Restaurant review – Riviera Maya

Shared with permission from Mark Downer

Restaurants Review

La Paisana – Argentinian

This was the first à la carte restaurant we tried. The service was excellent — our waiter interacted with us a lot and made the experience enjoyable. The food itself was okay — nothing amazing, but it did the job.

My wife and I both went for the ribeye steak, cooked perfectly medium-rare as requested, but the overall dish lacked flavour.

The best part of the meal was definitely the starters. We had the Choripán and Grilled Sweetbreads — both were very good and we’d definitely have them again.

Sumptuori – Japanese Teppanyaki
As always with teppanyaki-style restaurants, this was great fun with excellent interaction and service. The food was full of flavour and absolutely delicious. Definitely worth a visit — even if you can’t get a teppanyaki table, you can still dine there at standard tables and enjoy the same high-quality food and service.

La Adelita – Mexican
I was really looking forward to this one the most out of all our bookings, but it ended up being the most underwhelming experience. I ordered the Guacamole with Ribeye Pork Rind, but what arrived didn’t resemble what I expected at all. The waiter confirmed that it was the correct dish, but it was essentially meat in a broth — quite disappointing, though I still ate it.

El Dorado – Steakhouse
This was hands down the best restaurant we visited so far. They clearly know how to cook a steak — perfectly done with all the right trimmings and flavours. I had the T-bone, and my wife went for the New York Strip. Both dishes were spot-on. Even our little one loved the chicken strips and chips, which were cooked just right — not overdone like in some of the other restaurants.

Also worth noting — El Dorado has the strongest salad bar out of all the restaurants, with a much better selection than the others.

Portofino – Italian
After reading a few negative reviews about this restaurant, we decided to play it safe and just order pizza. The pizza was freshly made and served piping hot, though it wasn’t quite as good as the ones offered on the buffet, which feature a wider variety of toppings. The service was friendly but rather slow, especially given that the restaurant wasn’t very busy. From arrival to departure, our visit took about an hour and a half — and all we had were pizza and profiteroles.

Bahia E Brasa – Brazilian
We were originally booked to go here tonight, but the little one is absolutely loving the kids club and wants to join in the show this evening, so we’ve rearranged our visit for Friday before the Halloween fun kicks off. Will share feedback after then!

Xtra Time Sports Bar
This place is awesome for catching up on all your favourite sports from back home, with a plethora of screens showing action from both sides of the pond. We only stopped by for a quick snack after a trip on Monday and, unfortunately, the food was disappointing — everything arrived stone cold. We’d only ordered Buffalo Wings, Chicken Tenders, and Fries, so not sure how that went wrong. That said, the menu looks decent, so we’ll give it another shot before we leave and hope for a hotter experience next time!