QUICK BITE: Punta Vista Restaurant at Hyatt Zilara Cancun Hotel Zone

After check-in at the resort, we had a nice lunch of several Mexican treats including fried calamari, fried broccoli (a new one for me), shrimp cocktail, coconut fried shrimp, fish tacos and grilled octopus.  

The octopus was something I was looking forward to and it didn't disappoint.

The marinade was slightly sweet and the octopus was so tender.   Served on a crisped plantain patty with avocado puree.   

The calamari was also a winner. 

Delicately fried and served with both a tamarind sauce and a creamy, spicy mayo.  

The fried broccoli is something I had never had and while not truly Mexican, it was well fried and went well with the tamarind sauce.  

Mexican shrimp cocktail is different than what you will find in the United States.  

The sauce is sweeter and not spicy.  And typically served with diced avocado.  Such well cooked shrimp.  Definitely freshly caught.  

The fish tacos had delicate white fish on a corn tortilla drizzled with some avocado puree.  Pico de Gallo on the side for some spice. 

The coconut fried shrimp were well fried and not overcooked.  Battered with a coconut breading that added some sweetness.   No additional sauces needed for these.  

There are so many other great items to try including my favorite: Whole Fried Fish!!   Expect more to come from Punta Vista.  

Dinner at Rosewater (Take Two) at Secrets Riviera Cancun

Since our first attempt to have dinner at Rosewater was derailed by weather, we needed a "Take Two".  Wednesday was the night.  We arrived about 6:30 and were the only people there. We had a great waiter Eduardo who was kind enough to get us orange slices for our Tanqueray and Tonics!!  While enjoying our cocktails, we spotted something out in the water!!

It was something that used to be very familiar to see from these resorts in early evening.  It was a cruise ship!!  Specifically the Celebrity Edge that has been docked in Costa Maya that day.  This siting had special meaning since we were on the last sailing of the Edge in March 2020 before the shutdown.  

We ordered our meals and food started arriving.  This was the scallop aquachile appetizer. 

My wife and I started discussing what the difference is between an aquachile and a ceviche since they can look the same on a plate.  A ceviche is where raw fish (usually a flaky white fish) is combined with aromatics and an acid, traditionally orange juice but can also be lemon, lime or other acidic fruits.  The acid then "cooks" the fish.  Left for too long the fish can become tough, rubbery and just unpleasant. 

An aquachile is when already cooked seafood, usually a shellfish such as shrimp or scallops are dressed a la minute with an acidic dressing.  In this case, it was a pepper infused grapefruit juice.   The scallops were just tender and not rubbery. The acidic sauce had a good amount of heat. 

Next was the beef carpaccio. 

These were delicious thin sliced pieces of raw beef with dollops of a light garlicky aioli.   There was also shaved parmesan cheese, hints of ginger and roasted red pepper.  A very good presentation of this dish.

Next was something I had never heard of called Meloso rice. 

it looked an awful like risotto.   I did a little research to find out more about this dish. From what I found, this is actually closer to a rice soup that is cooked down to reduce the broth and make the rice creamy. A bit different than risotto where broth is added a little bit at a time to cook the rice and get the desired consistency. 

Whatever the method, this was such a flavorful dish and my favorite bite of the night. There were flavors of red pepper and chorizo along with such a rich creaminess. And a runny egg!!  

An egg always can help bring a dish together.  There is just some kind of magic with a runny egg yolk!!  And thus was served with such a well toasted crustini. Crisp, yet pillowy.  I found myself spreading the rice and egg onto the bread for a delicious creamy, crunchy and salt bite!!   So good and better than many risottos I have had. 

Next was the lobster pizza.  

This had a crisp thin crust topped with lots of cheese, a bit of tomato sauce, black olives, mushrooms and the Star attraction Carribbean lobster.  This had some good flavors going on.  If I ordered again, I think I would ask just for lobster and cheese.   I think the mushrooms, tomato and black olives took away from the lobster.  

 Next up was Frutti de mer - or Fruits of the Sea.  

This was thin fettuccine noodles in a light, buttery sauce served with shrimp, scallops and mussels.  The shrimp was certainly the star. They were well cooked and plump.  The scallops were okay but a bit overcooked. If I ordered again, I would just get all shrimp.  

