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Cenzontle

4.3 (102 reviews)
Closed • 6:00 pm - 11:00 PM

Cenzontle Photos

CENZONTLE ATMOSPHERE

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Romantic
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Classy
Casual

Recommended Reviews - Cenzontle

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Marinated sea bass with avocado and cucumber in a black aguachile (sp?) sauce.
Alice Y.

First night here and this place was recommended by our hotel. Place is super cute and a bit of an eclectic atmosphere. It was really hot and there were lots of mosquitoes but they kept smoking the mosquitoes out which was good. Food was phenomenal. Absolutely on par with food back home in California. Memorable dinner. Duck tacos and octopus delicious. Only thing wrong was the blaring music. But once we asked to turn it down they did.

K. O.

We had a group of 15 people and stopped here for pre-dinner drinks and it was perfect! They hav a cute little deck bar right when you walk in that has larger tables of to the side. The staff was very nice and accommodating and it's in a great location!

Tortilla soup with bacon wrapped shrimp - best thing on the menu
Rebecca C.

Mediocre place amidst great restaurants- would not recommend even though this place opens pretty late for local standard. Best thing on the menu - tortilla soup with bacon wrapped shrimp. Just enough of spicy flavor. Catch of the day grilled with salsa - the fish was way too salty but salsa was well made on the side. Grilled vegetables- decent but the zucchini is a bit bland. Mushroom cocktail - bland despite waiter's high recommendation. Interesting addition of sesame seed but nothing to rave about. Go to casa banana next door - much better food and ambience.

Rene C.

A cute restaurant with interesting decor. Of the four dishes we ordered I would highly recommend the duck tacos and octopus. The agauachile was a little too citrusy for me. I enjoyed the gazpacho, but nothing too exciting that I would reorder the next time. Bring lots of mosquito repellent or ask for some as you're in the middle of the jungle. The restaurant does a good job smoking out the mosquito every half - 1 hour though.

Michelle D.

This was probably the cutest restaurant that we had dinner in. They refer to themselves as the secret garden and the entrance, decor, and intimacy of the restaurant certainly exudes the ambiance of a romantic secret garden. This was my first meal in Tulum, and it certainly did not disappoint. The server answered all of our questions and gave his recommendations, though from the descriptions of the items on the menu, I don't think anyone could order bad food here. My friend and I shared 3 appetizers: the octopus cocktail, the duck carnitas tacos, and a special of the night which I forget now. The octopus cocktail was definitely our favorite. The zest and spice of this dish went so well together, I wish the serving size was bigger. Though as expected, all of the items we had were amazing. This was also one of our more expensive dinners, but well worth it. The wifi here is also pretty great.

(the Felix?) but, a cocktail with strawberry, watermelon, basil, gin, herbal liquor, and house-made hibiscus salt
Crystal V.

If you don't want to read this whole thing, here are key things to note: Bring cash Sit at the bar if you can Work with Kimberly- She is friendly, knowledgeable and amazing to watch All of the drinks are well balanced and delicious It's more about what you feel like having as a dish than what is recommended. Everything is well made. We didn't know anything about this spot when we walked in. We were going to go to Casa Jaguar and they were fully booked and weren't interested in trying to fit us in despite the fact that it was a total downpour and completely empty. We grabbed our umbrella and walked maybe two blocks and saw this romantic intimate space largely lit with tea light candles. They made room for us at the bar without a reservation (7:00 on a Friday night). There are little gnomes hidden around the space. See how many you can find. The bar is stocked with fresh ingredients. I am not a fan of sweet drinks so I was hesitant to go with any signature cocktails. I ended up with the Rita Hayworth and ...egh, I can't recall the name (the Felix?) but, a cocktail with strawberry, watermelon, basil, gin, herbal liquor, and house-made hibiscus salt along the side of the goblet it was served in. They were the types of cocktails that slow you down and remind you to enjoy all the senses. They were beautiful, fragrant, refreshing and satisfying. Getting to watch them made was a show. Kimberly knew that bar like you would your own body. Everything we ate was lovely. I think choosing from the menu has more to do with what you feel like in the moment than it does with what has the highest reviews. We ordered two appetizers and one entree. We were gifted a wrapped package of assorted nuggets of bread with herb butter and soon after our seabass ceviche wrapped in long strips of cucumber and stuffed with thin slices of green apple and pickled onion. It was light with a vinegar and citrus dressing. The other was labeled as a brussel sprout dish that consisted of an even amount of carrot, cauliflower, and brussels. They were roasted and it was adorned with sweet potato mash spread on the side with what I believe was a pesto. The last was the snapper over a heap of cheesy risotto. Nothing was bland, over salted, under or overcooked. They were well rounded, beautifully plated dishes that would make even the most full person grab 'just one more bite'. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Flan
Rebeca V.

