As a sushi lover, I was excited to try out Ginger while staying at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya…read more They don't take reservations for the main dining area/sushi bar, so we had a bit of a wait for our group of 6, but it wasn't too bad. Know that there are three different menus for each section of the restaurant: the sushi bar, the main dining area, and the teppanyaki tables (which do require reservation). It seems that you can't order from the sushi bar menu at the tables and vice versa. Nate and I tried a fried cheese appetizer that was delicious, and the Ginger combo with California roll, tuna sushi, Philly roll, salmon nigiri, and tuna sashimi. The menu says this is for 2 people but I could have easily eaten it on my own. We all also tried the mixed tempura, which was a hit with everyone at the table. I love sashimi, so I asked our server if I could order salmon sashimi. She asked a manager type person and gave me the thumbs up, which was so appreciated! I would request to sit at the sushi bar next time since that menu had more creative rolls and sashimi options. Overall, it was a good experience, but I've had better sushi elsewhere.

My friends and I were excited to try the Mexican restaurant at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya. Our…read moregroup of 8 was seated right away in the air conditioned dining room and they brought chips and guacamole to the table. The menu is full of Mexican specialties like tacos, quesadillas, tostadas, etc. I loved that they had several "tasting" options where you can get multiple different types of each item. I ordered the specialities La Hacienda, which came with an al pastor taco, fish quesadilla, blue fin ceviche tostada, pibil pork sope, and a stuffed chile. Nate ordered the quesadillas tasting and the cochinita pibil. The sampler platters were so delicious and I loved the variety - my favorite was the fish quesadilla. The cochinita pibil was the overall star of the meal, though. The meat was tender and super flavorful. We requested a side of tortillas which rounded out the dish. A mariachi band came out to perform as we were finishing dinner, and I noticed the candy cart that had lots of fun Mexican sweets. I really loved our Cinco de Mayo dinner at La Hacienda!

This was our first sit down dinner of our stay at Valentin Imperial Maya. If you have a larger…read moregroup (we had 8 people), get there right around 6 or plan for a bit of a wait. This restaurant is one of the larger ones at the resort, so we were seated right away. The first visit I ordered the ribeye and the salmon tartare. The ribeye was very thinly cut, not exactly what I expected, but it was very flavorful and well seasoned. Plus it was cooked perfectly to my request. The salmon tartare was an interesting texture, but I enjoyed the flavors. I also tried the tuna sashimi appetizer, which was fresh and a bit spicy. Nate and I also shared an order of sweetbreads, which we were warned are "not bread," which we knew but was helpful. They were deep fried but not overly heavy, served with a delicious dipping sauce. I really enjoyed them. We came back with a smaller group for breakfast on our last day, which was a mistake - in that we should have been coming here for breakfast every day! The menu has some delicious Mexican dishes including enchiladas, chilaquiles, and my personal favorite, the motulenos eggs, which was a saucy dish served with fried plantains, bacon, hash brown, and sausage. I loved this dish so much and will be attempting to recreate it at home!

I really loved the meal we had at L'Olivo. We had a bit of a wait for our large group of 8 people,…read morebut it was worth it. They brought out a few assorted bread baskets for our table to start. I liked the crunchy breadstick. They did offer to bring more throughout the meal as well. I started with the beef carpaccio, which was tender and perfectly sliced. It was a treat since it's not a menu item I see very often where I live. For my main entree, I ordered the seafood pasta, and Nate got the carbonara. My pasta had a lighter buttery sauce, and tender seafood. Unfortunately some of the mussels were unopened and one had a broken shell, but the other seafood was perfect. I preferred the carbonara, but it's definitely very rich and pretty heavy. We decided to share the passion fruit panna cotta for dessert, which was delicious! Very flavorful without being overly sweet. I loved the beautiful setting of the restaurant and the live music - they had a violinist playing while we enjoyed our meal. This was one of my favorite restaurants of the resort.

We had dinner at Ile-de-France last night, our second night here at this hotel and so far, the…read morefood is very good. I believe this is the only restaurant that requires evening attire, that means no flip flops or tshirt. So here is my summary. Very nice atmosphere and vibe Great music, perfect volume Decor and ambiance Covid precautions Food Service Overall, no complaints what soever. It was everything you'd expect from a fine French restaurant without feeling like you're around a bunch of snobs. Lots of choices, from what we had, we were delighted. About 5-6 choices for appetizers, a bunch of entrees and a couple deserts. There were a few duck (confict and breast) dishes, lamb, beef, pork, salmon, to chose from. They have vegetarian and gluten free options too. If you're considering this place for dinner, just go for it. Try something you might otherwise not order. Expand your palette and have a nice fancy dinner without that ikkky pretentious vibe an independent French restaurant might give off. Ohh and don't worry, they don't have escargot but they do have ratatouille!! Hope that helps anyone debating.

