Faro Blanco — Restaurant in Quintana Roo

Faro Blanco and Alfredo Di Roma Trattoria are the two high-end restaurants of the InterContinental Presidente Hotel. Both share the same kitchen, and while having separate wait-staff and menus, are - for all practical purposes - the same restaurant. Both are excellent; especially the staff. In my opinion, at any restaurant in the world, it’s always best to eat the type of food which is known to the chefs AND is caught or raised as close to the restaurant as practical (reminder: Cozumel is an Island off the Yucatan Peninsula). It’s pretty safe to say that most of the chefs in Cozumel have never been to Italy, Thailand, or China and the ingredients for Italian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine are not “native” (Pasta Trees and Roma Tomato Plants don’t do well here). So, my recommendation is to order the Mexican/Yucatan “themed” dishes.

The prices are expensive (as at any high-end resort on an island) but if you separate the food from the drinks, I think you’ll find the following to be true: 1) the food at the InterContinental restaurants is (say) 10-15% higher than a comparable downtown restaurant; 2) the drinks are 20-25% higher. Note: wine (my personal preference) is very expensive all over the island. If you’ve never had Mexican wine, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how good it is, and the prices are lower than comparable imported wine.

Recommendation for Faro Blanco and Alfredo Di Roma Trattoria, desert: Tres Leches Con Coco. You don’t like coconut? Me either; but this was perfectly balanced with a very light coconut sauce. Try this: order a shot of Xtabentún, ice on the side. Take 1/3rd ( + / - ) of the Xtabentún and pour it into the Leches cake dish (into the coconut sauce). Outstanding! Drink the remaining Xtabentún with a piece of ice...

I will start out by saying that the service was top notch! The food was okay. The smoked beef carpaccio was delicious! Not very much beef, mostly shredded sweet potato, but it was fantastic! The octopus I ordered came out overcooked, but it was remade for me and much better the second time although a little lackluster. The pad Thai was meh. Not much flavor or spice. The dessert we ordered had red berries, a "foam", and the hardest, most flavorless brownie bites I have ever tasted. The menu described them as "croutons", and that should have been a red flag. But that being said, it was a very special occasion, and the wait staff did an amazing job paying attention to...

Everything was absolutely delicious! The staff and service was friendly and attentive while the atmosphere was quiet and relaxed. We ended up dining in for dinner and had the short rib ravioli, mahi mahi, tres leches with coconut cream sauce, and coconut ice cream. The restaurant also provided a complimentary appetizer with a small glass of shrimp bisque with a cheese flaky pastry puff. It was all so tasty and I've never had a better tres leche anywhere. We would've ate here multiple nights if not for the short trip and definitely plan on coming back...