Probably one of the best meals I've ever had . Insanely tasty and unique. Tulum has delicious food but this place is by far the best. We are considering coming back again for our last meal. We ordered the: Apps: peppers -5/5 Duck Tacos -4.5/5 Hibiscus flower empanadas-5/5 Main Dish Catch of the day w a side veggies - 5/5 Dessert: Guanábana flan - 5/5 Must try while in Tulum !! Service 5/5 !!!

Erin A.

In researching places for dinner in Tulum, Cenzontle was recommended as an alternative to Hartwood and just a great place to go. I would say I still liked Hartwood better, but I'm glad we gave this place a try. Stopped in on a Saturday about 8ish, and the place was pretty much empty. It's on the jungle side of the main road in Tulum, so, while the atmosphere is charming like most of the restaurants in Tulum (built into the jungle, rustic, candlelit), the heat and humidity was stifling. More so than some of the other similar restaurants. The atmosphere was quaint, though, with mismatched table and chairs and lamps -- very antique, vintage shabby chic. We ordered a couple of drinks, which were named after celebrities from a golden era -- Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker. As others have mentioned, they were a bit watered down. Could have been because it was so warm, the ice in the drinks were melting super fast. I also kind of wondered rather there was actually any alcohol in them. We ordered the piquito pepper appetizer, and the tortilla battered shrimp and grilled fish appetizers. The peppers were the standout. Filled with creamy goat cheese, they were melt in your mouth. When they brought out the shrimp, I actually thought it was a joke. For $350 pesos, I got four shrimp. Four. With this tiny side of sorbet and a few other unmemorable items. This dish basically gave off the impression that it didn't know what it wanted to be. That's not to say the shrimp wasn't nicely cooked and full of flavor. Just an odd mash of things on the plate and completely overpriced. My friend had the fish, and I'm sad to say I can't really remember much about it. Other than these large leaves of greens that tasted like arugula. And, while our server was extremely nice, we waited for quite some time once finished to even be checked on or to be able to ask for the check. In fact, there was one server who was standing aimlessly at the bar right in front of us. This place was definitely a jardin secreto, with a lovely if somewhat hot atmosphere. However, the food and price points were not as attractive. With all the other delicious places to eat in town, don't feel to bad if you can't make this one.

Looked great, until we realized it was half overcooked and half raw. The most disgusting thing I've been served in recent memory. Truly foul

