ADVENTURE
MUST EATS - Restaurants in Tulum (and Akumal), MX
We know that BEST is a really subjective idea and is based on the likes of who is writing and what their taste buds are attracted to. We will tell you the places in Tulum that we gravitated towards and what we recommend are definite go tos from those places, especially for those that love food and a great atmosphere.
WARNING: We do need to warn you that in order to eat at any restaurant during the hours of 7-10pm, you must make a reservation. Now, we can’t speak to all year round as we went in November for the holiday. However, we had been walking along the ongoing stretch of QROO 15 for quote a while when we realized it was 6pm and our stomachs were starting to talk to us. We didn’t think anything of holding off a while longer because the restaurants were bone dry of human existence.
Before we knew it, around 7pm, droves of taxis and cabs started dropping people off in front of restaurants. Places filled — with no exaggeration — within 5 minutes. The traffic picked up so much to the point that it was hard to walk on the street. But before we get ahead of ourselves talking about the dinner hours, let’s start with the first place we discovered — Papaya Playa Project.
Papaya Playa Project
Papaya Playa Project’s (PPP) mission is to create new forms of hospitality that give you a luxurious experience and local culture simultaneously. Sustainability and responsibility to the environment are foundational components of the Papaya Playa Project. Coined as a “communal playground for the creative community. Papaya Playa lets you reconnect to nature with an urban spirit.” It truly is exactly that!
PPP was our favorite place to spend the day. In fact, we spent two days at this boutique hotel.
At the resort our villa was a part of, they were charging $60/day for all inclusive food and drinks. The drinks were, to our surprise, disappointing — with a single walk-up frozen daiquiri and pina colada mix dispenser and watered-down, untasty mojitos. Now– if you like beer, this will work for you. Hard to mess up a beer.
The food was buffet style with restricted times you can eat since they had to break down breakfast to setup lunch and so on. The buffet was also pretty typical. Nothing presented in front of us made us feel like we were in Mexico. There was, however, a chef that came outside by the pool that set up a tent that served tacos, which we do have to say — was a good tasting snack!
The beach also had strategically placed mounds in the ocean that settled the waves from becoming too chaotic for guests to be able to enjoy the water and just float. This wasn’t ideal for us who like to venture out into the water and test our swimming skills. Needless to say — this wasn’t what we were going for.
But let’s get back to PPP and the eats you are here to read about.
Party Size: 5
Minimum Spend Amount for the whole day: $50 USD (98 pesos, however this varies based on the current exchange rate)
What “all day” means: 10am – 5pm
The minimum spending limit was actually hard to meet per person and was such a great deal. Your talking bougie on a budget! The amount of good quality, great tasting food that you get per person for the day was absolutely worth it!
To start the morning before a late breakfast, we ordered cold press juices. The juices we got were the Anti-Inflamatorio (peach, apple & celery) and the Vitamina C (guayaba & orange) both $160 pesos. Probably the freshest, smoothest tasting juice we ever had and it came in a really cute glass bottle that sat perfectly nestled in the sand next to our bean bag cushioned chairs.
Once we drank our juices and got in a little exercise walking down the beach past Kintoh Hotel and back to our spot, we were ready for breakfast/lunch.
The staff was extremely accommodating. Even though their transition from breakfast to lunch has a timing restriction (stated on the menu), the waiter was completely on-board with allowing us to order whatever we wanted when we wanted it.
So, for our first round of food we ordered two Smokey Salmon Bagels to share. This was surprisingly enough food to get us started. Then the drinks began to flow.
The drinks at Papaya Playa Project were creative, delicious and had the correct ratio of alcohol to other liquids making the drinks golden. The drinks we got were the Nina Frecsa, which was made up of Vodka, St. Germain, watermelon, basil, sugar & lime ($250 pesos), the El Jefe ”B,” which was made up of Mezcal, chili liqueur, tamarind, cinnamon syrup, ginger & lime ($250 pesos) and PPP Punch which has Tequila, mezcal, pineapple, passionfruit, papaya vanilla & nutmeg ($280 pesos).
