What We Ate In Tulum – Rocio Isabel

Honestly, this was originally part of my Honeymoon in Tulum post. But it was so lengthy that I felt it deserved it’s own page, so here you are! A complete guide to what we ate on our honeymoon trip to Tulum.

The food in Tulum was honestly some of the best food we’ve had… ever! While not considered “authentic” Mexican cuisine, you will find a respectful fusion of other cultures at a variety of high end restaurants on the strip. Many of these restaurants are pretty pricey so keep that in mind when making reservations. Oh, which reminds me… for some places, it’s HIGHLY recommended to get a reservation!

Brace yourself, I’ve got a lot of foodie pics coming your way! Here’s what we ate in Tulum!

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Ziggy’s Tulum

Ziggy’s

On our first night, we decided to have dinner on the hotel’s property at Ziggy’s. It was already a restaurant that had been recommended by several other foodies we knew of that raved about the food in Tulum, and we were not disappointed. Not only was the food incredibly delicious but the service was amazing as well! While breakfast was included in our hotel from both Ziggy’s and Fresco’s, we never actually ordered any breakfast items from Ziggy’s.

On one of the days that my husband got sick (yes, that happened… you’ll find out how later in this post), I actually went back and ate at Ziggy’s Tulum for lunch and I’m so glad I did. I’m a HUGE Creme Brûlée fan, but I have NEVER had Creme Brûlée with Maracuya before and I was blown away. If you make it to Ziggy’s, save room for dessert, and order the Passion Fruit Creme Brûlée. You can thank me later.

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Arca Tulum

Arca

We made reservations to Arca when we booked our trip because it was one of the top restaurants recommended by foodies. I’d recommend you make a reservation, too! The night we went, it was raining a bit and their seating is limited when it comes to covered areas so keep that in mind, even if you do have a reservation. Thankfully, we were able to wait it out until there was another open spot under the covered patio but by that time it had stopped raining anyway.

Everything we ate at Arca Tulum was delicious, too! From the Roasted Bone Marrow to the Soft Shelled Crab “tacos”, I nearly cried with every bite. Seriously… I ordered the Soft Shell Crab twice, and if it weren’t the beginning of our trip, I would have spend the rest of our budget on more orders of the Soft Shelled Crab.

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Hartwood Tulum

Hartwood

Before you keep reading, make a reservation now. Reservations@hartwoodtulum.com.
Seriously… you don’t even need to do further research. It is already listed as the best restaurant in Tulum and from our experience it was our favorite restaurant in Tulum. All of the food at Hartwood is fresh and ingredients are sought that day so the menu is constantly changing. We ordered the fish cheeks which was highly recommended by our server and it was exquisite. The best way to describe the flavor was (as you can see from my IG story screenshot, haha) “sexy”. Seriously, no other word than sexy. I also had the Flank Steak which made me give a stank face and shimmy dance with every bite. DELICIOUS!

Side note, there’s no WiFi at Hartwood. Unlike other restaurants that will allow you to scan a code to access WiFi, here at Hartwood, they like to keep guests engaged and off of their phones if possible… and they like their credit card machines running smoothly. I had a bit of an emergency at home with our daughter and our server without question gave us the WiFi password so I could call home so I definitely appreciated that!

Hands down the best meal we ate was at Hartwood Tulum.

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Fresco’s Tulum

Fresco’s

Speaking of Bests… Fresco’s was another place that served the best of something else I had! Fresco’s was somewhere we ate in Tulum… a LOT! Again, Fresco’s is on the Cabañas Hotel property and breakfast is included per person with our stay. Everything felt incredibly fresh and healthy. (Honestly, the second we got back home, our body hated us for not keeping up with the healthier meals!)

My favorite breakfast option was the Chilaquiles Verdes con Huevo. But if I have to put my finger on a favorite meal (other than the Soft Shell Crab at Arca), I’d hands down go with the Fresco’s Soft Crab Tacos. Seriously, I think I went a little crazy ordering these every chance that I could! I even made it a priority to eat it one last time before hopping back on the shuttle to return to the airport.

