Cancun Restaurant Round-up

So I will not bore you with individual write-ups of all the different restaurants I ate in Cancun. I’m going to do a quick round-up of my Cancun dining experiences and overall restaurant recommendations.

Before I departed, I did a lot of research on what blogs and boards were saying about Cancun restaurants. Howard reminded me that I should have checked the OA boards for the real deal given that in hindsight, I found very few Cancun restaurant recommendations online and the restaurant recommendations that I did find didn’t pan out all that well.

First night: Puerto Madero. Everyone on the Intertubes swears by this Argentinian steakhouse in Cancun. I liked the deck area outside. I liked the puffy potato chip “souffles.” But I thought the rest of the food was just grilled meat and veggies with not a whole lot of taste. (I did also like my mashed potatoes.) I feel very snobbish as I say this, but I think people who don’t dine out a lot would like it here. Oh, and I thought the service here was rushed, distracted, and a bit rude about the tip we left. (15%, exactly.)

Second Night: Hacienda El Mortero, as recommended by our hotel concierge. Really nice service. Huge-ass margaritas. Great mariachi band. I thought the food was trying too hard. My dish involved fire, a huge-ass slice of pineapple that I couldn’t have possibly ever eaten with a knife and fork, and jumbo shrimp splayed open on skewers. I did really like the refried beans, however. We actually ate here twice during our visit. The second visit involved WAY too much food. Four small barbecues for about 10 people. We could have done with 2 to 3 bbqss. VERY CLEAN LOOS.

Poloma Bonita: Smelled like dirty mop. And then I saw why. They really need to get new mops. I saw the mops sitting behind the bar and it was gross. Service insisted on dancing with me (mariachi band), which I wasn’t too thrilled about. (He had sweaty hands.) I liked the little touches here…specifically, they put two different types of butter on the table, which appeared to be wrapped in leaves of some sort. They explained both butters, but I promptly forgot. Our starters were served on a huge long plate and they did a very official job of explaining everything. My fajitas were good, despite the dirty mop. Also LOVED the Mexican coffee and the little cups it was served in.

Harry’s: Our first night in Cancun, our concierge offered this up as an option and I declined it because it was an “American steakhouse.” In hindsight, I would have gone here sooner. This place has a trendy vibe that I liked…great loos…it’s like you’re outside, but you’re not. I had a great salad to start–greens and beets and goat cheese. (I don’t normally eat beets. But it just felt right. So I did. And then I forgot about what happens when you eat a lot of beets and then, well, go #1 the next day. Talk about a scare!) My NY strip which was perfect. Loved the assortment of desserts at the end–glasses of cake! This was the best meal of the trip and a very clean and smart place. But remember I am a snob sometimes.

La Parilla: Dirty, dirty, dirty. The loos were awful. The floor was a mess. My enchiladas in mole sauce were overly mole’d. But then again, I am not Mexican so maybe they were the way they were supposed to be. But there was A LOT of sauce. The guac didn’t seem fresh to me.  And the service wouldn’t let up on me not drinking.

OK, so that’s that. I hope my Cancun restaurant recommendations will come in handy to those traveling to the Mayan Riviera in the not-so-distant future. Enjoy.