Tag Archives: best tulum restaurants

El Tábano restaurant, creative menu, based on traditional mexican cuisine

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Laid back El Tábano restaurante at the Tulum beach strip

Laid back El Tábano restaurante at the Tulum beach strip


El Tábano is one of the restaurants always mentioned by travelers in Tulum. The place has a reputation of good food since 2003, one of the oldest restaurants on the beach strip. El Tábano owners, Gerardo de la Vega (better known as “PAF”) and Laura are also the creators of the Tulum Food Festival, an event happening every early December and featuring wine and food tastings, cooking workshops and special prix fixe menus at the participating restaurants (for just about US$ 50, including wine matching for every course).

The food is based on traditional mexican ingredientes and recipes, including mole, pipián and spicy hot habanero chile. Fish and see food made the base of the menu, also featuring some chicken and filled chiles. But these ancient ingredients and recipes are given a modern touch to present more creative dishes.

We tasted a fish ceviche as a starter, and we were disappointed: the “modern touch” was adding pineapple to it, and it ended tasting too sweet. No matter how much habanero chile and red onion we added to it, we had to let it go.

But the main courses were amazing. We had chile ancho (a wide red dried mildly spicy chile) filled with fish, gratinated with cheese. It was a great combination of flavors. We also had shrimp in habanero chile butter, it was also excellent, and not too spicy despite of the habanero (the chile flavor was integrated in a fine way through the butter). It was too hot to order the place’s specialty: jalapeño chile filled with pork.

The list of wine is starred by mexican labels, most of them marry well the mexican flavors of the food. There are a few spanish alternatives in case you do not want to go local (what I do not recommend, these mexican wines are worth trying).

The coffee was also excellent, but the whisky list was poor (justs JW Red Label and Dewar’s).

The service was impecable, and warm. It is a cash only restaurant.

All in all, a restaurant you must pay a visit. El Tábano is located at the beach strip, on the Boca Paila road, km 7, about 3 miles away to the right when you get to the beach road. The restaurant is on the jungle side of the road.

The Hartwood, a new top restaurant in Tulum

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Combining local ingredients, with a bit of a New York style, The Hartwood is a totally innovative eating alternative in Tulum.   Despite the local tropical weather, the way the ingredients are selected and treated can give the foodie a sense of Tuscany or Provence (great basic ingredients + simple cooking = amazing food).   The wood burning oven reinforces the countryside feeling.

Tulum “traditional” restaurants started offering just two options: the traditional local food based on fish/seafood and low quality tacos places, and the first “immigrant” cuisine developed by the Italian settlers in the 90s (followed by some French and Argentine who discovered Tulum a little later).

I do not mean to say that Tulum lacked good restaurants, I ‘m just saying this is just new and different.  The Hartwood is run by Eric Werner and Mya Henry.   The kitchen is run by Eric, who used to the be chef of Vineger Hill House (Brooklyn) and Peasant (Manhattan), while Mya is in charge of the restaurant service.

The opening of The Hartwood maybe one of the many signs that Tulum is changing fast, hopefully for the good.

Menu changes almost daily, but some of the recommendations are roasted octopus, lobster salad, stuffed calamari (squid) and the catch of day (freshly bought daily from the Tulum fishermen cooperatives).

The Hartwood is located on the Coastal Road (Carretera Tulum Boca Paila) on the South direction, at the mark of 7.6 Km.  The Hartwood’s email for group reservations is Info@HartwoodTulum.  Opens daily from 6pm to 9,30 PM (no credit cards except for big groups).

 

Roberto Lopez Viajes

La Vita e Bella, great option for cabanas in Tulum

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La Vita e Bella is a simple cabanas hotel in Tulum with a hard to match combination of location, food and value for money.  Some of the cabanas are on the seafront, while the other are located around a thatched roof and sandy floor restaurant.

The cabanas are far from luxurious, but they are comfortable and clean.  The ones on the beachfront have a terrace and amazing beach view.   It is owned by Italians, but most of the service people are from around the Yucatan Peninsula.  The Italian owners made sure the restaurant serves good food.  The wood oven pizza is great, as is the fresh seafood, try Camarones al Ajillo (shrimp with a sauce of guajillo mild chili and lots of garlic).

La Vita e Bella is located at Carretera Tulum Ruinas Boca Paila, kilometro 1, very near the Tulum ruins (check the image gallery for a map).  Rates offer real value: start at $110 ($170 for beachfront).

You can make a reservation by mail at reservations@lavitaebella-tulum.com, check their website www.lavitaebella-tulum.com or call (USA/Canada) 305 831 4970.