Food at All-inclusives in Cozumel

[fishi]

On our last trip although we stayed at a AI we made a point to eat at both El Moro and La Mission. At El Moro we had shrimp on a wire and chicken mole enchiladas. At La Mission we had the Mexican combination plate. Whoopty freaking doo!! The best meal we had was the lasagna at Roberto's right at Sabor. The dress code is a good thing, it keeps the Texans out.

 

[captnpat1982]

We stayed at El Coz with friends who insisted on AI and choose the hotel. Breakfast was nice, served buffet style with an omelet and egg station. The problem was the birds diving into the buffet table. They had an attendant covering up food and shoing the birds away. We missed the lunch buffet while we were out diving but were able to have hamburgers and ice cream. The ice cream was excellent! Dinner was also buffet and the had entertainment along with it. It included chicken in a sauce, fish in a sauce, beef in a sauce and vegetables. One night they had a fajita station. That was great. El Coz has an off the menu restaurant that requires reservations even when it is not even close to full. The restaurant also has a dress code. Unfortunately, we never got to have dinner in the restaurant. Wish I had pictures to post but we did not take any.

On our first trip to Cozumel, we were booked by our travel agent to the El Coz. We loved it. Friendly people, great service and a huge room.

Our last visit was December 2012.

We have been back to Cozumel 7 times in the last 5 years and have stayed at the El Coz each time. Now when we return they recognize us, call us by name and will greet us with big hugs.

We have always felt safe staying at El Coz and on the Island. Driving back a night, its fun to see the Policia with their road blocks that checking for drunk drivers.

Cozumel is responsible for my new Scuba addiction. Wish I started 30 years ago.

The dining at El Coz is not 5 star or even 4 star, but average. My wife loves the made-to-order omelets in the morning, and we both enjoy the fajitas at lunch. The inside dining is good, but while on vacation I don't want to wear long pants. We go into town for a couple of meals at lunch or supper.



The bars serve Dos XX and run of the mill liquor. I am partial to the Bacardi Anejo and Sprite. I have heard that the wine they serve is Yuk, but have never tried it.

The wait staff appreciates a tip, but I have never had any of them sit there and expect one.

We have never, ever been sick from any of our visits. Fresh Bottled is provided free of charge and is replenished in the room each day

I have to disagree somewhat with judydivescoz about the birds. El Coz has made a big effort to control the birds in the open restaurant area. Every opening has a curtain of nylon fishing line that prevents the birds from getting into the area. It is not 100% but a whole lot better than 5 years ago.

El Coz is way North, and far from Calita and Chucho Nunez my very special DM. We do not mind the drive as we rent a VW convertible from Isis.

As far as kids, we are looking forward to taking our Grandkids one year. They have a kids center, crafts, swimming, all the ice cream and cokes they want. They are completely supervised in a special area and they also have snorkeling tours for everyone.

I have and will continue to recommend this AI, El Cozumeleno to all my friends.

 

[Mossman]

Mossman, I totally understand..... but on vacation the last thing I am thinking about is getting dressed up for dinner. We have never stayed anywhere that it was required so we never ever take long pants or collared shirts for Ron, and I never take a dress. At SCC we have to tell them at breakfast what we want to eat for dinner, and that is about as far as we go. Even that seems like too much some days

Scuba Club is a dive resort. I've stayed at plenty of dive resorts (and liveaboards, which have exactly the same "dress code") and been perfectly happy dining in my next-day T-shirt and a pair of shorts that I'd rotate night to night. No underwear, in case anyone was wondering. Sandals at dive resorts, maybe even barefoot on a liveaboard. Can't get much more casual than that.

But Secrets had their fancy French restaurant and nicer clothes seemed to fit the decor. What bugged me a bit was that their indoor/outdoor "Windows" restaurant required long pants even for sitting outside. And sitting outside in the June heat, especially at an earlier sitting that I preferred since I had to get up early in the morning to dive, was a bit unbearable. Fortunately they always had chilled towelettes (i.e. washcloths) at the host station and I always grabbed one to keep at my table to periodically de-sweat. I could have sat inside there, but the view at night being right on the beach was worth being sweaty and miserable

Whenever I find my thing-a-ma-jig that can download the memory cards from my P&S camera, I will post pics. Maybe it's in my backpack?

