Samura Isla Mujeres — Restaurant in Isla Mujeres

Very disappointing experience! Really wish we read the reviews in more detail before wasting our money in this place. We booked the hibachi table because we wanted a special place to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The setting is beautiful and we were excited for our evening.

To be fair, the cocktails were good and the food was ok but nothing special. It was all coated in so much butter that everything tasted the same. The chef had zero showmanship and seemed to be just going through the motions. He’s most definitely not a highly skilled hibachi chef and managed to splash both my husband & me with hot oil during the cooking process. After very little interaction we were slightly confused when he slapped a glass on the counter right before he left. We guessed it might be for tips but as he couldn’t even be bothered to explain that, the glass remained empty.

There were so many staff but service felt stilted & forced. Our waitress churned out scripted pleasantries but ignored our responses. She’d asked if we were celebrating anything, we told her our anniversary but she’d already moved on to the next part of her script by then.

Our biggest gripe was the Fiji water which appears to be the only water available to buy. At 424 pesos (over €11!) this is literally the price of a cocktail & it’s totally outrageous to sell something as basic as water at such a vastly inflated price. It’s also done sneakily so I’m sure many people don’t realise what a rip off this is. Fancy imported water is not a necessity, basic drinking water is.

When the bill came we were offered to opportunity to pay in dollars, euros or pesos. We chose pesos and paid by card. The euro price offered on our bill was a hefty €13 higher than the actual charge to our card, showing another massive rip off by this restaurant.

The bill also offers recommended tip values & these started at 15% for good service with a suggested 25% for outstanding service.

We had declined to add service to the card payment (quite standard in Europe as most service staff prefer cash tips) but this caused immediate concern with the waitress calling over a manger to discuss it. Our intention had been to leave a small cash tip because we generally don’t like to penalise waiting staff for the failings of the management, but because they all made such a big deal about we declined to leave anything at all & left with a very bitter taste...

I wish I could give this place zero stars. My family and I decided to visit after seeing glowing reviews on social media about their food and service. Unfortunately, our experience was the complete opposite of what was promised.

When we walked in, we were impressed by the beautiful setting. However, within minutes, our visit took a turn for the worse. We were instantly swarmed by mosquitos, making it impossible to relax or enjoy our time.

While ordering, one of the waiters was surprisingly rude and dismissive. A simple request — to make a roll without rice, using cucumber or light rice instead — was met with repeated insistence that it “couldn’t be done” because the rolls were “premade.” The tone and attitude made us feel unwelcome and as if we were inconveniencing them.

When our food arrived, things only got worse. The sushi rolls were warm, mushy, and lacked any freshness. We understand that being outdoors on an island might make food warm faster, but that doesn’t explain the poor texture and taste — especially with the ocean literally next door. After one bite, several of us couldn’t continue eating. We politely asked to return the rolls, and while they offered to replace them with something else, we had lost all confidence in the food and declined.

We spoke with the managers and owner, who appeared receptive and understanding, even telling us they would remove the rolls from our bill. Unfortunately, when the bill came, not only had we not been refunded for those rolls, but we were also charged an additional $80 in unexplained charges.

This restaurant may be visually beautiful, but the poor food quality, unprofessional customer service, and dishonest billing left us feeling taken advantage of. We came in with high expectations and left extremely disappointed. If you value fresh food, respectful service, and fair pricing, I strongly recommend avoiding this place, it’s not worth the...

Our worst dining experience in Mexico - I feel scammed after my meal at Samura. It is a very beautiful restaurant, but from the moment I arrived, I felt like the staff were trying to upsell everything, for example the more expensive tequila, lobster main course etc. The worst part was that the waiters offered us sake bombs, which we and the table next to us believed would be on the house, as it was Mexican Independence Day and many restaurants were offering complimentary shots etc to celebrate this. We were extremely shocked to see them charged on our bill for 1,200 pesos (!) for the two sake bombs. These two shots alone were more expensive than our entire dinners in other Isla Mujeres restaurants. There are also animals such as cats and geese roaming around the restaurant. When I said I was scared, a staff member rolled his eyes and said “this is a jungle restaurant.” I am truly shocked at the unprofessional behaviour from the staff and the way they make tourists feel like a walking ATM machine. Save your money and avoid this restaurant at all costs. The waiters also spilled the sake all over the table and me. It was not cleaned up properly and the table was wet and sticky for the remainder of our meal, not to mention my dress which was covered in sake. They proceeded to use 1 bottle of beer for the sake bomb (as one had been spilled) but we were still charged for 2 on the bill even though it was the waiters mistake. This is not the standard I would expect from a restaurant such as Samura. I have been on holiday in Mexico for the past 3 weeks and this is by far the worst dining experience we have had, not to mention the most outrageously priced. We have eaten sushi in other locations, which was a fraction of the price of Samura, and the sushi was much better and the staff were much more pleasant and professional. If you want sushi, go elsewhere. Mediocre food and extremely...