Holoch — Restaurant in Mérida

Just been here with my wife (Mexican) for our last dinner during our honeymoon.

We had our reservation at 20:30 and the place was half full. There were plenty of options of tables and we had the choice.

We ordered a variety of drinks (cocktails, wine, tequila&mezcal) and had 4 different food items.

Here the summary: Drinks - great selection and good options of mezcal&tequila just a bit on the expensive side for the “shots”. Cocktails nice and well priced. 4/5 Service - great service apart from the point that will make me deduct a full point at the end 5/5 Food - well, it wasn’t spectacular. The tostada de Roman was a very wannabe stylish version of a seafood tostada you can get anywhere at the coast. The quesabirria was dry and partly not properly cooked (cheese wasn’t melted) when I asked for it to be reheated, it was super soggy and not crunchy anymore (like it came out of the microwave), the esquites were great. The cheese cake (chetumal) way too dense and really nothing to write home about - 3/5

Now the whole point deduction. The tables had just been varnished and this was done absolutely poorly. As this was our last night in Merida, my wife bought me a new guayabera. The varnish actually tainted my new guayabera black on its sleeves. This is absolutely ridiculous how this can happen in a place especially if then the waiters are telling me that they know about the problem and the menu cards have the same stains.

Summing it up, we spend 2500MXN for dinner and it ruined a new guayabera ~1500MXN so a total of 4000MXN for a dinner worth maybe 1500MXN. So...

Overall everything started well. The environment was great, food was good, waiters were attentive and polite and great knowledge about the food. Later in the night one of the waiters took my wife’s margarita glass although she wasn’t done and there was still plenty left. When we let him know, he said he will look into it and we didn’t see him the rest of the night, they told him not to come back out. The other waiter came out and he was very understanding of the situation and he offered us an aperitif. So, my wife ordered an Averna. As I was paying the bill I realized that he charged us for the aperitif. He asked if everything was good and I said yes except that I don’t believe we should have been charged for the complementary drink he offered. A man behind the waiter introduced himself as the general manager and with a passive smirk on his face he said bluntly that if we ordered the drink it had to be charged. I ended up paying the bill without another comment and they didn’t feel comfortable enough to ask for a tip. I feel bad for the waiters because its run poorly by the managers. I have friends who live in Merida who have warned me about this. I won’t give this place...

This place is an amazing discovery. Dim down speakeasy and a gorgeous backyard, that smells like a fireplace (you will smell too lol) cause of the natural fire going on in the kitchen. So lovely! The ambiance is unique and I do believe this place will get a Michelin star one day. Pork belly taco - the best I have ever tried. Meat was grilled to perfection. Crispy, tender, with a melting fat pieces, just amazing. Shrimp taco was delicious. Unique take on beer batter aka tempura paired with pickled cabbage. A wonderfully balanced and one of a kind taste. 1 beef tako was out of stock, but hear me out. This place orders Unique ingredients that are not easily replaceable, so I totally get that. Pizza was a MAJOR disappointment. Tough dough covered with oversalted cheese that would have been amazing raw. Didn't feel the tomato salsa. Few leafy greens. But whatever, I am not in Italy to complain, thus definitely 5 stars for the experience and some mindblowing food. P.s. posting the newest menu, some price...