Harry's Steakhouse & Raw Bar | Playa del Carmen — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

Overall I expected way more all around. Originally when we saw the menu we thought we'd come back for sure. Based on the food quality and lack of seasoning and attention to food detail, we won't return.

I'm copying Tamika's review format

Ambiance: 5 Staff: 4 Food: 2.5 Value: 1

The place looks really cool inside with their decor. They are good at food theater and presentation but sadly the food just doesn't reflect the visual appeal or the price.

The staff were all very kind and attentive (sometimes too attentive). It surprised me several of them did not have the entire menu memorized and had to go ask questions in the kitchen at least 5 times. At a place attempting to be this upscale I expected more.

We ordered a lot for 2 people as we like to sample as much as possible. Our bill in total with tip came to about $400 USD.

Appetizers -

Roasted Cauliflower: this was overall good, nothing amazing

Roasted Artichoke: lacked seasoning and was underwhelming

Squid rings: well-cooked and tender (though I have had better from Grindr in Montreal), dip was not overly spicy

Crab cakes: plenty of yummy crab meat inside and crust was crispy. The mayo dip was too spicy for our liking.

Tuna tartar: this was my favorite appetizer.

Main Courses -

Black Onyx New York Strip - ordered medium rare and cooked to expectation. I had to ask for salt because there was no seasoning at all. The steak texture overall was weird. Not really what I was expecting for a $100 cut of beef. I have had better for cheaper. The gravy dip is pretty meh. I'm surprised they do not offer more dips for the steaks like chimichurri, pesto, garlic butter etc. Felt pretty one-dimensional.

Salmon Sashimi - came with 3 dips and they were all good. The amount of sashimi was disappointing. This does not really qualify as a main course for me. The portion was the size of an appetizer.

King Crab - we ordered this grilled instead of raw. That was a mistake. It was overcooked in some areas. It did not really have that delicious sweet tenderness I expect from Alaskan king crab. A table next to us asked us how the King crab was and we warned them about ours. They ordered it raw and said it was yummy. Because I ordered it grilled I needed a butter sauce which they provided. This butter sauce did not taste like butter at all but more like a margarine butter mixture like a movie popcorn dispenser in the USA. I have experienced this strange margarine butter flavor several places in Playa del Carmen so it is not limited to just Harry's.

Side Dishes -

Brussel sprouts with bacon - When it arrived, I immediately asked, where is the bacon? The pieces were so tiny we thought it was a joke. The sprouts were also way undercooked and lacked seasoning.

Creamed spinach - essentially without cream, no onion and no salt. It was very disappointing.

White wine mushrooms - looked delicious but no salt.

We got several drinks. The tropical paradise was really blue and tasted good. The bartender did come over to me and asked if I had any special requests. He made a fantastic tamarind mezcal drink.

When we first saw the menu, we thought we would come back for sure. Sadly with this disappointing experience in the food quality we will not be back. Any place that charges this much and cannot season food with salt properly cannot justify...

Before the review I'll start and say that many restaurants avoid publishing their prices online and so does Harry's, I don't really know why because people will probably come for the experience that Harry's provide. Given that the prices are not disclosed here i find that an extensive review will help you to decide if to come here.

We came to harry's to have a special dinner (party of two)

From the start the staff gives you the V.I.P feeling sitting you in the chair and pouring you water and wine if you desire. The feeling is that during the entire meal the waiters are there to satisfy every need so you don't even need to fill your glass alone, this is very nice but seems that the level of service isn't entirely consistant as we asked for paper napkins and we were missing tea spoon for gravy. you might think this is a bit "posh" but Harry's staff are really giving you the v.i.p feel so I think it needs to be consistent, especially when these things exist in every other restaurant.

Beside from these notes the staff was exquisite.

Food - we orderd all our dishes to share, plates were change after the starters to Hot and comforting amazing plates the host the food on.

First the Tuna tartar - fresh and in sharing size, well seasoned but not really shines out other tuna tartar offerd in playa del Carmen.