The last dish was the Catch of the Day.  This was some really good fish.  

There were two large filets of fish. Eduardo said it was grouper but it tasted and looked more like red snapper.  In either case, it was simply prepared and delicious.  Too often a chef tries to do too much to seafood.  Here that was not the case.  The fish was simply seasoned with some salt and pepper and grilled. It was perfectly cooked for me.  Flaky but still moist.  And the chef did something really clever.  The fish skin had been removed and then crisped separately.  It was then sprinkled as a garnish on top.   So for each bite of fish, you could add just a bit of the crispy skin for some additional flavor and crunch. A well designed dish.  The fish was served with some pearled potatoes.  These mystified me since I had never seen potatoes in such a perfect round shape before.  I was thinking that maybe they took a melon baller to a regular potato.  They were delicious with the melted butter and dill. 

There are a few other items we want to try so we plan to eat one more dinner here before we check out.  

Dinner at Co-quette at Breathless Riviera Cancun

For Tuesday's dinner they were have a special concert called "The Gentlemen" out on the outdoor patio of the Rosewater restaurant at 8:30PM.  This is an exclusive open air restaurant for guests at Secrets Riviera Cancun.  We went over to the restaurant about 7PM, figuring it would take about  60+ minutes for dinner and then we would find a good seat for the show.  Because of incoming weather, the resort closed the restaurant for the evening.   We now needed a Plan B. Would they still have the show?  It was something we really wanted to see. We quickly found out from the front desk that the "show must go on" - it would just be at Co-quette which is the French restaurant.  

Rosewater is listed as having a casual dress code so I was in dress shorts, collared shirt and dress sandals.  Perfectly fine for the definition of casual.  

 Co-quette is the only restaurant that has a formal dress code which meant I needed to run back to the room and change into some dress pants and shoes. I was prepared so there was no issues.  It is a good tip to research the dress codes of each restaurant at a resort.  Even if you don't plan to eat a a certain restaurant, you may have a situation where you need to.  We hadn't considered that the Rosewater would close. 

My wife and I started out our dinner with simply the best best salad I have ever eaten.  

This had diced beets mixed in with lots of fresh arugula (or they often refer to it as rocket here in Mexico) and goat cheese.  It was lightly tossed in a red wine vinaigrette.   And just when you might ask "Where are the beets?", you quickly found there were many thin sliced beets awaiting you underneath all that delicious arugula. 

Next up was an order of escargot - or as the menu referred to them more appropriately, Bordeaux Snails.  These are served just like in "Pretty Woman".  

Delicate snail meat with a great garlic butter and just a hint of Pernod which is an anise-flavored liquor. Many people won't order these for appearance or texture.   If you can somehow get past those fears, you will savor morsels of deliciousness. 

Next up was fois gras.  

This is one of my favorite dishes to find at a French restaurant. If you are not familiar, traditionally this is the liver of a goose or duck made into a pate. This preparation was a bit different than I had experienced before.  I have ordered it where the fois gras is formed into a thicker patty and then slightly grilled.

Here the smooth pate was placed on the dish in several small disks around the plate. The disks had a dollop of fig jam on each and there were also fresh fig slices in between the pate. In the middle was a small brioche bun that you used to make your best bite.     While the fois gras had great flavor, there was too much fig for my taste. I would have preferred that the fig jam be left separate so I could take as much or as little as I wanted.  It was harder to do with the jam right on top of each disk.  The sauce around the plate was an eel sauce which did contrast nicely with the fois gras - I just think there needed to be a bit more of it. 

Next up was a bouillabaisse soup.  

This was a rich broth tasting of seafood and tomatoes. It include pieces of white fish, shrimp and scallops.  It was served with a piece of french bread that had a thin layer of a garlicky aioli and tarragon.  The broth by itself was very flavorful but I found that you really had to mix the bread, aioli and tarragon together into the broth. Those flavors together raised this from a simple seafood stock to a fully composed dish.  And the bread gave the soup more body and almost a creaminess. Well done by the talented chefs.  

You shouldn't go to an Italian restaurant and not order their pasta.  And you can't come to a french restaurant and not order the onion soup.  

This had such deep, sauteed onion flavor.  You could taste the amount of butter they used in the preparation. Atop the broth was a soft brioche with gruyere cheese which has been placed under the broiler.  