Throughout the rest of the day we ordered all of the following items to share. I will star the items that we ordered multiple times in the day and highly recommend you try:
Green Papaya Salad ($135 pesos)
Guacamole ($155 pesos) *
Tuna Sandwich ($175 pesos)
Tuna TarTar ($230 pesos) *
Beef Tataki ($250 pesos) *
Shrimp Taco ($85 pesos)
Fish Taco ($70 pesos)
Prime Beef Taco ($80 pesos)
Octopus Taco ($80 pesos)
Chicken & Chips from the Kids Menu ($250 pesos) *
Scallops Tiradito ($235 pesos)
When we needed our 3pm coffee boost, we got the Live Colada which has dark rum, coconut cream, pineapple, agave syrup & cold brew and the Cold Brew Martini which was simply Vodka, coffe liqueur and cold brew both at $250 pesos.
COST: The total cost for the day was around $5800 pesos which is about $298 USD. This included the tip. If we were to stay at the resort, we would have paid $300 for watered down drinks, mediocre food and an “okay” view.
Seriously a great price for food all day and the cliche (but still everybody wants it) “breathtaking” views.
After relaxing and eating food all day, we looked for our next food source — because that’s what you do when you have five foodies and time. We ended up at a really great restaurant called Mezzanine about a mile and a half down QROO 15 from PPP.
Mezzanine Hotel Tulum
This authentic thai restaurant is a MUST. I know — you’re in Mexico, however, this restaurant serves traditional dishes from the hometown of Dim Geefay. Dim Geefay produced a series of Thai cooking shows on the American Life TV Network that aired nationwide. Her cooking show “Thai Food Tonight,” where she cooks with her daughter remains the only Thai cooking show to air in the U.S. If you are not into Thai food, they also have a beach menu with options such as cheeseburgers, tacos and quesadillas. Not only is the cuisine on point, but they also have a mixologist that creates some really delicious, cool drinks.
Party Size: 5 people
But first, drinks.
Tamaring Tiger ($220 pesos)
Strawberry Fields ($240 pesos)
Life’s A Beach ($220 pesos)
What we ordered:
Starters
Chicken Satay ($180 pesos)
Crispy Money Bags (highly recommend) ($260 pesos)
Salad
Spinach ($210 pesos)
Entrees
Drunken Noodles ($240 pesos)
Pad Thai ($200 pesos)
Specialties
Soom Tam ($380 pesos)
Dessert
Tropical Cheesecake ($190 pesos)
MAYAN SACRIFICE FLAMBÉ ($390 pesos)
Xtabentún, espresso, vanilla ice cream
Let’s just talk about this Mayan Sacrifice for a second. Nevermind — let us just show you ..
COST:
Great food, great drinks and all under the rising moon!
This restaurant is known for its view of the moon rising. At the time we went in November, they were having the hottest full moon party in Tulum! As the moon was rising, cameras rose, people watched in awe, clapped and howled at the moon. It was definitely a magical, fun experience.
The aesthetic of the restaurant is beautiful. To get to the restaurant you walk in between two small-sized pools that little ones are playing in on a narrow stone walkway. Set up on a cliff overlooking the beach — it sports string lights and overhead canopy coverage, minimalist furniture and simple tee lights that set a relaxing, carefree vibe to have a good night with the family.
We went to a restaurant called Rosa Negra after another day at the Papaya Playa Project. This was around 7:15pm (refer to warning in third paragraph). When we asked the host if we were able to sit to eat, she said the next available slot was not until 11:15pm. We put our names on the list just in case.. We didn’t know if we would make it since we were out all day. To make our wait go by smoothly, we went over to Gitano.
Gitano
The ambiance is extremely cool and worth a visit — even if you don’t go for food or drinks.
Gitano didn’t have any available seating at a table — as we learned the hard way — but they did have space in The Jungle Room.
We weaved through tables to the back left of the restaurant and stepped foot onto this beautiful black and white floor, a ceiling adorned with a huge vintage chandelier and the open air and plant encroaching on the walls inside of it. It is extremely aesthetically pleasing — perfect for a romantic night of talking and sipping drinks. All along the wall is seating for intimate conversation. In the back right corner of the room is a sign hung amongst in-house grown branches that reads “I Still Love You” — which is part of where we resided until we moved to the quaint outside seating area that the restaurant did a great job fitting into on Mother Nature’s terms.
We couldn’t decide if we wanted to get some appetizers to hold us over until 11:15pm, so we started with drinks — and ended with drinks.
The drinks we were served was as amazing as the bartender who opened up about her life and the culture in Tulum. She even made custom drinks for us as we couldn’t decide what we wanted. We gave her the flavors our taste buds were craving and she was able to create something on the spot.
