I went to Punta Bonita for a moms' night out during a multi-family trip to Mayakoba. We were…read morestaying at the Alila, but booked dinner at the Rosewood to celebrate Melissa K.'s 40th birthday without the men and children.
A short, beautiful beach walk brought us to our neighboring resort, where we enjoyed both dinner at this restaurant and cocktails at the main bar. It was a fun, relaxing interlude, at a meaningful remove from the Alila, where our husbands had their own dinner with all ten of our kids (I would've paid to access a livecam). We did share the dining area with other people's kids--as nice as it is, Punta Bonita is a resort restaurant, serving families like ours. There was a fussing toddler at a nearby table, and we tried to telegraph that we didn't mind, that the parents were doing a good job.
The space was attractive and upscale, kind of an indoor/outdoor covered deck situation, right off the beach. (I guess this is also where the Rosewood serves breakfast.) Service was helpful and attentive. Our waiter took great care of our party of six.
We started with a round of cocktails, and I really liked my Pizzaroni, a savory negroni variation of gin with mozzarella, Campari with Italian garlic, and basil vermouth. The three components came in their own little bottles, which I poured into a glass with a big rock of ice. I also tried the Mediterrain Connection and the PB Ramos. The Mediterrain Connection was a refreshing vacation cocktail, a sweeter drink with Tio Pepe Jerez sherry, Aperol, passion fruit milk punch, and Prosecco. The PB Ramos was a gin highball with Tanqueray, local orange, pink pepper, lemongrass, lime juice, and soda water. It weirdly didn't taste like anything, and my friend sent it back and got something else instead. We ordered a bottle of wine to go with the rest of dinner, a solid Mexican red.
The food was quite good, with a focus on fresh seafood. We ordered four items from the crudo bar: oysters, king crab, shrimp, and tuna, served on ice with an assortment of mignonette, tartare sauce, cocktail sauce, and ponzu. Delicious. We also got the hoja santa dolmades and the spanakopita to start, two randomly Greeky appetizers that were both excellent. The dolmades were stuffed hoja santa leaves with basmati rice, dried fruit, and lamb, the spanakopita flaky pastry triangles with spinach and feta. There was some focaccia-type bread, and we got a "kale-icious kale" salad for a bit of green. This was not my favorite, too kale-icious, perhaps, a lot of tough frilly leaves interspersed with edamame, avocado, pecorino, serrano chili, flaxseed, and citrus vinaigrette.
On the larger side, we got the octopus, the fideua, and the whole fish baked in salt crust. We probably under-ordered (a rarity for me) but we made out okay. The octopus was grilled tender and served with oregano, lemon, sautéed potatoes, and mustard vinaigrette. The fideua was a skillet of seafood--clams, mussels, shrimp, and fish--over crispy fideo noodles. I forget what the whole fish was, but it was tasty, a big fish filleted tableside, released from its shroud of salt.
When dessert time rolled around, Mel got a chocolate cupcake with a big sparkler, and we sang happy birthday. We also ordered the hazelnut dessert with tiramisu, stracciatella ice cream, chocolate wafer, espresso, and hazelnut nougatine.
This was a lovely dinner, a welcome night out with girlfriends in another country. I'd recommend Punta Bonita for quality time, and quality drinks and seafood, whether you're staying at the Rosewood or anywhere else in Mayakoba.