Can't find the SD USB thing-a-ma-bob but it looks like my CF reader does SD too. Whoopie. Pics are comin'.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I usually make it a point to avoid AIs, as I am a devout foodie who really enjoys my meals and demands flavor and variety. My only experience at an AI was at Hotel Cozumel, when I was there for the 2012 Cozumel Invasion - the AI package was part of the deal. I thought the breakfast bar was acceptable, although the regular coffee that came with the AI package was tasteless swill; you could get espresso, which was really pretty good, for an extra $3 a cup. The fruit was good and fresh, and the omelet bar was good, although you often had to wait a while in line. Except for the cold cereal and yogurt, the remainder of the breakfast buffet was from mediocre to bad - cold scrambled eggs, crumbly lukewarm pancakes, tasteless breakfast meats. Except for the snacks available at the pool snack bar, I thought the lunch and dinner buffets were from mediocre to totally tasteless. The good news is that the AI package at Hotel Cozumel is cheap enough so that you can get your money's worth from breakfast and alcohol, and afford to eat out at dinner, which is what I ended up doing 5 nights out of the 7 I was there (it would have been 7 out of 7, but there were 2 Scuba Board Invasion Dinners that I attended). I will add that there were people at the invasion who thought the food was just fine. I just have rather high standards when it comes to dining out. I have often stayed at Casa Del Mar, and, while I've never done the whole AI package, every time I've stayed there breakfast was included with the room, and I thought the breakfast was just fine. They do have a buffet, but you can also order off the menu. It gets a little boring after a week, but there's no problem with the quality. Coffee is only average at best.

 

[RaginCajun]

I've always enjoyed the food at Blue Angel. If usually get a generous plate if fruit & yogurt for breakfast and my fav was the grilled grouper for lunch. They tended to vary things a bit too and I suspect that I had different cooks on both stays. BF and lunch included so it made sense. Dinner was interesting, more intimate, often w entertainment and sometimes they'd try new things.

Darn now I'm hungry ...

 

[Mossman]

Bordeaux at Secrets. Indoor restaurant, but they kept opening and closing the sliding glass door so often that it was practically as hot and humid inside as outside. I went there the first night because I figured I hadn't acclimated myself enough to the heat to sit outdoors and ended up sweating through the entire meal. Also, I figured I didn't need bug spray because I was sitting indoors, but the mosquitos flew in as easily as the cold air flew out.

The meal started off very nicely. A strong margarita on the rocks and a glass of white wine. Appetizer selections were: Escargot bourguignon with garlic butter, scallop gratin with gruyere cheese, pastry filled with clams and salmon in white butter sauce, or chicken mousse with pistachios and madeira. I tried the scallops:



For the next course they had two salads and two soups: Endive salad with pecan and roquefort cheese, green salad with goat cheese and dijon vinaigrette, onion soup gratin with emmenthal cheese, or cream soup of the day. I had the endive salad, though there wasn't much left by the time I remembered to take a photo. It had asparagus and cucumber in addition to the endive and greens, though I found the dressing to be too sweet.



Main course selections were: flaky pastry filled with salmon combined with mushroom and spinach duxelle served with hollandaise sauce, red snapper and shrimp casserole with mushrooms and a hint of anise, chicken breast spanish style filled with vegetables and cheese served with red pepper sauce, Grand Marnier and mandarin duck served with couscous and raisins, chateaubriand filled with mushroom duxelle served with port sauce, or entrecote of beef with a bearnaise sauce perfumed with herbs. I tried the chateaubriand and was sorely disappointed because the meat was practically inedible - it came practically raw inside though I had asked for medium rare, and it was all chewy gristle or fat.



I normally never complain at a restaurant, but as this was my first meal there after a long day of traveling (I had flown out of LAX that morning on a 5:15 a.m. flight) and I was tired and cranky, I told my waiter that it was terrible. He offered to bring me something else, but I declined, figuring I would just go back to my room and order room service while I was getting my camera and gear ready for the morning dives. But here are the dessert selections anyway: Montecarlo-style "le baba" with a touch of rum, cheesecake with fresh fruit of the season, mousse of two chocolates with a raspberry sauce, and creme brulee with red fruits.

Sorry for the blurry photos but I was shooting indoors without a flash. I don't like taking flash photos inside restaurants because it annoys me when other people are taking flash photos inside restaurants.

 

[cvchief]

Meanwhile common peep, not on the Mossman Plan ate:

 

[Mossman]

Windows was my favorite of the three restaurants. Indoor and outdoor options. Long pants required even for outdoors, but it was worth it.



Shrimp wontons to start:



Filet mignon with some sort of sauces, I forget now. Much better beef than the nasty stuff at Bordeaux.



I think this was cheesecake. All the desserts there had too much gelatin so they all basically tasted like jello, though they look pretty. I found this to be the case at the Cozumel Palace and the Occidental Grand as well. I believe all the all-inclusive dessert chefs must train at the same place.

 

[Mossman]

Tuna sashimi at Oceana, the one restaurant where you could wear shorts to dinner.



The menu:

 

[Mossman]

Lunch at Windows, my favorite restaurant/meal of the resort so I ended up eating there most afternoons.

Hands down, the single best plate I tried there, the crepe stuffed with shredded chicken and covered in a cheese sauce:



The tempura grouper appetizer was good, but it got a bit soggy the way they served it in the sauce.



Rib-eye tacos were amazing the first day so I ordered them again the next lunch I ate there and was disappointed by lots of gristly pieces. Besides the menu offerings, they set up a taco bar on the beach a few of the days.