Foodie on a Mission: In Search of the Best Chicken & Ribs Part 2
By: Diane DiMeo
Winner winner chicken dinner (and some BBQ Ribs Bitches).
Photos by Deike Alexa
Foodie on a Mission 'In search of the Best BBQ chicken & Costillas' Part 2
Winner winner chicken dinner...and throw in some ribs please. If you recall my last
diatribe-cum-monologue, I had visited the Costillas y Pollos spot which was simply called ‘Costillas Pollos Asados’. ‘Damn ass good’ was the theme there and when you’ve had ‘damn ass good’, it’s hard to beat it, even in the whole state of the Q.Roo (& the Yucatan), where BBQ Chicken & Ribs are plentiful. Point blank, I have cut my nose off to spite my face, in my ‘Foodie on a Mission’ Chicken & Ribs debacle. Pfff.
That said, I did it. I found the next sweet spot, a G-spot of Chicken & Ribs nom noms, the next best thing: Kii’ Kii’ Baah! (try saying THAT 10 times, fast in a row). This Chicken spot, on the side of the road in Tumben Kaa, used to be just one little space, a couple of tables, and a grill. Family owned and ran, the dad was always on the grill, while in the backyard, bowls of cabbage salad were being mixed, and big pots of rice, spaghetti and beans were being cooked, bagged and readied for take-out. Now, they have expanded to two rooms, (they still grill and cut the meat in front of you), with more tables.
BAGALICIOUS
BUEN PROVECHO
Of course, being the fussy pants that I am, I don’t like my food over salted, or as I had mentioned before, over cooked. Nothing worse than BBQ Chicken and Ribs, over salted, dry and resembling a shoe sole that has seen one too many days in the dessert..I believe I used a ‘cat choking on a hairball’ metaphor last time. The point is, I like it my way. There is nothing worse than waiting for BBQ, only to be disappointed that you have salty dry chalk to eat. So I did what any normal person would do: I asked for a normal order of Chicken & Ribs, and also for an order of the same, and without salt. I took a HUGE chance by NOT asking them to under cook both (as most know, there is a tendency for the definition of ‘done’ to mean ‘dead and then dead and making sure it’s really dead and void of any juice’.
FINGER LICKIN GOOD
WINNER WINNER
CHICKEN DINNER
have to admit, as much as I like to add my own salt, their regular marinated version was not over salted. And much to my pleasant surprise, perfectly cooked. Both the chicken and the ribs were juicy, perfectly marinated and grilled. Of course there were the usual sides of cabbage slaw, spaghetti, rice, beans and a ton of tortillas. They were all spectacular, and a bargain for the amount of food you get. If you opt to eat there, it’s quite nice, and they bring an abundance of different salsas (which they give to you as well when you take out food).
You can pretty much get any size or amount you want, with the smallest size called an ‘order’.
WHACK
A
RIB
Kii’ Kii’ Baa! Is on the corner of Golondrias & Sun Yax Chén (across from Barbacoa Los Hidalguenses).
Monday Thru Saturday 9am to 5pm
Closed on Sunday
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.