I also want to point out that the Margarita’s at Fresco’s and Ziggy’s are TOP NOTCH! Out of all of the Margaritas we had on our trip, their Classic Margaritas were by far my favorite. I was even craving them when I got back home! I’m craving one even now typing about it, ha! Both locations offer 2 for 1 specials during Happy Hour. Aprovecha!

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Antojitos La Chiapaneca – Downtown Tulum

Tacos Downtown at Antojitos La Chiapaneca

I’ve mentioned several times that the prices at some of the restaurants in Tulum are pretty high. Not only that, but they aren’t all really “authentic” to Mexican cuisine. If you are looking for a more modest bill to your meals, consider venturing out to the downtown area for traditional Mexican tacos. There are SEVERAL restaurants and taco stands on the downtown strip where you’ll easily them for a little over 50 cents a taco!

We went to Antojitos La Chiapaneca which is a corner restaurant where you’ll find Tacos Al Pastor made right in front of you! This restaurant is pretty popular with locals and tourists alike, and you’ll probably find a line of guests waiting to get in but the line is quick to get in as the servers seem pretty on top on how they run things here!

For our bill…
We ordered 6 tacos de pastor or asada, guacamole and chips, a beer, a coke and a water. Just about $10. That price won’t even cover a single drink in Tulum’s Zona Hotelera.

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Mr. Shmokey’s Tulum

Mr. Shmokey

If you’re looking for a late night spot for food, Check out Mr. Shmokey. I honestly cannot remember what it was that we each ordered. I’m pretty sure mine was Grilled Cheese and Mac and Cheese, but I can’t say for sure, as we were both pretty drunk at this point. I do remember that whatever it was, it was pretty damn good. I mean, it has to be for me to pull out my phone and Instagram it at almost 2 in the morning. Mr. Shmokey’s is known for their Barbecue and smoked dishes. Not many restaurant options available that late, so add this to your list if you’re thinking about a 4th meal! There was a bit of a wait but that’s totally understandable considering your options at such a late hour so just be patient with them. Remember, they might be dealing with a lot of drunk customers.

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Macario Tulum

Macario

Honestly, looking back… not our favorite. If I’m not mistaken, Macario (and it’s sister restaurant, Nicoletta Italian Modern Kitchen) had just recently opened last year in 2021. I think they were more focused on trying to get customers in than anything. While the inside of the restaurant is beautiful, you could really feel that they were trying a little too hard on the Instagrammable moments. The amount of times someone came around with sparklers was annoying. Literally handing us lit sparklers for no reason other than the hopes of someone else capturing it in the background. I’m not even kidding. There was a couple seated not too far from where we were trying to take selfies together and you could see the wait staff immediately run over with lit sparklers in hopes of a tag or mention. We were also checked on every couple of minutes to the point where I felt myself getting snappy with each “how is everything going so far”.

But let’s talk food. They promote themselves on Contemporary Mexican Cuisine which I was really looking forward to considering the other restaurants we visited we’re so much focused on Mexican cuisine at all.

We had the Duck Meat Fritter Puffs, Mayan Tacos, Rib Eye Tacos, Some other dish they brought out complimentary, and a dessert that I can’t seem to find the name of online. We also ordered a Tamarind Margarita, Top Shelp Margarita, and some other drink for my husband that I can’t quite remember. Both of us are on the same page in saying, it just wasn’t that great. The flavor profile was more bland than anything and the drinks just weren’t doing it for me. I think we were both a little disappointed since this was our last night. Maybe we were subconsciously comparing it to the other restaurants we visited. But it just didn’t do it for me.

I will say this, the bachelorette party that was seated right next to us seemed to have a fantastic time. All about the vibe I guess?

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All in all, I’ll say for the most part (like 97% of our trip), the food we ate in Tulum was remarkable! I’ve heard of other restaurants that were highly rated and hope to maybe one day return to visit them. I’m sure whatever choice you make when visiting Tulum will be a delicious one!

Want more insight on what we did on our honeymoon trip in Tulum? Check out that post here!

Un besito,

Rocío