone!

With a spacious, comfortable dining room and a terrace with views from the piers to the new marina, it's the perfect place for a full meal or snacks and a drink at sunset. The service is as prompt and professional as any on the island. For now, you should call and ask what time the last cruise ship leaves. If the departure time is after sunset, they will be open.

House Made Crepe with Roasted Pepper

We were hired by the restaurant to do their promotional and advertising photography. Which meant we got to sample a few more dishes after we had finished photographing them.

The whole fish (grouper) was perfectly crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. The cesar salad was fresh and crisp.  But our favorite was the falafels. Wonderful spices set this dish at the top of the list for us. Oh, and last, but never least, another citrus tart!

You can book a table or reserve the entire restaurant for a party by calling 987-989-6349 x107 or by emailing: miryam@danubecoz.com

Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday & Saturday: 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
Closed Sunday

http://www.facebook.com/DanubeCoz

Don't forget to pre-order a citrus tart for everyone at the table!

Michael
info@mandjphoto.com
http://www.mandjphoto.com

Playa and Akumal

To promote our new destination wedding business, we spent a couple of days on the Riviera Maya last week. It was a whirlwind of meetings with wedding planners, shopping for office stuff and, of course, good meals.

Our first night in Playa del Carmen, we met with Maria, from Weddings in Playa. She recommended Como Como on Quinta by Calle 38 Norte. Fantastic! A nice glass of Sangiovese with breadsticks dipped in olive oil was a good start. That was followed by a wonderful arugula salad with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and bits of proscuitto.

The Osso bucco (veal shank) was a generous portion of meat, falling-off-the-bone perfect over mashed potatoes. Our other entree was tagliatelle with lobster in a cream sauce. Both dishes were outstanding.

The next day we scooted up to Cancun to meet with Denise, Gloria and Maria Fernanda at Tropical Wedding Experts. Like Maria, true professionals with whom we look forward to working.

We had time for one more meeting back in Playa and were faced with the decision of where to stay for the night.

We wanted to snorkel in the Akumal Lagoon, so we headed to Akumal. A nice ocean front room in the Vista del Mar Hotel and dinner at La Buena Vida finished off the day. Unfortunately, the cold front kept us out of the lagoon.

Breakfast the next day at Turtle Bay Cafe and Bakery more than made up for the weather disappointment. Flavorful Chiapas coffee, amazing sticky buns (well-balanced, not too sweet). So amazing, that we ate it before we could photograph it. You'll have to settle for photos of the crab cake benedict and the fruit plate. They were both as good as it gets.

Carnaval 2011

Our first Carnaval season as Cozumel residents was unforgettable. We were able to attend several evening events where the king and queen candidates performed before the final vote. Jennifer went to a couple events where the comparsas (dance groups) were competing.

The lead up to Fat Tuesday features parades along the waterfront, comparsas performing in the plazas and on the streets, and concerts in the parks. Of course, there are plenty of food vendors in both parks and along the parade route.

Since the parades start after dark and the lighting can be uneven, I concentrated on shooting some of the preparations for the parade on Fat Tuesday for this blog post.

Photos from the other events are on Jennifer's web site under the Portfolio heading.

The next blog will feature some of the good eats we discovered on the mainland when we traveled to meet with wedding planners for our new destination wedding business.

New Web Site is LIVE!

After a lot of work, our new web site for our Destination Weddings business is live.

Jennifer and I are so excited to be living here in this beautiful place. We are looking forward to photographing weddings on Cozumel, the Mayan Riviera, Cancun and Tulum.

Please pass this along to your friends. We are offering a nice discount to the first wedding booked in Mexico.

M&J Photography