For the first leg of our honeymoon tour, we chose Playa del Carmen for the beautiful beaches - spectacular water color which is even better than Cozumel. But, the place is like Disney World to me...not a good thing. Basically, there's a main street called 5th avenue that is full of the same generic touristy shops and restaurants with a ridiculous amount of gringos everywhere. I love the U S of A, but when I visit a foreign country I don't want to be 100% surrounded by Americans only. We did find some gems though, but you had to look off of the 5th ave strip. Regardless, we still had a great time here. Below is the first part of our Playa tour...
Royal Hideaway
Our first food experience in Playa was at the all inclusive Royal Hideaway. The service, location, and decor were spectacular. Definitely worthwhile for a honeymoon experience (once in a lifetime), but the food was pretty average except for one restaurant. This was my first time at an all inclusive and probably my last time. Because we spent an obscene amount of money, I had the urge to eat and drink as much as possible to meet my "break even cost." This prevents you from really exploring the city, which is why I want to travel in the first place. It really felt like if you wanted to do an all inclusive just go to Florida somewhere...I'm pretty sure it would be the same experience.
Spices Lunch - Average
Basically Americanized Mexican food. Some of the dishes were good, but overall it was pretty average - the nachos were straight out of Chi-chi's and the tamales were very dry and cold. Unfortunately, at an all inclusive joint no matter how much it costs I have realized that the majority of the food will be average. Fried fish was the highlight though...nicely crisped skin, juicy meat and the zing of citrus on top.
Our Menu
Ceviche *
Nachos
Tamales
Fish Tacos
Fried Fish (red snapper) **
Coconut Cake Dessert *
Rating System
--- What the F - in a bad way
* Good
** Great
*** What the F – in a good way
Las Ventanas Dinner - Highly Recommended
Las Ventanas features international food - whatever that means. Basically a famous two michelin star chef from Spain (Sergi Arola) attached his name to the place. Food is high quality and surprisingly good for an all inclusive. Probably a one michelin or one to two star NY Times joint. Very good FG Terrine and an amazing open faced foie sandwich thing - very Spanish tasting with the roasted pepper and olive oil. Definitely one of the best dishes of the trip.
Our Menu
Tagliolini with Mushrooms, calamari, Parmesan Sauce, and Egg Yolk *
Terrine of Foie Gras with Reduction of Pedro Ximenez and Nuts **
Ox Tenderloin with Tomato Mashmellon and Mashed Potato
Coca bread with Foie, Roasted Vegetable and Olive Oil **
Catalana Cream Emulsion with Lime Sorbet **
Coulant Chocolate Souffle in the Idea of a Black Forest
Las Ventanas Brunch - Average
Came back to Las Ventanas based on the great dinner experience, but the lunch definitely didn't match the dinner experience. Overall the brunch was Ok, but the service was great and I do love me some mimosa and bellini's.
Our Menu
Omelet with Cream Cheese, Chili, and Zuchini Blossoms *
Eggs Benedict
Azia - Highly Unrecommended
The wife wanted a break from the Mexican food, so we tried this place called Azia which received a 4 diamond rating from AAA. Remind me to never listen to AAA ever again. This was one of the worst faux Asian restaurants I've ever been to. The sushi rolls were huge and super clumpy. The pad thai was drowning in sauce and was unedibly sour. The ribeye teppanyaki was cut so thick and cooked so poor, that the meat was either disgustingly fatty or incredibly dry. The lone bright spot was the side of fried rice, which was actually very good.
Our Menu
Azia Roll *
Spicy Tuna Roll
California Roll
Pad Thai ---
Ribeye Teppanyaki ---
Fried Rice **
Thai Duck
Spices Brunch Buffet - Recommended
Wanted to do the Vegas style brunch thing and Spices served up the goods. Nice selection and
everything tasted pretty good. The things that impressed me the most were the new fruits to try. Found some pomegranates that were sweet and nutty like popcorn, but with black slimy seeds - different from the pomegranates in the States. Also, tried something that looked like a papaya, but it was very nutty and sweet. I was afraid of trying Mexican fruits from the street vendors because I didn't want Mr Montezuma to attack (it did on my previous trip to Durango), but looking back I definitely want to try some next time.
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