Incredibly underwhelming! You have to make reservations to eat here which is a huge pain as even…read morebooking 5 days ahead of time they say they're fully booked, we managed to get a reservation for 9pm on our 10 year wedding anniversary only the ''fully booked'' restaurant was only at about 25% capacity. The food and service here is also mediocre. I am European so I guess I have a slightly more refined palate for this food than your average visitor to this resort and a number of the items on the menu I grew up making myself. Quiche Lorraine - Soggy crust instead of the flakey crust it's supposed to and filled with lot's of large lumps of un-rendered fat that was supposed to be Bacon. Traditional Quiche Lorraine had the Fat removed from the bacon before cooking and then adding to the filling mixture. Both my Husband and I were so disgusted we didn't eat more than a couple of bites. Rack of Lamb - More bone than anything and part of my Husbands meal was simply a bone stripped bare placed on his plate. Wth? Again lot's of un-rendered fat and very little flavor. The potatoes also tasted of dirt. Creme Brulee - One of the worst I have had to be honest. This is one of my signature desserts of which both my Husband and I were really looking forward to. The top seemed to have a later of grease on and the sugar was neither thick nor bulee'd enough yet somehow tasted incredibly burnt. I think it was the weird oil on top. The creme itself was not thick enough, it was more like a child's pudding cup with barely any flavor. We also ordered Wine with our meal to which I found a fruit fly floating in it. We waited for our server to return and pointed it out to which the server didn't even apologize, just asked ''So you want another one?'' I think they must leave the bottles uncorked for this to happen so be wary and maybe ask for it to be opened at your table like any fine dining restaurant should do. Overall definitely not the romantic Anniversary dinner we wanted and we both left still hungry and thinking we would have been better off with room service or the Buffet.

Piaf is one of eight restaurants at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, a luxury all-inclusive resort in…read morePlaya del Carmen. One of the big reasons my wife chose Grand Velas was its stellar food options. The resort has four 2024 AAA Four Diamond restaurants (Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, Lucca) and one 2024 Michelin Star and AAA Five Diamond restaurant (Cocina de Autor). Generally, the food, drink, and service were outstanding. Piaf was one of my favorite restaurants of the group. Below is how I rank Grand Velas Riviera Maya's restaurants. Book reservations as early as you can for Cocina de Autor, Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, and Lucca (the nicer sit-down restaurants). Tier One 1. Cocina de Autor - fine dining, tasting menu Tier Two 2. Frida - Mexican 3. Bistro - casual, poolside sit-down 4. Piaf - French 5. Sen Lin - Asian Tier Three 6. Lucca - Italian 7. Azul - casual, poolside buffet Piaf is located in the Grand Class section of the resort, which is mostly reserved for adults only. More specifically, Piaf is located next to Sky Bar and Cocina de Autor. These are among the higher-end establishments at Grand Velas. In this area, the dress code is more formal (e.g., no shorts or sandals allowed) and the ambiance is more sophisticated, at what's already a classy resort. My wife and I had a great time here, not only at Piaf, but at Sky Bar and Cocina de Autor as well. We got drinks and hung out at Sky Bar before dinner at Piaf. Sky Bar is worth a visit. Before or after dinner at Piaf or Cocina de Autor is a good opportunity. It's a wonderful, swanky bar with superb cocktails and service. Piaf is what I consider a modern upscale French restaurant. It's "white-tablecloth" dining, but the decor is contemporary and the service is more casual. It certainly doesn't look nor feel like a traditional, stuffy French restaurant, though they do try to "transport" you to "the Parisian luxury of the 1940s." I enjoyed the live music, which was provided by a talented violist (or violinist, couldn't tell which). The red and black interior with distinct, ornate chandeliers is beautiful. If the weather is nice, the dining room opens to the outside with an elevated view of the ocean. Below is a list of what we had. Even though this is an all-inclusive resort, the menu still has prices for those who have to pay separately. I've included those prices, in Mexican pesos, for informational purposes. Complimentary Amuse-Bouche Complimentary Bread Service * Three types of breads, rolls, and pastries, two types of butter (regular and tarragon) and herb salt Appetizers * Lentil salad in two textures, Scandinavian-style salmon, candied carrot puree with yuzu, tangerine mousseline, ikura, and mint oil ($420) * Crispy oysters with mayonnaise foam ($650) * Foie gras terrine served with apple puree, gingerbread ice cream, and toasted brioche ($550) * Traditional snails with tartiflette, Morbier cheese, and watercress puree ($450) Fish and Seafood * Scallops with black lentils, served with lime tea sauce and crispy apple ($600) Meat and Poultry * Ribeye Angus with green pepper sauce, pasta and truffle risotto, roasted cauliflower, and herbs salad ($900) Desserts * Dulce de leche and banana fondant ($350) * Financier with yuzu mousseline sauce ($300) * Dark chocolate souffle served with passionfruit sauce ($300) In general, we really liked the food. Presentation-wise, everything looked terrific. My wife and I each only had one dish that we weren't big fans of. For her, it was the snails. For me, it was the foie gras. I thought the snails were delicious and finished every last one of them. The watercress puree paired well and was unique. I normally like foie gras and we order it a lot if it's on the menu. However, this particular terrine had, in my opinion, an unpleasant funky flavor/odor that I could never get comfortable with. My wife liked it, though. Everything else was good to excellent. I have to point out the blue cheese pastry bread. It was surprisingly fantastic and I don't even like blue cheese. It was like a blue cheese-stuffed croissant. We don't remember what the amuse-bouche was. I think it was some sort of fish cake. It was yummy. We had red and white wines with our meal. I suggest going with the Mexican wines at Grand Velas. They were the best we had. The service we experienced at Piaf was worse compared to the otherwise exceptional service we experienced during our stay at Grand Velas. I think there were two reasons for this: (1) There was a misunderstanding internally within Grand Velas staff about our reservation time. When we arrived on time, Piaf staff didn't have a reservation for us and therefore, had to accommodate us as walk-ins. (2) During our visit, the servers appeared to be short-staffed. They were definitely spread thin, rushing between tables, and not really able to spend the right amount of time with each party. As a result, the service was more robotic and less personable. I get it. It happens.