For main courses, we both had the salmon with tarragon sauce. 

We had asked for the salmon to be medium rare but it came out closer to medium or medium well.  I prefer my salmon to have some moistness left.   Cooking too much gets it to the texture of what you find in a can which defeats the point of having fresh seafood.  This had not gotten to that point   Still tasty, especially with the delicateand flavorful tarragon sauce.  The fish was served on what I would call a hash of diced carrots, lentils and bacon.  The carrots were al dente, the lentils provided some creaminess and the bacon gave you those smokey and salty notes. When you got that perfect bite of everything, it was a symphony in your mouth.  A well designed dish.  

Desserts were creme brulee and Le Notre

The creme brulee had that "crack" you look for in this dessert.  The sugar had been carmelized perfectly so it had just enough contrast with the creamy vanilla custard.  

Le Notre had delicate almond wafers sandwiched between layers of coffee buttercream and chocolate ganache.   The buttercream was almost to the consistency of marshmallow.  It was a terrific ending to the meal. Chocolate and coffee go so well together.

We were finishing up our dessert when "The Gentleman' showed up on the small stage in the restaurant.  There was a snare drum player, a guitarist and a singer.  Our prediction for this to be simulator to the Three Tenors was not even close.  This was similar to an old fashioned Las Vegas lounge act.  The singer was very good and sang some classic songs.  We stayed for a couple and then headed back outside to get an after dinner cocktail. 

Dinner at Silk City at Secrets Riviera Cancun

As a guest at Secrets Riviera Cancun, you can dine at any of the restaurants at the Breathless resort next door which is literally just steps away.  There is Italian, Mexican, Asian and a Steak House - all pretty typical styles of restaurants you will find at most all inclusives. They are all not open each night and have a rotational schedule.  For example, the Italian restaurant was closed last night.  We really felt like some pan Asian food so decided to eat at Silk City.  

One all-inclusive dining tip I would tell anyone is if you want to avoid a wait and don't have a reservation, show up early, right around opening time for the restaurant.  You are much more likely to get a table right away.  Especially for a small party.  The reason is that so many people will stay at the pool and pool bars until closing time which is normally 5PM or 6PM.   And then they have to get back to their room and get ready for dinner.  You may feel like you are getting the early bird special, but you also won't have to eat at 10PM.

We showed up at Silk City at 6:10 (they opened at 6PM) and got a table right away. It was breezy outside and there was a table for two that was outside near the entrance.   It felt like a great night to eat outside.  

So many interesting items to choose from.  I started with something I had never heard of called Kushiage.  It was listed on the menu as being manchego cheese with a sesame sauce.   Sounded very good since I love manchego.  What shows up was even better.  

These were delicious pieces of fried cheese. I think the menu writers were burying the lead  And who doesn't like fried cheese?   While it was listed as manchego, the flavor was more like a combination of brie and Velveeta.  Really well fried, not greasy and melted throughout.   I enjoyed the cheese so much that I didn't even bother with the dipping sauce.  

Next up was Baozi.  The description sounded a lot like a bao bun - and we were hopeful. Bao buns are a steamed bread that is then is usually stuffed with stewed meat, fresh vegetables and a complimentary sauce.    It was better than that.  

This was like a bao bun met the best muffaletta sandwich from New Orleans.  Flavorful pork with pickles, carrots, cilantro and hoisin sauce.  The puffy bun held everything together so well.  

And then came the sushi.  Let me start by saying that we greatly underestimated how large the rolls would be. 

We ordered two tuna rolls and one dragon roll.  Both really outstanding in their own way.  The tuna roll had good size pieces of tuna wrapped in the nori and then rice.  And then was deep fried.  The outside was just slightly toasty but not greasy which is a compliment to the chefs technique.  There was a hint of sesame oil and some spicy mayo to contrast with the fish.  

The Dragon roll was crispy breaded shrimp with cucumber and a tamarind sauce, surrounded by a avocado and then topped with a dollop of mango.  So many flavors popped all at once.  A well composed sushi roll.  

Next was the Thai beef salad.  So far through our meal, the attention to detail on flavors has been spot on.  And that continued with this dish.  

