When a dish at a restaurant I'm reviewing is exceptional, I'll often order it a second time, just to be sure I'm not gushing about an experience that was a temporary fluke. Beyond that, I don't typically engage in repeated dish-eating that often because I'm always looking for the next thing to write about.
And then Palapas, the Mexican seafood restaurant on Greenville, and this dish named cameron en agua chile came along. My priorities shifted. I ate the lime-cooked shrimp for a first look and I ate it twice while researching my review, once simply to satiate a craving, and then again because I had taken a new dining companion to the restaurant and she had yet to try it.
Then I found out about a second version of the dish made with cilantro and cucumber, so I tried it again and it was even better. I must have ordered this dish seven times this year, which is far more that I've eaten any other dish. (Lakewood Landing burgers don't count; that's a vice, not a dish.) It's also a solid testament to its deliciousness. Try it yourself and you just might decide your own next seven meals.
The ability to carry a craving day after day is why I'm naming camarone en agua chile runner up Dish of the Year. The dish is bold, with plenty of acid, and it's both filling and refreshing. Order this guy with a michelada to cure a hangover and the relief will be instant. Order camarone en agua chile on a summer day and it will somehow cool you at the same time it sets your mouth ablaze. Camarone en agua chile could pass the bar exam, and is sly enough to steal your girlfriend. This is a dish that can accomplish anything. Do not miss it.