Aside from our invented drink, we ordered a round of Kisses in the Car and Bend and Slaps.
This restaurant has a New York relative that we definitely plan on trying out!
Cost: Each drink was around 120-140 pesos. So we probably spent 800 pesos, roughly 40 USD.
La Poplar
I don’t remember how we ended up at this restaurant, but it was a pleasant surprise. I believe we were walking along QROO 15 and were hungry for a snack or we were looking for another option like Papaya Playa Project to spend the day. (You can rent beach cabanas for the day for $600 pesos. At La Zebra, you can rent a cabana, but the kicker was that it didn’t have a covering for shade. They left those cabanas for guests of the hotel — which makes sense.)
This is one of two restaurants located in the Nomade Hotel. This restaurant is located right on the beach and has a Moroccan inspired theme. There were proper tables and chairs and there were also large family-sized, picnics tables embedded in the sand surrounded by carpets and cushiony pillows to sit on to eat. The seating is situated under trees, hanging tapestries for shady areas and string lights.
The restaurant is known for their grilled seafood giving a fish-market-to-table feel. You automatically start out with a basket of homemade chips and three kinds of salsa — one of which is extremely peppered. While you nibble and sip on your drinks, you can walk up to the outside kitchen where you can see your food being cooked in an outdoor kitchen and pick out the lobster you want from the tank. From what we understand, they catch the fish in the morning that they use to cook your meals.
The drink of choice we started off with was a mimosa considering it was brunch time. Then each of u tried one of the following drinks:
Lychee Martini
Vodka, monin de lichi, jugo de limón y de naranja.
Cucumber Caipiroska
Vodka, monin de pepino, jugo de limón y de naranja, hojas de Menta.
Chipotle Pineapple Margarita
Mezcal, monin de chipotle-piña, jugo de naranja, piña y limón.
Mandarin
Absolut mandarin, campari, monin de mandarina, luna de naranja, jugo de naranja y clara de huevo.
Violet
Ginebra, agua tónica, monin de violeta y frambuesa.
Elderflower
Jack Daniel’s, vermú blanco, monin de flor de saúco, limón y clara de huevo.
Apple Cinnamon Mojito
Ron añejo, agua mineral, monin de manzana verde, monin de canela, limón y hojas de menta.
We ordered the guacamole, as we did everywhere it seems, and a couple of other meals to share.
[Insert picture of menu and circle what we got]
Party Size: 5
Cost:
Quick side note about this restaurant and hotel in general before we move onto a restaurant in Akumal we recommend– the Nomade Hotel is now a no cash establishment.
La Buena Vida
We fell in love with this restaurant because it felt extremely local, warm and inviting. It was different from other restaurants in the sense that it was family centric. Children were making friends with children from other tables dining out with their families and playing with each other. They were climbing up trees into a purposely crafted tree house made to hold four people at a time and when they were hungry or wanted to check in they would run back to the table with what looked like every member of the family chatting and having a good time. The kids would also climb down the rocks that lead to the beach where you can find hammocks, lounge chairs and bean cushion chairs to relax by the crashing waves. We lost two members of our party to a nap in hammocks while we were eating brunch.
The first time we went to La Buena Vida, we went for dinner at around 7 o’clock. We first walked around across the street where they had cute shops. The street La Buena Vida is on has several condo communities, houses, a local dive-shop, a corner store, and a grocery store that seemed to be a combination of local people and tourists — but predominantly locals. There were many people just strolling up and down the road with nowhere to go and in no rush, which was refreshing.
We walked up the stairs into the entrance where the bar greets you. The bar is jungle-hut inspired surrounded by wood peg stools and swings for seating.
We were escorted to the left of the bar where some more seating areas were located. The restaurant itself is set on a little cliff on the beach. There were proper tables and chairs (white plastic chairs) for dining, some covered by unique umbrellas and other tables open to the natural elements.
It was a little bit windy, but we had not asked Mother Nature what her plans were. For drinks, we stayed simple with mojitos. We weren’t much into drinking because the environment didn’t necessarily call for it. We ran into some trouble with ordering food for kind of a good reason. For appetizers, we wanted to order coconut shrimp, but they ran out. We wanted to order the LBV sandwich for dinner, another recommended item aside from the coconut shrimp, but they were sold out as well. That’s what happens when your restaurant is popular!