Crisp greens topped with medium rare beef that was seasoned with tamarind and fish sauce that became the salad dressing.  Then some more fresh elements of cucumber and tomato finally topped with some cilantro. It was one of those dressings that you might contemplate just putting into a shot glass and drinking. Compliments to the chef since fish sauce is an ingredient that can quickly overpower a dish if used in large amounts.  Here it was so we'll balanced.

Next up was a dish I had only heard about, seen on some TV shows but never tried. It is Korean Bibimbap.  At its simplest, this could be called deconstructed fried rice.  But that would be doing a disservice to the chef who puts the combination of flavors and textures together.  

So many things happening. Thin strips of seasoned beef, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, cucumber, nori and a chili sauce.  Plus the steamed rice and all topped with a runny fried egg. And the recommended way to eat this is to essentially mix it all together so you can continually have the perfect bite of food.  So well composed, thoughtfully seasoned with respect to all the textures.  

Each restaurant type has what I consider a comfort food where I use that dish as a way to get a quick sense about the quality and skill of the kitchen staff. If I was in a pub, I would get a cheeseburger since any good pub has to have a great burger.  If not, then the rest of their dishes might be questionable.  In an Italian restaurant, I would use a Bolognese sauce over pasta.  In an Asian restaurant, I use a basic stir fry such as sweet and sour pork.   

Since there aren't too many ingredients in these types of dishes, the chefs really need to know what they are doing with each one.  If that sauce is overpowering, the dish could be ruined no matter how good the protein is.  Based on the quality of every other dish we had to this point I was very certain this dish would also be on point.  And it delivered so much flavor!!  Tender pork in a sweet and slightly vinegary, gingery sauce.  And served with just tender peppers and onions.   And such a playful way to serve the sticky rice where you could just take off as much as you wanted.  Certainly the best sweet and sour pork I have had anywhere.  

Right as we were finishing our meal, it started to rain so we moved to a covered table to finish our cocktails.  Tanqueray and Tonic with an orange slice!!   Try the orange instead of lime. You will thank me. Adds a new depth if flavor to that gin.  

Lunch at Rosewater at Secrets Riviera Cancun

We just checked in today and it was time for lunch.  While guest of Secrets can dine at any of the Breathless restaurants next door, the only option there for lunch was a buffet.  We decided to try the only restaurant on Secrets side since they have a la carte for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  So many good options here.  

Started with Greek salads.   Fresh lettuce, tomatoes and thin cucumbers along with some red onions and feta.  The dressing was slight sweet.  It needed a bit more vinegar flavor for my taste but it was an enjoyable salad.

Next up was the signature dish of lunch.  The menu just called it Salmon so it was about hard to determine what to expect.  This is what arrived.  

Some delicate slices of fresh salmon along with fresh asparagus,. Avocado and tomato. It was served with a slightly sweet soy sauce which complemented the salmon perfectly.  Such a great dish. 

Also had the shrimp cocktail which ended up being a make-your-own tostada.  

There were about ten medium sized shrimp in a spicy/sweet sauce which was served on ice.  Atop the shrimp was a crispy tortilla shell with avocado and minced red onion.  I scooped up a few shrimp, placed them on the tortilla shell and took a bite. Crunchy, spicy and creamy!!  And we'll cooked, plump shrimp.  

Also tried an order of chicken fingers.  Just because.   They were well fried and served with ranch, a hit sauce similar to Frank's Red Hot and a spicy BBQ sauce. 

The hot sauce went the best.  Or you could dip it into both the hot sauce and ranch for some added creaminess.  The fries were okay - but they are not the reason you order chicken fingers.  

The grilled salmon was nearly as good as the earlier salmon dish.  A well cooked.piece of fish that was simply seasoned.  The salmon was topped with some crispy onion strings for texture  The broccoli, carrots and zucchini on the side had a remarkable seasoning and they were still Al dente  I detected lots of butter.

 The grilled beef sandwich was a hybrid of a traditional steak and cheese and a schwarma.  

it was served on pita bread along with tzatziki sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.   A few vegetables including cabbage and carrots for some crunch. 

This restaurant also has a few ceviches so will be back to try them.  And.of course the salmon appetizer.  

After lunch we walked over to Breathless to check out that resort.  Along the way we ran into a staff member with a margarita cart.  We just had to try one.  For science!!   I tried the mango and my wife tried the watermelon.  Both very refreshing.