Xkat-Ik — Restaurant in Cancún

This restaurant is a little hard to see from the street, since the entrance is a small alley between a pharmacy and one of those "adventure" companies. In the back its a full restaurant with entirely outside seating (including a few tables on grass near the water). We happened to come right before the sun went down and got a nice view of the sunset over the lagoon while we were eating. This place felt fancier than a lot of the other restaurants we've been to in Cancún since they weren't trying to sell us anything except the food.

Vegetarian, gluten free, and "traditional" meals were helpfully labeled on the menu (probably around a third of the menu is gluten free; I can't remember how much is vegetarian, but the meal I got was).

My girlfriend ordered the special, which was a grouper with tamarind sauce and grilled shrimp, which she enjoyed. I tried the shrimp and it seemed to be cooked perfectly. She did say that it was a little sweet and not something she'd normally have for an entire meal.

I had the stuffed Xkat-Ik Pepper (with cheese), which was helpfully labeled as traditional and vegetarian. It was pretty good, and I really loved the mashed potatoes and tomato sauce it was on top of (if I went back, I'd want to branch out on the main course, but wouldn't mind if everything was served on top of those potatoes).

We had the coconut sorbet (with a little Kaluha) and flan for dessert, and both were great. The flan was a little more caramelized than usual, and the coconut sorbet was...

This was an incredible little restaurant, and I can say it was the best culinary experience of our honeymoon. I found it because I was actively looking to avoid super touristy spots. This spot is small maybe around 10 tables, right on the lagoon, facing west; its a great spot to have dinner and watch the sunset.

The menu was concise and well curated. Everything that we had and saw come out to a couple other tables was made with super fresh ingredients and herbs / spices. This was our first time trying authentic Mayan food, and it was incredible. I would say it is similar to what americans think of as authentic Mexican food (not tex-mex type) but a little more wholesome, with a warm and down to earth, soul foody type feel.

Drinks were great as well, all of the staff was very friendly, polite, prompt and diligent. We happened to be there on a wednesday when they were hosting a Mayan performance, which was incredible and didn't feel fake.

Prices were very reasonable, especially considering how fresh the food was and how much time and effort it took to prep many of the dishes. My only regret was not going back again...

Won't be going back here anytime soon. 10 of us went there for dinner tonight. Thought the Maitre D was the entertainment. Had to listen to him ramble on for 5 minutes then we had to flag down one of the workers to take our drink order and every drink after that. Not once did they come to the table on their own to ask us if we wanted another drink. Don't go here if you have an appetite. These are the smallest portions I have ever received in a restaurant. One guy at our table wanted to know where we could go to get more food. The Yuca Chicken was delicious as I think most of the dishes were quite good but over half were served cool and had to be sent back. Was not happy with the service. The show was bizarre. The performance may have been good but it was very dark out on the grass and they left all the lights on in the dining area so the performers were almost unnoticeable. The waiters would just walk through the performers and the Maitre D would be giving his speech to every new table while the shoe was...