Kat's 9 Lives

After we got back to the starting point we had some juicy oranges that Dr. A kindly bought and everyone had their own snacks to munch on. Since we only did a half day trip, we didn't get the free yummy food they were serving. Instead, we drove down a little bit and decided to try Serrano's Mexican Restaurant. We sat outside looking out to the river. It was a very nice and breezy day. Unfortunately I sat in the sun so that wasn't too fun for me, but it was nice to see everyone and get to chat more. Eating outside has it's ups and downs because nature comes into affect.
They brought out fresh tortilla chips and spicy salsa. The chips were very good and addicting. They brought us more as we finished them off. I chose to get the Mariachi Special. It's chicken breast and slice of top sirloin steak covered with a sauce made of onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and shrimp. I hate beans so I just got a double portion of rice and it also came with flour tortillas. This was only decent. Everything was way over cooked and sort of dry. The sauce was not bad, I actually wished there was more rice to match the amount of food given.
J ordered the Pescado Sarandeado. It's a whole tilapia grilled with seasoned vegetables, served with special sauce along with rice & vegetables. The presentation was very nice and colorful. It's a very generous portion. The flavor was good and the bones were easy to take out. There were many pieces of shrimp atop the fish as well. The shrimp looked dry too, but the fish was tender and moist.
V ordered the Enchilada Veracruzana. It's a shrimp enchilada made with a large flour tortilla topped with special sauce and sour cream. V said there was way too much cheese inside the enchilada that it was overpowering. Personally, I love love cheese but it did seem like the whole enchilada was just cheese with a speck or two of shrimp. I am a meat or seafood lover, so the enchilada wouldn't have been fulfilling for me because it lacked content.
All in all the food was decent. The place was mainly convenient and a good place to trade rafting stories as we were still looking at the river. Burumun's advisor kindly volunteered to pay for everyone's meal, which was extremely generous of him since there were some of us who weren't his students. Dr. A offered to share the cost with them, so the both of them kindly treated the rest of us to lunch. It was a lot of fun just relaxing and chatting with everyone. Too bad I didn't get the chance to chat with everyone else since we were sitting at a long table. Hopefully I will get a chance to see everyone again. Maybe we will all meet up again next year! ^_~