I'm going to get all the positive things out of the way first, because this was the worst food experiences in recent memory. Front of house staff was great, very attentive and nice. Ambience was nice. You can park in the lot next door for $100 pesos. Plating was very attractive (this actually may be a negative because it's sort of a bait and switch once you actually eat the food). The name (which I didn't look up until after we left) is actually very fitting. It's the Spanish word for mockingbird, the bird that's famous for copying other birds' songs. Cenzotle is just like a mockingbird, initial impressions give you one idea about what you're getting, but upon further inspection, it's all a lie. Cute atmosphere, great plating, good servers, menu that looks legit. None of that matters when you're left wondering if the cooks can even cook! Forget the flavor profile, these people are serving barely edible dishes, and even when given the chance to fix it, can't get it right. We started out with two appetizers, the peppers and aquachile sea bass. The peppers (sweet peppers with a goat cheese filling) were fine, kind of bland but no big deal, we figured they were going for a softer profile since it was a first course. The aquachile sea bass dish was the best thing we had there, but it's really only the sea bass itself that sticks out. The other ingredients just seem sort of thrown in there. They give you some free bread and butter, and the bread comes in these cute little bags with a sticker saying when it was prepped. Most of the bread was stale, and the butter (homemade) was bland and had a weird mouthfeel. For the main course, we ordered the pork ribs and the octopus. Both dishes came out looking great, but they were two of the worst things I've ever been served (I'm including hospital food for the record). The ribs looked like a decent portion, stacked nicely with a bunch of orange sauce. At first glance it was two medium sized ribs and a few riblets on top. Once we dug in, we realized it was two bones with cartilage and gristle, topped with straight bones and chunks of more cartilage. I'm not exaggerating, there was no meat on the stuff they put on top, it was literally bones covered in sauce. The flavor was extremely sweet, I don't think I would have liked it even if they had served us any edible pieces of meat. The most disgusting part of this meal was the octopus. Let me preface by saying, I love octopus, I eat it all the time and I've literally eaten it every day I've been in Mexico for this trip. When the dish came out, we were pretty excited because once again, the plating was great. They also gave us 4 tentacles, which is an excellent amount. When I tried to cut off a piece, my knife wouldn't cut through all the way because the octopus was so rubbery. Bizarrely enough, half the pieces were overcooked, tough and rubbery and the other half was almost raw. We sent it back, and they sent us out a new dish. This appeared to be better than the first, because at least my knife went through it. We soon realized this piece was also half raw. We ate a couple bites of the parts that were cooked and then asked for the check. How a restaurant pretending to be higher end can put out poorly cooked octopus twice in a row is beyond me. I wasn't willing to ask for a third. If I had less shame, I would've sent both the main courses back, but we were very hungry and the front of house staff was really nice so I felt bad. I haven't written a review in some time, but the fact that a restaurant is serving seafood when they don't know how to cook it is dangerous. Please do not eat at this place. It's not even that it's not worth the price, these people clearly have no idea what they are doing. It tastes like a couple of drunk cooks overhead someone who could actually cook describe an interesting menu, and this was their first attempt at recreating that menu while hungover from the night before. Management, you should honestly be ashamed.

Magical, jungle, vintage, outdoor setting.
Steve N.

We checked out every top rated restaurant in Tulum and Cenzontle is one of the best. The food quality is incredible. I recommend trying the stuffed goat cheese chiles! They are amazing. The cocktails are delicious. The price is a little more expensive than most restaurants here, but it's worth it.

Chi T.

Went to Cenzontle for our second dinner in Tulum. What we had: (1) great seared duck breast with asparagus in an extraordinary agave sauce (2) ok grilled fish dish that we didn't think much of (3) refreshing shrimp ceviche (4) subpar keema crumble with ice cream. Overall great vibe, superb service, cheap wine but inconsistent quality of food.

The bar
Thy D.

Overall an amazing meal--possibly our best of the week long visit. The atmosphere is great with good tunes, vintage/shabby chic miss-matched furniture. It's on the jungle side so it's a little warmer and slightly buggy. Since we couldn't decide between all of the appetizer options we went for a full small plates dinner: all of the apps in lieu of ordering any mains. Menu consisted of the piquillo peppers, duck carnitas tacos, hibiscus empanadas, Pibil pork steam bun and octopus cocktail. All were fantastic with the piquillo peppers and duck carnitas tacos as stand outs. We finished with the brownie and ice cream. Brownie was warm and dense Both us had the Rita Hayworth cocktail which was refreshing but seemed watered down. I'm a slow drinker and it was quite warm which might have contributed to this. Service was attentive without being smothering. Overall, it was a fantastic meal and would recommend it to anyone I a heartbeat. Bonus: it's a family run business.