This place was mostly good. The only bad thing was the fact that our concierge booked us this…read morerestaurant and it is 12+ and I have a 10 year old. We were not told this which was very frustrating so do not believe your concierge, most have no clue about the hotel. However, after waiting for 30 minutes the server allowed us to be sat as a one time exception. The food was great. I loved the ribeye, fish with potato flakes, and soufflé with passion fruit. They can simplify the food if you have a picky teen, but my kids loved it. It's a very nice restaurant with a violin playing, but it was dark. I recommend this place but make sure your kids are 12+.

Classy Italian place with a view and without the pretentious! Nice wine list and food is pretty…read moregood! Love the cacio e Pepe, and the veal chop is nicely done! The service is top notched! We had a grumpy toddler and the server was able to get her face lit up and ate more than the orange slices!

El Puerto is a refresh concept at the Fairmont Mayakoba. Serving Asian inspired food, we were…read moreintrigued and had dinner there two nights ago. The menu features ceviches, tiradito, sushi rolls, small plates, and entrees. I liked the fact that the drink menu featured a handful of interesting sakes, and decided on the junmai daigingo to start. It was excellent, very dry, crisp with a very smooth finish. My only complaint was that it was an incredibly small pour. Sake is similar to wine, so I assumed they would have given me at least a 4-6 oz pour, but it seemed more a shot. I started off with the hamachi tiradito, which was excellent. The hamachi was very fresh, large cuts, and seasoned beautifully in lemon, lime, chili, and peppers. It was quite a large serving, and likely shareable for two people. I would definitely order this dish again. We also tried the scorpion roll, which was a special that night. The roll was also quite large filled with a tasty tempura shrimp. For our entrees we ordered the steak and the duck tacos. I thought the steak was outstanding. A very lean and large cut of flank steak, but which had been seasoned well and was very tender. We also enjoyed the duck tacos, but the steak was by far our favorite. We ended our meal with the deconstructed key lime pie. This came highly recommended by our server and was outstanding. Very deep, bold, tart key lime with wonderful cream and a light crunchy crust. This reminded me of the delicious key lime pie we could only find in Florida. It was so good, we considered going back another night to get more! Overall we had an excellent menu at El Puerto. The service was great and I liked the fact that the chef came out at the end of our meal to welcome us and ask how we liked our meal. If you are looking for a good Asian Fusion meal in the Mayakoba area, I would highly recommend El Puerto.

A special shoutout to our captain, Jordan, at the French restaurant Bordeaux - Jordan exceeded…read moreexpectations with customizing our dining experience and then took it a step further. He heard it was my fiancé's birthday and turned it into something we'll never forget: arranging for a live violinist to play for us on the outside patio, where we were the only two dining, then bringing out sparklers and a cake and singing Happy Birthday. That kind of thoughtfulness is rare, and it made the whole evening. Thanks Jordan!

This is the French restaurant onsite at Secrets Maroma Beach…read more From start to finish the service here is phenomenal. Our server did the whole "sell you the bottle" trick but backed down when I chuckled at him about the cost of the crap bottles they were selling. After that, it was smooth sailing and a nice time. He did a great job Inside it seems to be "Frenchy", but it does seem like it's a bit of a stretch. There are paintings depicting French scenes, but frankly you could put pics of French fries up and I would not care. The lighting was cool. The apps were great and I loved them all! Very tasty bites indeed. The soufflé looked burnt but was very good when you got into it. Escargot were tasty as well and the French onion soup was amazing! Real butter for the bread and I am in love. Entrees were just ok. C ate very little of hers, but I liked hers way more than mine. I had the Duck and it wasn't the best, but it's a gamble with Duck sometimes I guess. We were so full we did not even look at dessert when the time came. Overall, nice meal and a good time! I'd come back just to eat the appetizers again. '26 - 58