Hostaria del Marques - Valladolid, Mexico

FEED ME. Feed me anything, I don't care what it is. The only critique I have for this tour is that fact that they really don't time the food well. A banana between 8 AM and 1 PM holds no one over, and even a giant hot dog at Chichen Itza and couple of black bean tortillas at the cenote fail to make me less hangry.

Fresh fruit juice for a sugar fix, and I love my melon, fresh-squeezed.

Guacamole is made tableside, with avocados so ripe they taste like cream.

Already, I'm significantly less murderous, and the Pollo Pibil seals the deal. Shredded chicken falling off the bone; a fluorescent, achiote-red steams festively as I seethe, burnt-red offset by an olive-green banana leaf.

The Poc Chuc has less character, but in it's own way, it's good. The pork version of carne asada, it is a giant, thin-cut slice of pork, simply-marinated and tasting of deep coals. The pork is on the lighter side, but the grill-lines smolder like the heart of the hearth.

The Flan is a textbook flan, an eggy custard. Sweet with a hint of sulfurous egg, room-temp, and just dense enough.

The Lime Sorbet is refreshing, literally ice with a rushing sour sting. It doesn't last long, and my blood sugar finally gets high enough for me to look around.

The hotel courtyard is gorgeous, simple tables framed by flowing arches, and just enough green to give it a garden feel. The town of Valladolid is generically cute, and this hotel may be the only sight worth seeing unless you're really into shopping. Regardless, this is by far not the worst place you could eat after a long day in Chichen Itza.