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Simple

Simple

4.2(31 reviews)
0.8 km
•$$$

Simple was simply delicious! Bad jokes aside, this place was located in a very touristy area filled…read morewith restaurants and boutique hotels, and the food and service were great! My friend and I split the Simple Fish Ceviche (peanuts, chia seeds, serrano peppers, red onions, etc.) and that was so fresh and flavorful! He got the tuna dish which was also great, but my black rice with octopus, calamari, and plantains was seriously A+. The black rice must have been made with squid ink or something but the total combination was a seriously savory seafood dish that was extremely filling and not like anything I've ever had before. I highly recommend getting this dish, but, be warned, it is EXTREMELY filling! After the ceviche and a passionfruit mojito (also delicious), I only had room for half of my entree. Another upside is that many of the staff can speak English. The only downside we had was a weird moment with the check. The receipt said "tip" in Spanish but then had a bolded "No tip included" at the bottom. We also tried paying with card because we didn't have any cash, and the first time around our waiter said the internet was down and he couldn't run the card through. We asked him to try again and it went through that second time. Also, this is a much pricier restaurant than other places in Tulum/Mexico with dishes mostly in the $20 range. Aside from that, I really recommend going to this place for the delicious food!

Pricing here is like at Tenadie's infamous place in Les Mis: "charge 'em for the lice, extra for…read morethe mice, 2% for looking in the mirror twice!" The food is already overpriced, even by Tulum tourist standards. Then adding the posted exchange rate, the cost unexpectedly increases 15%. And they charge an additional 5% for using a credit card. AND there is an automatic gratuity of 15% for any size party, which is insult added on injury for the painfully slow service. If you want outstanding Tulum seafood try EL CAMELLO JR on highway 307. That's where local fishermen sell their FRESH catch DAILY. El Camello is easy to find or reach by taxi, it gets a higher Yelp rating, and the service and prices are honest and friendly. Be aware that El Camello only accepts cash, a testament to its local authenticity and popularity. El Camello was recommended by our concierge when we asked for a seafood recommendation, and it was well worth the 10 min drive. You'll wait a lot longer than that for your food to be served at Simple. If you'd rather eat on the Tulum strip, then just a few yards down the road try Alma Tulum which has equally good food (including grilled seafood), an ocean view, great ambiance, and genuinely warm Mexican hospitality without abusive pricing for unsuspecting tourists.

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Simple - Super cute decor

Super cute decor

Simple - All that deliciousness

All that deliciousness

Simple

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The Real Coconut

The Real Coconut

4.5(127 reviews)
0.5 km
•$$

Traveling around Quintana Roo area with friends who try to eat Paleo, gluten and grain free, no…read moresoy, no GMO, etc. etc. we were able to locate great places to eat with a little research. We came across this one from Yelp after visiting the Tulum Mayan temples. The menu looked fantastic and right up our alley! Located beach front Tulum within the Hotel Sanara Tulum, the ambiance immediately relaxed us and bathed us in tranquility with the peaceful sounds of the waves lapping the white sandy beach. We may consider staying at the hotel next trip! The barefoot hostess walked us across sand to the back porch dining area and sat us in a nice location with sweeping views of the Caribbean Sea. We started with cool smoothie refreshments and then ordered some of the most amazing cuisine we had yet tried this trip! Everything was absolutely delicious and plated meticulously. Although the price on lunch for five without cocktails ($5500 pesos) was much higher than we normally pay in Mexico, we felt it was worth the experience and serenity. Time and money well spent. Highly recommend whether the not you have the same dietary restrictions as our friends do! P.S. They have another restaurant in Malibu, CA that I intend to try in a couple of weeks! Menu prices look cheaper than Tulum!

Stopped here while on vacation and this place was surprisingly delicious! Everything was vegan…read morewhich was perfect for and the cookie was super chocolatey (too much for me) but still good. I loved my burger and my friend wasn't too excited about his nachos so only ate certain parts. He loved his milkshake though and even went back to get another one the next day. Overall, we'd definitely be back. The prices weee a bit expensive too but it is in the hotel zone and to be expected I suppose.

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The Real Coconut - Macho Pancakes were delicious but the service was VERY slow. :(

Macho Pancakes were delicious but the service was VERY slow. :(

The Real Coconut - Sopa de Lima

Sopa de Lima

The Real Coconut - Broccoli and Avocado salad with shrimp

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Broccoli and Avocado salad with shrimp

Cenzontle - mexican - Updated October 2026

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