A few days ago, I was in the hotel zone with a friend. While we were out, we decided to stop at Plaza La Isla to have lunch. My friend was in the mood for some good Mexican food. Since I usually eat Mexican food in restaurants downtown, I had no idea where we could get a good meal in the hotel zone. (Well, there is Xtabentun, located in Coral Negro Flea Market, but that lacks all ambiance.)

We had both heard great things about Casa de Las Margaritas and decided to give it a try. We looked at the menu posted by the front entrance and found the prices to be extremely high for Mexican food. Mind you, neither of us are “cheap”, but thought $15usd for an enchilada appetizer to be a bit extreme. We found it hard to believe that was the lunch menu but, indeed, it was. We saw a sign listing the special of the day. It was a beef or chicken burrito, with tortilla soup, and a beer or soft drink. There was no price listed. After living here for over 4 years and eating more than my fair share of burritos, I didn’t think to ask the price of the daily special. My friend and I both ordered the burrito because nothing else on the menu seemed fabulous…or worth the money.

Anyway, the food arrived and it was good, but the burrito was a little dry. We had a lovely time chatting and relaxing in the gorgeous restaurant…and then the check arrived. Our jaws dropped to the floor when we saw the price for our burritos. The lunch special was $250 pesos! (around $25usd) We were in shock!! It’s one thing to spend $25usd for an entree at dinner, but for lunch it is just decadent…or stupid. We were just taking a break from work and not living it up while on vacation, you know. We had a nice, enjoyable lunch and the service was very good, but I still cannot believe that a burrito, a bowl of soup, and a soft drink was $250 pesos! I wasn’t dining in Hawaii, after all. That price would probably be low for Hawaii. The part that really annoyed me the most was that Xtabentun (one of my favorite places to have Mexican food!) has better chicken burritos than Casa de Las Margaritas…and I would’ve spent less than $10usd for a burrito with beans and rice, a 1-liter soda, and a $2usd tip!

I don’t mean to discourage people from going to Casa de Las Margaritas because, like I said, when you are on vacation, or just want to go out for a nice dinner, money usually isn’t a great concern. When you live in Mexico and are used to paying very little for Mexican food, it’s a different story, however.

So, for me….lesson learned. I will always ask the price of the daily special.

I recently had the pleasure of dining with the co-owner of this site, Tim Sissel. Unfortunately, Tim doesn’t get to travel to Cancun as often as he’d like. When he does make the trip, he is very busy visiting friends, seeing some sights, and tending to business. If he can manage to stop working on his trusty laptop, he likes to go out and try new restaurants. It is always a joy to spend time with Tim and, since I rarely eat at restaurants in the hotel zone, I love joining him on his dining adventures/scouting missions. This time, Tim wanted to try Mocambo.

Mocambo is a seafood restaurant and it is located right on the beach in Plaza Xcaret. Surprisingly, it is one of the few restaurants on the beach in Cancun that is not inside a hotel. I wish we had more beachfront restaurants for non-hotel guests!!

From the street, Plaza Xcaret basically looks like nothing more than a parking lot, or an entrance to a public beach. (Actually, all the beaches in Mexico are public, but it is hard to gain access by passing through a hotel.) The plaza is situated, more or less, between Riu Cancun and Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach. There is a bus stop directly in front of the plaza. From the street, you will need to walk towards the beach. You will see the restaurant on the right.

Plaza Xcaret

The restaurant is poorly marked, in my opinion. You really need to be looking for the place. In fact, this is the only sign I saw from the street.

(You can see the Fiesta American Grand Coral Beach in the background!)

Here is another photo of the plaza entrance (to your left if you are facing the beach at Plaza Xcaret). Riu Cancun and Riu Palace Las Americas are located behind the condos shown in the photo.

Once I made the short walk across the plaza/parking lot, I saw a large sign for Mocambo. (I love the cute little crab on the sign!)

Tim and I were immediately escorted to our table overlooking the water. I had called to make a reservation a couple of days earlier and requested a table by the water at that time. I don’t think you could have a bad view from any table, but if you prefer a table right by the water, you should definitely make a reservation.

I am not overly fond of seafood, but there are a few dishes I really like. I scanned the menu and found there were not many options other than seafood, but a non-seafood lover certainly wouldn’t starve. I believe they had fajitas, a chicken dish, and a beef dish. I noticed the prices were VERY reasonable. I believe each of our entrees were around $15usd. Since I do not always eat the healthiest of foods, I decided to try and redeem myself by ordering a garden salad and grilled tuna. I think Tim ordered grilled shrimp but, quite honestly, I was too caught up in my own feast to pay much attention.

My garden salad was delicious…but I guess you really can’t screw up a garden salad, can you?? Our entrees arrived and both of them looked fabulous! (…so did all of the other dishes I saw being delivered to tables around us!) It IS easy to screw up tuna, however. The good news is that my tuna was cooked perfectly. It was very tender and tasted as good as it looked! The portions were fairly large. I was unable to finish it all, but I made a noble effort. After a bit more conversation, our food had settled enough for us to tackle dessert. I had cheesecake and Tim had Black Forest Cake (although it’s called Black Jungle Cake at Mocambo). Both were heavenly!

Restaurant entrance

Tim and I never wanted for anything during our meal. In fact, we both commented on how efficient the service was. We considered ourselves very lucky to have found a restaurant in the hotel zone that had delicious food, excellent service, AND great prices. (It is very rare to find all 3 at one place!)

Check out Mocambo on your next trip to Cancun! You won’t be disappointed.