We dined at Pitihayas during our stay at Hacienda del Mar. We walked in at 7:45pm, and were seated immediately; the place was 40% full at most. No reservation needed. The "slow time" at the resort is May through Sept, which is why we visit in May/June every year. We dined at Pitahayas during the week of the June full moon. We arrived just before moon rise, so we decided to share the Full Moon Food/Wine Pairing menu. The food was good, the wine pairings were great (Som. Christopher Perez - most excellent). The service/timing of food/wine presentation was terrible. Most dishes were delivered, and we'd have to wait 10 minutes or so for the wine pairing to be poured, but that time the food was cold. Our waiter tried to pick up the slack, but twice brought the wrong wine to the table. The prices are over the top, excessive for the CSL market, but the resort has a "captive audience" in that it's not very easy or convenient to go off the resort for other dining options. Bottom line... good food, great wine pairing, service isn't that great and the prices are excessive. Our last visit to Pitahayas was not that memorable, this visit did little to change our minds.
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What a difference a day makes! We tried Pitahayas again for dinner here at Hacienda Del Mar, in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Service was great, attentive, but not intrusive. We began with the amuse bouche of falafels, with a side of a middle eastern tomato sauce… Delicious!
For appetizers, we tried the sashimi tuna and the grilled octopus. The appetizers arrived quickly, and were served at an excellent temperature. The tuna was super fresh, and the side dollops of wasabi were the perfect match. The grilled octopus may have been pan-grilled or fried, as opposed to grilled, but it made no difference. Outstanding taste, especially when paired with the sauce on the side; and there was a lot of octopus there, easily an entree-sized serving.
For our entrées, we selected the crusted sea bass, and the blackened fisherman’s catch, also sea bass, or perhaps the equally popular local grouper. The both fish were expertly prepared. The plate presentation of the crushed fish was excellent, and the soy-based sauce underneath the fish was very tasty. The blackened fish was divine, and the side brussels delicious.
We ordered wine for dinner, a Roganto sauvignon blanc, an excellent representation of the varietal from Mexico. The wine was served appropriately chilled, and the table bottle service was perfect.
Special shout out to the entire staff, well done! Special hat tip to Mimi at the bar, easily one of the best bartenders in Mexico, and so pleasant to chat with about cocktails, local cuisine, etc. A wonderful evening at a 5-star restaurant! Update October 27, 2023
Staying at Hacienda Del Mar again this Fall, here for a "birthday week" and had dinner at Pitahayas this evening. Despite enduring Hurricane Norma only 6 days ago, the restaurant was up to speed this evening. Service was good, attentive, but not intrusive, and the pace of the meal was good. The "almost" full moon helped to set the atmosphere for the evening!
The food was very good. Amuse bouche of watermelon and feta cheese was good. Sourdough bread, amazing! Crispy shrimp very good, but needed a better pairing on the plate. Very nice berry sorbet palate cleanser before the entrees were served.
Creamy rice and blackened fisherman's catch for entrees both good, but the fish was better!
The wine was served cool, not chilled, a 1/2 ice bath fixed that issue. Nice complimentary b'day dessert served at the end was a nice touch. Pitahayas is worth a try if...
Read moreFood: 4* Service: 4* but very slow Ambiance: 4*
Enjoyed dinner here one night of our stay. Heard from a few people that they believed the food here was better than de Cortez, which intrigued us. Found out that was NOT the case.
On the 2 page menu (see pictures), i wanted to order that two piece shrimp tempura, but was told that the "snacks" section was an extra cost ($16 USD more) even though we had the all inclusive package. Huh? $16 for 2 pieces of shrimp tempura? Crazy expensive. So, I ordered the grilled octopus, and the fillet. The octopus was good, properly grilled, tasty and not rubbery. The beef fillet, it was tender, juicy, and perfectly cooked. But the flavor was lackluster. It tasted that it was cooked on a flat top and not a grill. No sear marks, not grilled flavors. Good, but not great. Like at de Cortez.
A few at our table wanted to just have a couple appetizers and not a full meal. They were told you are limited to one appetizer and one meal per person, per visit. Huh? How does that make sense? The appetizers were good, but small.
Our reservation was at 745pm. We arrived at 7pm for a cocktail. We let them know we were in the bar, which can see the entire dining room, they acknowledged us and our reservation. I noted what looked like our table for 8. A nice round table all setup and ready. Enjoyed our cocktails and then went to the front desk at 8pm to ask if they were ready for us yet. She said she would come and get us. About 15 minutes later, she took us to our seats and gave us menus. No one stopped by for another 30 minutes to offer water or drinks, or wine. We stopped a waiter and asked if we could order some drinks. He said yes and took our drink orders. When the drinks arrived 10 minutes later, we asked if they were ready for our dinner order. He said let me get your waitress. At the hour mark of no dinner ordering, we stopped another waiter, who was replenishing our water glasses to order. Mind you only. 50% of the tables were occupied at this point, so not sure the hold up. From there on, we didn't get our appetizers for another 30 minutes and then main course 45 minutes after that. I'm all for a long leisurely meal, but after 2.5 hours, we were ready to go back to our hotel. I hope you fare better than us...
Read moreI went here 4 years ago and it was phenomenal. Best steak filet ever. I came back as of this writing and I'm not sure what happened. We waited for over an hour and a half for our food and our waiter never updated us (mind you it wasn't even a full house, about half the restruant was full). Service was okay, but the fact that we weren't told what was wrong annoyed me. The food came out, I got the beef filet and it was super rare. I asked for medium and so I asked them to cook it longer. They gave me a new dish, and it was still rare. When cooking meat you can test by the firmness of the meat and it was obviously rare. The food on my families plates were cold, and the small potato they gave me had solanine in it. It was super bitter, sour, and made my throat burn. I'm a food manager, potatos high in solanin is a sign that they don't store their food properly and can be very harmful to humans. This was Christmas eve and I know hispanics celebrate on the eve. So maybe the main chiefs were out, but from the other reviews it doesn't seem like this is a one time occurance. The cherry on top is they ran out of gas for the warming towers outside so the ocean wind was freezing. HACINEDA PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Dont let this restruant go under. It was beautiful with so much flavor. Bring back the...
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