Second - tenderloin Taco served with guacamole - the meat was overcooked and dry, it was OK but I would not recommend it because it doesn't bring any added value to the Taco.

Third we ordered 3 mini burgers with mixed meats - 30% kobe meat and 70% black onyx. They might not look very interesting, but the meat is great, because they are pretty small they cook well inside to I would recommend taking them cooked medium and lower.

For the main course we took the tenderloin cooked Medium , In my guess the meat is cooked on charcoal grill so the outside was a bit burned and the inside was cooked MW. The dish comes with gravy that helps hide the "dryness" and is quite good.

For desert we took the lemon pie desert, even though it comes in the shape of a pear (I wonder why) it does look impressive but it was so frozen it was really hard to cut our way into it, so much we the waiter gave us a meat knife. eventually giving it up and just tasting it,leaving most of it behind.

** I must disclose that because we don't know what is customary in mexico, we didn't complain so i Cannot hold this against Harry's but i would expect them to pay attention that the desert was returned allmost whole

Overall we paid 3795 pesos including the 15% tip which adds up to total 221$

The staff was great, the food was overall tasty and they do care, if I could give a 3.5 stars I would but since I feel that 3 stars will do them wrong , this makes it a 4 star review. Have fun...

My friend was not able to travel to share my birthday dinner. I went alone. I saw them promoting a " raw bar " ... LOL IF YOU CONSIDER A DISPLAY OF PLASTIC CRUSTACIONS ON A PILE OF ICE A RAW BAR then I suppose they have a raw bar..... this was the worst raw bar I have ever experienced. I asked questions about the size and quality of the oysters. The questions confused the waiters behind the bar and the manager. THE OYSTERS WERE HORRIBLE.... My martinis were used to wash down the oysters... Ok the raw bar didn't exist the oysters sucked GO TO SONOMA GRILL FOR OYSTERS I decided to switch to meat. After all it is a steakhouse. The prices for steak were very very very expensive.... I ordered an appetizer of faux gras..... It was very very good the soft dinner rolls were very good. I enjoy a good rack of lamb. I ordered that for the entrée... the lamb was well prepared, cooked as I ordered BUT I WAS DISAPPOINTED. THE LAMB WAS NOT SEASONED PROPERLY AND SERVED WITH MEXICAN SALSAS. How about a red wine sauce, a mustard sauce, a shallot or mushroom sauce a sauce bernaise or even a damn jar of mint jelly from Soriano ?? VERY DISAPPOINTING MY MEAL WAS A DISASTER A ONE STAR MEAL.... THE ONLY REASON I AM GIVING 4 STARS IS BECAUSE OF 2 THINGS: The young lady playing the violin 🎻 and the waiters and managers.

The service was excellent. The manager and waiters were 5 star. I mentioned to the manager that it was my birthday dinner. I wanted no fanfare. He delivered a wonderful chocolate cake with fireworks. The waiters and everyone helped me celebrate. It made up for the disappointing meal.

BUT WHAT MADE MY BIRTHDAY MEAL MEMORABLE WAS THE YOUNG LADY PLAYING THE VIOLIN. SHE SAW IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY AND WHEN THE SPARKLERS WENT OUT SHE CAME TO ME AND STOOD VERY CLOSE IN FRONT OF ME. SHE MADE EYE CONTACT WITH ME, A 70 YEAR OLD MAN, AND PLAYED HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON HER VIOLIN. I AM AN AFFICIANADO OF CLASSICAL MUSIC. I WAS MISTY EYED. I HAVE NEVER HEARD HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON A VIOLIN 🎻 THIS LADY MUST HAVE GREAT EXPERIENCE AS A MUSICIAN. SUCH A SIMPLE SILLY SONG BUT PLAYED FROM THE HEART. AN UNFORGETTABLE ACT OF KINDNESS THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET.

The service at Harry's was outstanding. 5 star the faux gras excellent The kindness of the staff and the violinist were memorable. The raw bar does not exist. The chef needs training in a proper rack of lamb. But all in all I appreciate being...