Maison Oh lala! by George — Restaurant in Playa del Carmen

Ouch!!! Used to love this place. Visited a few times over the past 10 years, going back to the previous location. This time was disappointing. When we arrived and ordered drinks we were surprised that no bread was brought to the table. Our server (very nice but more on that later) said that only once the meal was ordered we were to receive our "welcome bread". Weird, but ok... The bread, by the way, was one of the most delicious items on we had, in any restaurant. The starters were all fine, well presented and tasty. The mains have failed us completely. The seared tuna in a balsamic sauce was tasteless and thus had not been consumed. Our server was kind enough to take it of the bill. I ordered the filet mignon with foie gras and neglected to read that it was served with mashed potatoes so order a side dish of mashed. My friend said "I'll have the same". The steak arrived with mashed potatoes which were cold, and our server brought another dish of mashed, which was piping hot. I was disappointed that she hasn't pointed out to me at the time of ordering that the steak came with it but that was my bad so no real complaints. But why did my friend not get mashed potatoes? after all he ordered exactly the same as me. When I mentioned the cold mashed potatoes on the plate the server offered to replace them but I declined since it meant taking my plate away and getting my steak back cold. Why could she offer to bring an extra side dish of hot mashed potatoes? By the way, the side dish of mashed potatoes was charged on the bill even though the mashed potatoes on my plate (the cold ones) remained untouched... The restaurant was nice enough to treat us to a happy birthday dessert, a warm chocolate cake that we all tasted and decided to not consume since it was lacking flavor. Breaks my heart to give Micaela and George such a review but I just hope it would lead to a vast improvement that's badly needed because at this point we have no intentions of...

The entire visit was so overwhelmingly phenomenal that I don’t even know where to begin, but I suppose from when we walked into a beautiful and intimate courtyard where we were greeted and made to feel at home right away is a good place to start. The restaurant is just around the corner from the hustle and bustle of 5th Avenue with a wonderfully quiet and private feel while elegant and beautifully appointed.

My family shared four appetizers - the burrata salad was somehow decadent in its simplicity. The scallops were so delicious and creamy they were almost sinful. The mussels were beautifully prepared in a fantastic garlic wine sauce. My favorite was the exquisite foie gras served with a phenomenal glaze and green jam - better than any I tasted in Paris.

All four entrees were amazing, but the signature butter tuna soy steak I ordered was out of this world. I have never had such a perfectly cooked or prepared tuna steak, which was simply seared and served over fantastic mashed potatoes.

For dessert, we were treated to a gratis chocolate mousse cake paired with vanilla ice cream, complete with a candle for my mother’s birthday. One of the best chocolate desserts I have ever tasted!

Everything was so incredible, including the amazing staff - who are the same day in and day out, that I booked another dinner while in the cab on the way home. The restaurant was booked full on OpenTable, but I called and they were happy to squeeze us in again before having to travel home to New York.

If you come to Playa del Carmen and you enjoy good food and service, you absolutely must dine here. I have never had each dish be so perfectly prepared and can’t...

Walked to the restaurant to find a fair number of empty tables outside without any indication of being reserved and a table of 4 and another of 2 inside reserved.

Upon being greeted, we were told without a reservation, there would be no accommodating a table of four yet people behind us were immediately ushered in to a table without a reserved sign. Annoyed, we turned to walk away while the gentleman tried to explain they had broken reserved signs. First - I've owned a number of places that seated a far greater number of patrons and I would NEVER think to have a reserved table without any signage. Handwritten is the very worst you could do when you've already identified others as reserved. Tacky. Poor taste. Poor management. Second - clearly he knew that how he handled us was COMPLETELY inappropriate (as he chided us for not referring to his webpage rather than sites like Google - that's right - now insult the customer) and tried to make amends by following us to the street to offer other suggestions and explain his behavior. I certainly would not use any restaurant he would refer me to after that because he would get credit for our business to the next location. Third - found the perfect little Italian restaurant less than a block away who were authentic, attentive and more than happy to accommodate us and our rather large bill. Thank you for blowing it so terribly so I can now tell everyone about our wonderful evening after we left your location.

signed well traveled world travelers (Asia, Europe, Middle East, South Pacific, Central America, South...