𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗗𝗔 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗱𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿 — Restaurant in Quintana Roo

Bad experience in Nereida for me, unfortunately.

We were told of a 30-40 min delay w the busy kitchen. The warning was good despite us waiting well over 40min for food.

With our excellent drinks came two tapa-style plates: refried beans (bland) and jicama+mandarine (strangely refreshing).

Our mains were a tiradito of tuna, the fish was overpowered with a soy-based marinade. I got the taco cochinita after reminding the waiter that I ordered it, it tasted very normal.

The big problem came with the Seafood Rice at 350 pesos. A bowl of warm and murky, but tasty, broth with mixed seafood. At the bottom about 3-4 tablespoons of bland rice(?). Not the jambalaya-style dish we expected.

In the soup were two clams and two mussels. Both clams' and one mussel's shell was heavily cracked (almost half missing) and the flesh exposed. I put them aside.

I told our waiter about my disappointment with the shellfish: obviously serving shellfish with cracked shells is a no-no. He told me he would ask the kitchen what happened.

About 10mins later another waiter brought our full bill of 1005 pesos (our most expensive dinner in Mexico). I asked him what the kitchen thought abt the shellfish, he went and asked and came back: "the shellfish sometimes comes with cracked shells because they can crack in transport". No reimbursement offered. Our original waiter effectively avoided the situation.

No restaurant, especially a seafood specialist, can sell shellfish with cracked shells. There is no way of knowing how long the shellfish has been dead and it can make you very sick. This is absolutely basic food hygiene and I really hope the kitchen knows this.

The only acceptable explanation is that "we check the shells and they are all intact before cooking so the any cracks must have come during cooking". But seriously? The chef admitting that the shellfish sometimes come with cracked shells, and they cook them anyway?

What a shame for our last dinner in Mexico. The location is very nice and they are obviously making an effort. But especially with the prices they charge and how poorly the staff handled the situation, i absolutely cannot...

It should be a must try for anyone on the island. Fair enough it does not look like a flash restaurant, but dont let this fool you. So many positives, the waiters are amazing, great languagr skills, knowledeable about the food and very welcoming. We had the craft beers to drink, it looks at first quite pricy until you realise you get amazing snacks to go with them. The beers are great, the first round came with chips, chilli sauce, black bean dip (so tasty) and a small salad jicama salad, sorry forgot about the prawn soup, which was again stunning. We then had the fish tacos and the prawn cocktail. Both were better than we have had anywhere else. The prawn cocktail was sooooo full of prawns, the dressing was far from the normal diluted ketchup, it was ace. The second set of beers came with squid rings, yum and sauted garlic mushrooms, a thing of beauty. It was great value and one of the best meals i have had in 2...

Great ambience and setting in a garden. Love the lights in the big trees and the neon hashtags on the fern walls. Comfortable music and really friendly staff. Since it was a bit off the main plaza, it was also not too crowded, which was great for us.

Restaurant concept follows the idea of a Mexican canteen - having free snacks with every drink order. We had 4 cocktails (Red Gin, Ocean Blue, Ancho Rose Mary, and Te con X). Best one was the Ancho Rose Mary - very well balanced. The snacks that came were also like little tapas - not just chips and peanuts.

A dinner menu is also available. I had the rice in seafood broth and my partner had the New York aguachiles and both were packed full of flavour. The rice in seafood broth had a generous amount of seafood but the steak in the New York aguachiles was a bit fatty. So I would recommend to stick with seafood if possible.

All in all, a...