K'ooben Laab — Restaurant in San Miguel de Cozumel

Let me start by saying: we’ve eaten at K’ooben Laab before, and had a 5 star experience: service, food, and atmosphere. Unfortunately our latest experience with the service, just tonight, was both terrible and disappointing.

I’ll start by saying food and atmosphere were both lovely, just as we remembered. And, because I speak Spanish and my partner speaks English, this can’t be attributed to a language barrier. Unfortunately, we were waited on by a server, the cheque said Tanya, who couldn’t have been more bothered to serve us, nor unfamiliar with what was on the menu. We started the meal off by ordering wine, 2 x starters, and 2 x mains. We asked for specifics on the different pastas (as the menu had a handful of different pasta types and sauces), which our server couldn’t be bothered to talk us through. 20 minutes into our meal the starters arrived, but no wine. When our server dropped off the cheese plate, we asked what the different cheeses were (there were 6-7), to which she replied she didn’t know, but could try guessing if we really wanted to know; then proceeded to guess incorrectly for most of the cheeses I could recognize. 10 minutes after reminding her that our wine was missing, it finally arrived. When she dropped our main dishes off we didn’t have silverware and asked for some. She said she’d bring some then proceeded to spend the next 10 minutes scrolling on her phone/chatting before we got tired of waiting and stopped another server, who was kind and happy to bring us silverware. Our server stopped by to clear starter plates (which were still on the table when our mains were dropped off) and I asked for another glass of wine. That glass never arrived so I walked back to the kitchen area 10 minutes later and asked the other servers for a glass of wine, which they were quick & happy to serve. Please note, we were the only table our server was attending to while we were in the restaurant for dinner. Our server later asked if we wanted to-go boxes and our check to which I responded that I’d like to see a dessert menu. She served us our dessert, and 25 minutes later when she still hadn’t returned to our table we asked another server for our cheque, which they quickly sent to our table with our original server. By the end of our meal our server was quite unpleasant and made for uncomfortable end to the night.

Tonight was massive bummer as this restaurant has been one of our favorites on our visits...

When it comes to good food I am not easy to please. As a cook and former kitchen chef, one of the main reasons I've been traveling the world for the last 20 years is my need to discover great food prepared by great cooks who not only care about the food they are preparing, but also the people they are preparing it for. K'ooben Laab not only did not disappoint in this matter, but exceeded expectations on all levels.

We walked into this little gem not knowing what to expect without a reservation. Yet, they took us in happily while they proceeded to get busy with their other booked customers. Having only one gentleman work the entire room (though it is a small dining room), I was extremely impressed watching not only how he managed to care for the multiple tables, but how well he treated each and every person in the dining room explaining any dish or drink in question.

The food. Let's get to the food. On an island like Cozumel Mexico, there are plenty of what can be referred to as “the good, the bad, and the ugly" restaurants which are usually catering to the typical tourist and cruise ship passenger. This was not one of those places. This was in the category of "great" restaurants that care about great food.

We ordered a large fresh salad to share. It was colorful with a perfect combination of local fresh vegetables - and cut to blend perfectly together with a well balanced light balsamic vinaigrette. I would return simply for this salad.

Then we ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara. As with all good Spaghetti Carbonaras, it’s about the freshness of pasta, the delicate balance of cream, bacon, parmesan cheese, and herbs and God forbid it's not floating in an overwhelming amount of sauce. This Carbonara was perfect. All elements equal in the correct proportions. Even the perfectly cooked (possibly Sous Vide) egg finish on top was a welcomed surprise and blended into the dish making it deeply rich, but not overwhelming.

The best way of describing K’ooben Laab is they are a place that cares. During a time when restaurants are working desperately to come back from the covid struggle, it is exciting to see some places taking the personal approach and working their best to make an eating experienced the best it can be. I hope to be back very soon in an attempt to try everything...

Warning! I wish I could give zero stars! Poor service, poor management. Food arrived at the table tepid at best. Had a reservation (@6pm) and were seated with others that did not have reservations. Their food arrived before ours. Ours took a long time (more than usual for pacing) and when it did arrive it was cold. It was like it sat for a long time while they served the guests w/o reservations. How frustrating?! One could microwave some entrees and recover, but carbonara needs the noodles hot to finish the egg. First they tried to say that we didn’t know what we were talking about - our “presentation” of the carbonara is different! A cold entree is a cold entree and a sign of poor time management. Then, they tried to make it right by offering another entree, but at 7:30 it was a little too little a little too late. What time would that entree show up? 8 pm?! Finally, they said our meal would be free! I did not take them up on any account. What price for your integrity?

I think the fundamental problem is one of two fold: either we got caught in the handoff from one manager (woman) to the other (man); or the dining area is bigger than the kitchen can support and they (couple running the place) are unwilling to turn people w/o reservations away. Idk. I only know that there is a problem that you, dear reader, need to know about. We will never go there again and actively try and get the word out that there is a problem. We had a poor time - a ruined evening that we were looking forward to:( What is that worth? You can avoid our fate by learning from our experience. Happy dining.

P.S. Antonia you were not there. You left and our service declined significantly. I stand by my review.

You gave our reservation away. Our food arrive cold. Shame on you. Personal responsibility plz. ...