Luma Taverna Del Mar — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

Where to start... from the moment we walked in we felt well attended to. Our server was Eric and he made this experience fantastic, along with the gentleman tending bar. They didn't have my preferred cerveza, but Eric recommended a suitable alternative. My husband asked for a spicy Margarita, which was excellent. We were given a complimentary bruschetta which had AMAZING flavor. And their focaccia bread was the best I've ever had. We were craving beef carpaccio and salad and this place did not disappoint. The beef carpaccio wasn't dry, as it often is. Theirs was moist and delicious! There was a hint of truffle, arugula and mushrooms. The mixture was fabulous. I would only suggest shaving the parmesan thinner. My husband loved it, as is, so this is merely a personal preference. The arugula salad with chick peas and a raspberry honey vinaigrette was to die for! I will be dreaming of that dressing. Eric was attentive throughout, but I also really appreciated the teamwork effort by all staff. If someone was walking by and we needed something they tended to it immediately. We weren't the only people there, but we felt like we were. After the meal we were given a digestive drink/shot, compliments of the restaurant. It was described as a Limencello type drink, but made with papaya and ginger... lots of ginger. I do not care for liquor, but this was so tasty and I think it benefited our digestion.

I would definitely recommend coming here! We tend to eat appetizers i/o meals, but all of the meals around us looked very tasty as well. Gratuity is not added so please be mindful when showing your appointment the level of care. I only mention this because it seems to be added at most restaurants, but I prefer a service...

If I could give this place 0 stars, I would!!! We had a reservation and were excited to experience a highly-recommended restaurant. We arrived on time only to witness two other parties who came after us be seated before us. Upon being seated, there were not enough menus, so we had to wait until other tables had finished with theirs to see what we’d like to eat. We wanted to give Luma the benefit of the doubt, so we ordered drinks to dial our nerves down from what was quickly becoming a terrible experience. Alfredo, our waiter, who made sure to get the people who were seated AFTER us a complimentary appetizer and bread basket, couldn’t be bothered to check in on us while we inhaled our glasses of cheap wine. As the sun began to rise and Alfredo finally made his way back to our table and we expressed our displeasure at the experience so far, he informed us that the kitchen was slow so our meal would take a long time. Therefore, we promptly asked for the check for our M$320 glasses of wine. As the sun began to set, Alfredo brought us our check and had the audacity to ask us if we wanted to include a tip. I did the best I could to resist the urge to question whether our experience was because we were a Black couple or if this is par for the course when Luma is busy. Either way, they’re either racist or incompetent…maybe, both? People with high- to moderate-standards, beware! People from the...

We dropped by for an evening meal (4 people), apparently it is one of the best around so had to try. Many a seafood menu with a twist. The service was fair but not super friendly. Between the 4 of us we had 3 different meals. I had the poppy seed shrimp with passion fruit. I ate it all but only because it was pricey. It was way over salted and the passion fruit in my opinion shouldn't be on the plate,it overpowered flavours of everything else on the plate. Two people had seafood pesto pasta which also said that the dish tasted super salty although pasta was cooked well. The other dish was paste Verde with tuna which although the pasta was slightly under done the meal tasted good. Drinks- lager was bottled so was fine, the margarita though unfortunately tasted like a bowl of salt water. Not the greatest and value for money wasn't really there. Would probably recommend giving it a miss- unless...