New & Noteworthy. Each Month, Tulum Eat’s Mag Chooses 2 to 3 Different Locations That You Should Check Out
Augusto Salad, the salad bar that is consistently good to the last bite.
By: Cathy Holling
Choose your base (lettuce, spinach, or arugula), then choose proteins, veggies, salad dressing, and topping tailoring your salad to exactly what you want.
Photos by Deike Alexa
Augusto Salad, Tulum Centro
I fell in love with Agusto Salad from afar before stepping inside the restaurant. I found Agusto Salad one day while browsing through the Tulum Tomato webpage*. The ordering process is something I was familiar with, choose your base (lettuce, spinach, or arugula), then choose proteins, veggies, salad dressing, and topping tailoring your salad to exactly what you want. An example of proteins are eggs, ham, and cheese. For Veggies, you have carrots, cucumbers and black beans, a great sampling of dressing, and the toppings include nuts, seeds, and croutons. The salads come in three sizes, so the bigger the size, the more ingredients you get to choose. This custom built salad bar is the first of its kind I have seen in Tulum. It took me back to when I lived in NYC and would rush out to grab a quick lunch. Every local deli had a to-go salad bar set up exactly similar. Name your green and choose your ingredients. Quick, simple and healthy.
So I was thrilled when I found this new addition to Tulum. I ordered my salad via the web page for delivery and waited for the results. You see, I am very picky about my salad dressing, I can not stand an overly dressed (wet) salad greens. Upon arrival, I was very nervous; however, after a couple of bites, I could say the dressing was perfect.
But wait, that was only one time. How consistent can it be? Well, I can say that after ordering from Agusto Salad almost twenty times, it has passed the consistency test with flying colors. And that is what you want from a place you may frequent a least once a week.
Alas, I had to visit this place in person and find out about the people behind the wonderful salads. Agusto Salad is clean, bright and with seating inside to bask in air condition on those summer days, and outside to enjoy the wonderful weather we have in high season. Placing your order at the counter, I found that there are twice the amount of ingredients to choose from then Tomato offers.The helpful staff explained that the Tomato application does not allow for all of the ingredients to be shown on the webpage due to the application’s limitations. No worries, just a quick bike ride into town to place my order. You can still get it to go or have it served in a nice big bowl to eat there. The menu has expanded to sandwiches, smoothies, and organic products that they sell in the store.
so fresh and so clean clean
saladlicious
that thar is a meal
see you there
Location: Agusto Salad is on the main avenue, Avenida Tulum, between Calle Acuario and Calle Jupiter.
Monday to Saturday 12:30pm-10:00pm (exception is Wednesday 12:30 pm – 5pm).
Closed Sunday.
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Cost: Salads are priced from 100 to 135 pesos depending on size, with an upgrade to spinach and arugula an extra 30 pesos.
The bigger the size the more ingredients you get to add to the salad.
Sandwiches range from 117 to 145 pesos.
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ooohhhhh
Oaxaca inTulum Centro
By: Siobhán Gallagher
Can't travel to Oaxaca to partake in the delicious antojitos? Never fear, Antojitos Oaxaqueños is here.
holy shit
Photos by Deike Alexa
I’m not going to beat about the bush here. Forget the airs and graces; just do your taste buds a favor, pull up a plastic chair, and get ordering at Antojitos Oaxaqueños. I’m getting the munchies just thinking about it again.
This modest place is the kind many tourists will write off because it isn’t pretty or showy enough. More’s the pity - what it lacks in aesthetics, it more than makes up for in character and flavor. Antojitos Oaxaqueños is a discreet gem in Tulum Centro, a couple of blocks back from the main avenue on Calle Sol between Calle Omega Sur and Jupiter Sur. This is Mexican food, prepared by Mexicans for Mexicans. If you want the real deal, then this where you come. It’s clean, it’s simple, and the focus is the food.
Right, onto the glorious food, which included two vegetarian options on our visit. All dishes were prepared with handmade tortillas in their various shapes and forms, topped with refried beans, fresh lettuce and cheese. Everything was fresh, and there’s just no comparing handmade tortillas to mass produced ones. The mealy, savoury flavor was the perfect complement to the rich, fresh flavors of each of our dishes. Here’s what we ordered:
Huarache con lomito: Huaraches are thick, oblong corn tortillas. Ours came loaded a delicious topping of tender, fatty (and tastier for it), chunky roast pork in a thick, rich sauce and shredded Oaxacan cheese. We were off to a good start.
masa attack
hurray for huaraches
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Keka (quesadilla) de rajas: A corn tortilla packed with cheese and lightly fried poblana chile strips and onion. Tasty, moist, simple, and fresh - a treat.
Keka (quesadilla) de champinones: This was deliciously salty and sweet thanks to the combination of the tortilla and cheese, and the pungent, generous serving of plump and juicy mushrooms. This tasted different - earthy, healthy and satisfying.
give it to me baby
Tinga de res tostada: Served on a thin, crispy, fried tortilla, this stewed topping was my favorite amongst the stiff competition of all the other dishes. Perfectly cooked shredded beef in a rich, intense, thick and somewhat oniony sauce (that would go amazingly with pasta too), it is just spicy enough to leave a gentle tingle on your tongue. This was well topped with a creamy, crumbled white cheese with only a hint of bitterness.
Sope con papa y chorizo: This thick tortilla bed with potatoes and chorizo was my least favorite. The chorizo was mashed through the potatoes, but there wasn’t really any meat to bite into, and the chorizo flavor wasn’t distinguishable. However, it left room to appreciate the authentic maizey flavor of the sope itself, and the Oaxacan cheese on top.
Our food was so tasty that we didn’t need to add anything. But we sampled the red and green sauces on our table. One was a mild flavored and spicy habanero and green tomato combination. The dark red one was thick and so full of spices it resembled a mole and indeed had hints of aniseed and chipotle.
I live in Playa del Carmen, but I’m already rounding up the troops to join me on my next visit to this place. The prices range from $20-$50 pesos. For all that we ate plus two drinks, we paid the humbling price of $160 pesos ($8 USD). It’s open from 9 am - 9 pm Sunday to Friday. Please don’t wait to go.
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Tulum Eats Magazine is published 12 times a year, unless we decide to go on prolonged vacations. You can find the print magazine at select locations throughout the Riviera Maya, and in some East Coast establishments, where we will randomly place, during selective times. The website will be updated monthly, with selected materials that may or may not be the same as the print version. Look for us soon, in other states of Mexico.
