Restaurant Especias — Restaurant in San Miguel de Cozumel

I'm sorry, but we can't confirm the good reviews.

But first the things, which we liked: -We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere on the balcony -The staff reacted mostly welcoming and professional. -They served us an amuse-bouche first😊 -The salads were very tasty. Good quality mozarella and tuna!

But unfortunately the rest was lacking: -The main course (for us the most important course) was not really tasty. I mean it was not completly bad but definitely insufficient! -The Risotto was a joke. It was tasteless and they didn't even use Risotto rice. They used just regular rice. It was not creamy and cooked without wine. They didn't even add cheese. The Parmesan which they served seperatly (you have to order it) was also low quality. Call this dish Rice with Shrimps and Asparagus but not Risotto😆 -The Gnocchi were also a disappointment. Also tasteless, not airy and probably frozen before. Like the precooked frozen Gnocchi which you can find in Walmart. -We know the prices in general are a bit higher in Cozumel than on the mainland. But if you compare "New Especias" with some high-end italian restaurants in Cancún, it's absolutly overpriced for what you get!

Sorry again for this review, but it is like it is... the only question is, why do you have so good reviews? Maybe we just ordered the wrong meal. But we can't get rid of the impression that savings are being made because of Corona. If that is the reason, i give you the advise not to save money on the quality of the food! That would be the end of...

Great meal from start to finish. Amazing Italian restaurant in Cozumel. Started with some aperol spritz, best I've had outside of Italy. Perfect ratio of all ingredients. The bruschetta was excellent, very flavorful tomatoes. We brought mahi mahi and barracuda we caught on a fishing trip and they prepared it for us. Started with barracuda steaks which they served fried per our request. Chef did two different styles, both Italian and Mexican style. The mahi mahi we had as both a pasta and sauteed with a garlic sauce. It was served with vegetables on the side as well which were delicious. All of it was outstanding, a true authentic Italian restaurant in Mexico. We came 45 minutes before closing (sorry) and we couldn't have had better service or food. Also the best wine list I've seen on the island, a nice mix of European, American and local wine. Took a tiramisu home and it was exceptional, done in the true Italian style. Can't say enough good things about our visit, a must eat if you enjoy Italian. Can't wait to go back. Thank you to our server...

We ate here this evening and our experience was very disappointing. We arrived at about 7 and we’re thankful to be seated quickly. Our server was nice and got our drinks quickly. This is where the positives ended. We ordered appetizers which took about 45 minutes to come. Meanwhile, we watched the tables served around us. That aside, the caprese salad was fine but the calamari appetizer on polenta toast was bland, an unpleasant texture, and very fishy. I did not finish one piece. My husband used some bread to try to overcome the weird texture and ate some but didn’t finish it.

At around 8:20, as we were preparing to leave without our entrees, we were finally served our pasta. I had the tuna lime pasta. The tuna was over cooked and the sauce very limey but otherwise bland. My husband had the lion fish gnocchi which was too acidic and while the lion fish was cooked well, the rest of the fish was incredibly disappointing.

For a meal for two at over $100 U.S. I have never been more...