Might be taboo to say but Taboo Cancún was disappointing. Booked a reservation for an evening meal after recommended by a friend. As a whole, I found Taboo overhyped in terms of food, atmosphere, value, and service; and I would recommend seeking other options for a nice meal out.
Food:
I started with a cocktail from the fire category of the menu- don't recall the name but believe it consisted of vodka, pineapple juice, lemon juice, and some type of pepper/spice infusion. Decent flavor profile, but not that strong of a cocktail.
We decided to share the rack of lamb and a pasta dish- the vodka rigatoni. Before our food came, we were pleasantly surprised by a small complimentary tapas board with pita, seasoned butter, olives, sun dried tomatoes, etc. A nice tasty surprise! However, the timing was off as we received this board and our food also arrived within 5 minutes. The lamb was cooked as ordered, and came with 6-8 small "lollipops" or ribs. Flavor was unremarkable but had decent seasoning. Biggest complaint was meat did not easy come off bone by knife or teeth. One or two of the lollipops were completely inedible because of gristle or other material along the bone/between ribs.
Rigatoni dish was also average in terms of portion size, flavor, and pasta. Pasta appeared to be store-bought and was semi rubbery. Vodka sauce had good balanced flavor profile and salvaged the dish.
Ambiance:
The restaurant is "trendy" and attempting to capture an upscale, Vegas club/modern restaurant atmosphere. Personally, found it to be tacky, superficial, and even obnoxious. Loud music by live DJ. It seems the inflated prices were mostly accounting for the ambiance, but from my experience, it's not worth it.
Restaurant was warm but comfortable. We had an issue with one of the large fans blowing directly at our table- would make more sense to air circulation without such forceful speed or pointed indirectly to encourage air circulation without blowing people out and cooling food. Had to ask twice before someone shut off the fan.
Very dimly lit- thus why no pictures of food captured. The bachelorette party influencers' table was like police spot light in the darkened dining area. Hanging lights adorned with burlap material was amusing to me- made this expensive and "upscale" restaurant feel like a potato cellar in my opinion.
We also had the unfortunate table placement next to the bar and main ordering system. Having 2-6 grown men hovering around within feet of your table while they wait to place orders or pick up drinks doesn't do much for aiding ambiance.
Service:
Our experience with service wasn't great- see comments in food and ambiance sections explain so reasoning on that. Personally found service at Taboo to be strange- parts were slow and parts were uniquely aggressive. Lots of hovering and activity but most actions were not meaningful or obtrusive. For example, staff was quick to take plates and wipe the table etc., but one time I picked up my cocktail to drink it and a server picked up and took the coaster which my drink was sitting on and wiped the table where it was sitting. Later, some other server brought a new coaster after seeing my drink without one. There was also the bringing around the raw cuts of meat and example of a lobster to the table to show us before we ordered. Unusual. Didn't matter to me, but an over zealous vegan would have stormed out.
Our waiter did his best at upselling, assured us the rack of lamb was too small to share. He opted not to ask where we were visiting from or try to make small talk until bringing the check. Maybe innocent but came off tacky and obvious. We noted we were ready to pay by credit card and he saw aid he would be back with payment machine. We had waited 10-15 minutes and still had not been able to pay, so we ultimately asked another server if he could process our check.
However, the most bizarre interaction was with a manager? who stopped by our table after we finished the entrees. He asked about our experience and we said it was average. Maybe something was lost in translation or in the loud music, but he said thank you for visiting and walked away instead of asking what was wrong.
Another strange thing while we were waiting for the check, staff cleared our table and prepared the side bench- adjacent and beneath our table with place setting for the next guests. See picture. Unusual. Unsanitary? We felt like they were anxious to get us out of there and we would have been happy to leave if someone would have brought the credit card machine. read more