Árbol de Seda — Restaurant in Carmen

It’s an incredible feat when a restaurant with over a thousand reviews over the course of a decade is as close to 5 stars across the board as Árbol de Seda is). This special little place has earned it.

Like any great venue, the unseen part, where the secrets are, is where success or failure is crafted. This kitchen, helmed by Chef Lelai (really have no idea how to spell their name 😅), has some serious mojo going on. The food is unpretentious and spectacular with an attention to detail that only comes from passion.

The stage, where the diners play their parts, is light and airy and quintessentially representative of traditional upscale Escalante houses, where many of the elite of San Jose resided in the mid-twentieth century. Tables and chairs are locally made and are of the typical style (I can’t decide if the tables feel too high or the chairs too low but I’m slowly getting over any qualms I’ve had over this standard).

I had the Huarache Huevón with a superb cappuccino. If you’re in the mood for a craft cocktail, the speakeasy has astrologically inspired concoctions. If you’re like me and chef’s wife Jazz you’ll go for something with mezcal and activated charcoal served shaken in a coupe.

Árbol de Seda is a happy place with an excellent staff. It is not to...

first let me start by saying you need paper menus. online menus were popular for 1 year during 2020 until everyone realized how stupid they are. secondly- you cannot charge a service charge at a cafe where people order and pay at the counter. our “server” did absolutely nothing for us but run our food. this makes her a food runner, not a server, and i don’t tip food runners. she never refilled our water or checked in on our food. the one guy who did ask about the matcha - i told him it had barely any matcha in it (it was just milk and a lot of honey) and he just made a weird face and walked away. when a customer complains about something you fix it. for the food- our soup was extremely over salted and so was our “huevos rancheros” (which by the way is actually shakshuka). they gave us a singular tortilla for a huge bowl of basically tomato sauce. the pricing here is totally ridiculous ~ as much as it costs to eat out in the states despite the cost of living being much lower here. it was a...

I came here for my birthday and enjoyed my experience. The food was amazing, I loved the Maracuya dessert so i decided to come back and make it my favorite restaurant. But the last few times I visited, I kept finding human hair in my food. The chef came out to apologize as they acknowledged that there was human hair in the food. She wasn’t wearing a hair net each time. Three different meals, three different chances— the oyster burger, A pizza, and the patacones — all had visible strands of hair. And not just a random tiny piece you might forgive. These were obvious and right in the sauce or toppings. It was extremely disappointing.

I wanted to be a regular here, but I gave up. At this point, I can’t enjoy the food because I’m too anxious every time I cut up my food. I don’t know what’s happening in the kitchen, but hair shouldn’t be part of any recipe, no matter how good the flavors. I dont know what is stopping the chef from wearing a hair net. But unfortunately I wont...