We ended up ordering Nachos ($95-$135 pesos) and Guacamole ($110 pesos) — naturally — for appetizers.
For dinner, we ordered chicken fajitas ($100-$200 pesos), Baby Back Ribs ($185 pesos), the Akumal Chicken Sandwich ($95 pesos) and Cochinita Pibil Tacos ($125 pesos).
I don’t recall which day during our visit we went to La Buena Vida during the day-time, but we basically re-ordered the same food. It was really the atmosphere that drew us in. That specific stretch of beach has a bend in the shore line. So when you sit at the restaurant, especially since it is set a little higher than everything around it, you are able to see what’s going on all along the beach. We watched some people in a kayak fight the tide that was effortlessly bringing them to the shore, kids climbing rocks in the shallow water to the right and kids playing in more private sectors of beaches further down to the left of us.
Definitely recommend as a restaurant to visit and hopefully you get to eat the popular items we missed out on!
Party Size: 5
Cost: Estimated $50 USD
SIDE NOTE: Tulum is diet friendly and accommodates all dietary needs. There is a large vegetarian and vegan-friendly community that is incorporated in every menu and I am pretty sure at all the restaurants mentioned above.
Rosa Negra Tulum
Now this was a good time! It was the last restaurant we went on our last day in Tulum and it was so much fun!!
See for yourself:
Rosa Negra is an upscale restaurant and bar that attributes its cuisine to Latin American culture with local flare. “Gastronomic traditions from countries such as Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and, of course, Mexico make the menu an eclectic combination with authentic and daring flavors. In RosaNegra®.” We ended up getting in earlier than we planned because we saw a party getting up from the couch area next to the bar. This was a great spot in the restaurant to enjoy our meal in a relaxed manner while getting a view of everything going on in the restaurant– and it was a constant party. The staff was super attentive and the atmosphere was simply fun!
We will disclose that this is not the place for someone who doesn’t like crowds and loud music. The food portions are rather large and the area for the waiters to place food in between tables while serving us was quite the juggling act. However, when our dessert came out — you forgot that space was an issue. Our waiter poured fudgy, hot goodness on top of a sphere of chocolate richness that melted and cracked open like a flower in bloom to a vanilla ice cream surprise awaiting us like a pro. It was magical.
They have a DJ spinning music all night long! Every time “Sweet Caroline” played, the waiters would hand out sparklers to the dining guests and everyone goes wild! When we were there, two people also got engaged, which the whole entire restaurant made it their business to congratulate and celebrate them in an uproar by standing on their chairs, waving their napkins and/or sparklers above their heads and screaming cheers!
The aesthetics of this place compliment the nighttime party ambiance. The entire restaurant is surrounded by plant life. Even the walls are made of bamboo. Every Rosa Negra location dawns a mural made by the Spanish artist Antonio Mora. In the Tulum location, the mural is displayed behind the full stock bar towards the back right of the restaurant. We sat the to right of the bar in a lounge area that sported a couch and tee light on a table.
The food — worth the pretty penny. If you are planning to have one nice meal that you anticipate splurging on, we recommend it be this restaurant — hands down.
The meat that Rosa Negra obtains is black market beef that is a product from Australia, which is exclusive for its limited quantity. The Rib-Eye steak to share that we ordered was the best steak we have ever tasted anywhere. We also got the filet mignon which was right up there with the bar that the rib eye set.
Other dishes we ordered were:
Guacamole
Avocado, Serrano Pepper, Cilantro, Lime, White Cheese
Street Corn on the Cob
Charcoaled, Epazote Aioli (Oil Emulsion with Garlic), Powdered Chili Pepper
Empanadas By Piece:
Spicy Ground Beef
Baked Short Rib (Get as many as you can. Sooo good!)
Humita with Truffle
Filet 12 Oz.
USDA Prime
Rib Eye 35 Oz.
Caribbean Lobster 11 Oz.
Smoked Chilies, Sea Salt, Olive Oil, Butter
Chocolate Sphere
Valrhona Chocolate, Dulce De Leche Ice Cream, Berries, Hot Caramel Syrup, Whipped Cream, Served At The Table
Banana Cheesecake Pudding
Flambé Bananas With Zacappa Dark Rum, Vanilla Ice Cream
Party Size: 5
Cost: Honestly, ALOT. But I am telling you — so worth it.
Overall, we recommend this as our #1 go to restaurant in Tulum for your special occassion/splurge meal.
