Restaurant of the Month

Hacienda Ochil

Cuisine: regional/international
Chef: Obilio Nail
Menu: a la carte and buffet on weekends Popular dishes: Sample Platter, pollo pibil, coco shrimp w/mango sauce
Specialty drink: el Zorro (the fox) orange juices with X-tabentun, vodka, mineral water and a secret ingredient
Setting: colonial hacienda in the jungle Seating: 250 (up to 1,500 for events) Schedule: daily 11 AM - 7 PM
Avg. price x 2 incl. 2 drinks: $250 pesos
Credit Cards: Visa, MC, AMex
Parking: yes
Swimming pool: yes
Events: yes
Location: just off the Merida to Uxmal highway; 25 minutes from Merida, 20 mins. from Uxmal
Reservations: (999) 910 6035

Affiliated with the up-scale, pricey Luxury Collection haciendas, Hacienda Ochil is the hacienda restaurant where you can have a wonderful lunch at a reasonable price.

What better way to experience a hacienda than having lunch or an event at Hacienda Ochil. When we say event, we mean weddings, birthdays, First Communions and XV años. Once again, you might think pricey. And once again, we say, Hacienda Ochil is the hacienda relative that does things not only elegantly and with special touches, but also within reason budget wise.

Back to lunch! The menu offers an excellent variety of regional Yucatecan cuisine cooked from authentic family recipes using the freshest ingredients. If you don't know what to choose, try the Sample Platter which comes in 3-courses. The appetizer platter includes chicken tamale, cheese empanada, guacamole, polcan - corn dough ball w/chicharron- and chicken kimbomba. Be careful to not fill up on this first platter - there is more to come!

The main course platter brings baked cochinita (the most typical Yucatecan pork dish), poc-chuc (grilled pork), chicken pibil (2nd most typical dish), and Yucatecan chicken. The third course is the dessert platter that brings the traditional Yucatecan papaya in syrup with grated Dutch cheese and another traditional dessert-flan. To try to Sample Platter is to have a crash course in our delicious Yucatecan cuisine. Cost $150 pesos per person.

Other options on the menu are the Yucatecan soups (lime, cream of cheese, cream of cilantro, and cream of bean) , the pastas (pomodoro and burr), fresh salads, Yucatecan poultry (pollo pibil, chicken a la Yucateca), fish options include shrimp in coco with mango sauce, tic-in-xic (Yucatecan fish baked in annatto seed sauce, tomatoes, onions and green pepper), bucket of shrimp and Aguachile Maya - shrimp cooked in lemon and chile - for the very brave as it is hot and spicy and last but not least - goodies from the bakery.

Whether you are a tourist or a local plan on having lunch at Hacienda Ochil. If you are lucky to be a local and can go anytime you choose, try the weekend buffet. And don't forget to take your bathing suit.

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