Salma — Restaurant in Quintana Roo

What a gem. This place really has it all and was the best meal we had on the island (we had to return a second time before we left). Atmosphere is mysterious and makes you feel like you're in pirate's lair, but not kitschy. From the moment we walked in, the staff made us feel at home. Our 2 year old daughter can barely sit still through dinner and she was completly fixated on her food. The staff happily entertained her at the end so we could enjoy dessert. Music was perfect (live DJ) and not too clubby. Cocktails are by far the best on the island and the menu has everything you'd expect. Food is innovative, yet simple. All cooked on a wood fire so you can really enjoy the flavor. We had the ribeye, lamb chops, beef chicaron, corn (with crickets, which our daughter ate), roasted vegetables, and the short rib tlacoyo is crack. We kept seeing these giant meat and seafood boards, whole grilled fish, etc., coming out of the open kitchen for larger groups and will definitely be doing that next time. We also heard that after 11pm, it turns into a really fun dance party for the late...

Salma just entered our top 5 of best meals ever. This place almost feels like a hidden gem, because it's easy to miss. After a recommendation from a local we decided to check it out and it was nothing but spectacular. Let's start with the cocktails: very creative in both taste and presentation. The atmosphere is great; think sexy pirate, dark and mysterious. And then the food. Pretty much everything comes off their wood grill and tastes amazing. They started us off with some pita bread that clearly came off the grill with some amazing dips. Then we had the Picanha Crackling; small beef strips with guacamole and warm tortillas. As a main we shared the Meat Board that consisted of a feast of steak, pork, sausages and lamb chops on a bead of grilled onions, peppers, zucchini and garlic. The accompanying butter, tortillas and onion/jalapeno side sealed the deal. Unfortunately we didn't have room for dessert, which looked amazing as well. Salma made our trip to Holbox one to...

Salma is so close to being great but they miss the mark. All their dishes lack salt, fat, acid and heat. The tuna tartare was undressed, it only has sesame seeds. Once I added a squeeze of lime juice and salt it was much better. If there was a drizzling of some type of oil it would have been good. My sister wouldn’t even eat this fish. The tenderloin steak medium rare was extremely rare. No problem there except once again it had no seasoning. The potatoes on side also unseasoned. To finish we had fried bananas that were so under ripe they tasted like hard potatoes so we had to send them back. The waiter was great and so was the drinks. With their open grill they have the perfect setup to execute great things I just think they need a chef who can take them to the next level. It was missing finishing touches that a head chef of good quality could help them with. It’s all there and so so close someone just needs to help them hit...