La Veladora — Restaurant in Morelos

I would describe the food here as elevated modern Mexican cuisine.

The meal started with a handmade salsa prepared tableside. I loved the inclusion of roasted baby onions in there, it gave it a really interesting flavor.

Next, we shared the esquites as apetizer. The flavor combination was novel, it had an earthy taste. It was not my favorite dish of the day, but I always appreciate when chefs explore new twists on old classics.

For mains, I had the beef shortrib with mole while my girlfriend had the chicken breast. I'm not normally a fan of mole, but in this case the combination worked really well. The beef was topped with tomatoes and mushrooms, and the mole as well as a barbecue-style sauce was served to the side. All combined together, they created a flavor symphony I truly enjoyed. I only had a few bites of the chicken, but it was juicy with crispy skin, an excellent choice as well.

Our desert was beautifully presented and tasted delicious. It quickly disappeared into our stomachs.

As for the ambiance, the space sits inside a nice hotel, with a beautiful view of the Tepozteco if you look up. Since the space is covered but completely open, I would recommend bringing a sweater during rainy season as it can get a bit cold.

Overall, a great option for a nice meal in Tepoztlan, but a little expensive. I would...

The service at La Veladora was impeccable and complemented the lush, elegant setting perfectly. The patio is well arranged for viewing the verdant gardens and the mountains in the distance. The menu is inspired, but I found the flavors not as rich as I had hoped. The chicken breast that I ordered was actually lukewarm on my plate. In fact, it was borderline cool, causing me to wonder whether it was supposed to be served cool instead of hot. On the other hand, the sea bass with paired pumpkin and tamarind moles was absolutely amazing, however. Also, I was very surprised to find the broth of my tortilla soup poured from a Japanese teapot. That was a lovely touch and the soup was flavorful...

For the most part had an excellent experience here. Two out of the three dishes we ordered were absolutely fantastic. The salmon with asparagus was way overdone and dry. But had potential to be as great as the other dishes.

The service was very poor. They had one waiter managing the entire area. We waited ten minutes for a menu and I had to get up and ask another waiter for a menu. He came back with only one, so I once again had to get up and tell him there’s two of us and we would like two menus. Our waiter finally showed up another ten minutes later to take the order and we didn’t see him again until it was time to pay. Overall poor quality service but food and atmosphere are...