SEA-food

Last night, we had our first ever dinner on the beach, unplanned.  You can say that it happened by accident.  We sat down by the dinner table and then Noi (our waitress) told us that we could enjoy our dinner on the beach, so we moved. 

Honestly, it was on the beach.  The real estate where we had our dinner table set up last night no longer existed this morning because of the tide.  Apparently, the seafood feast on the beach is a custom here at Lima Coco on Friday and Saturday nights.  After sunset, staff here brings out samples of raw seafood plates, fires up the grill, sets up the tables and chairs on the beach, and then, the feast begins.  The feast last night was not your typical Hollywood beach dinner.  It was family oriented, casual, and not-at-all pretentious.  Families gathered around the bigger wooden tables and lovers the smaller ones.  Kids played with their pails, buckets, and shovels on the sand right next to the parents’ tables.  (What a great way to get them to not run around but still have fun.  Let them play next to your tables on the ground, what a novel idea!)  Staff of the resort was jotting down orders, making delicious seafood, and running around the sand beach delivering food and alcohol to hungry, thirsty guests.

Everyone was busy and we were no exception.  Clams, prawns, mussels, scallops, and white wine were all amazingly fresh and tasty so we swallowed everything with ferocious speed.  When we ordered our 3^rd and 4^th seafood plates, Noi hesitated in disbelief! While waiting for more delicious seafood, we grabbed our wine and strolled along the shoreline completely mesmerized by the beauty of the beach, how lucky we (and these kids) were, and contemplated on when and how to get our parents to come enjoy this magical experience.

The exquisite feast lasted for a couple of hours followed by a fire show performed by Ball.  The kids were in awe and the adults were fully satiated and entertained.  Our evening ended with tropical cocktails, light music, and ocean splashing in the background.  I thought to myself, “I can really get use to this.”