Food at All-inclusives in Cozumel

[robint]

I will add my only experience now.

Scuba Club Cozumel is an all-inclusive
Breakfast is hot buffet (all types of prepared egg dishes, bacon, pancakes, etc) which changes daily, plus a cold buffet with fruit, cereal, yogurt, etc.
Lunch is a choice of a "special" which is a Mexican dish, or a lunch menu with sandwiches, burgers, and mexican dishes to choose from.
Dinner is a small menu posted in the breakfast room daily. It has 3 main courses for you to choose from. At dinner you also get an appetizer (2 choices) and a dessert (2 choices or ice cream). Drinks are extra but not expensive.

Food in our 3 trips has ranged from good to fabulous. I think the only mediocre meal we got was one day when we were gone all day and forgot to place our dinner order before we left. Other than that, I can say the food has always impressed me... very fancy sauces and desserts. Sometimes they are a bit too rich for me for a diver... I don't like burping garlic butter underwater on a night dive!

I have tons of photos of menus and food that you can find in my trip reports, see my website link below.

robin

 

[redacted]

I think the food at the Occidental Grand is quite good - especially their specialty restaurants. The Allegro is OK but clearly a step below. Avoid the swim up bar at the Allegro - it has a yellow hue.

 

[nodakdive]

I would add to TejasDiver's Casa del Mar info that AI is $39/day. I've been there a dozen times and never used it. I would also note that their breakfast buffet has plenty of food but is quite simple. The breakfast meat is always cut-up hot dogs, which I happen to love. They have an omelet station which is in service when they are serving breakfast via buffet, and they rotate waffles, pancakes and french toast on the buffet. They have orange juice and milk, fruit, yogurt, granola, some kind of potato dish or maybe two, and some kinds of mexican breakfast dishes which change. I think they always have fried plantains.

I would agree that the food there is just fine, as a matter of fact their Queso Fundido is one of the best I've had on the Island. For $39, I think it's probably a deal. The breakfast buffet is something like $9. (it may be 90 pesos, in which case it's more like $7.50US or something.) The rest of the items for all meals are reasonably priced and about the same as you'd find at restaurants in town. If you ate all 3 meals there and had two beers, I think it'd just about cover the cost. I don't know what the policy is on "seconds" or ordering multiple appetizers, for instance, but if they're included it's a real deal but even if not, by the 3rd beer, you're covered. If you drink more than 3 beers a day it's probably a no brainer if you eat all meals at the hotel. We don't. Can't remember the price of their "seafood plate", but it was plenty of food and very good. The staff in the restaurant is very friendly.

Though this is intended as a thumbs up for Casa del Mar AI, I have been told that their coffee is, or was, considered the worst on the island. I'm not an aficionado, but I think it's just fine too. I will admit with OXXO so close, I drink a cup of the Cafe Cannela (sp?) (cinnamon) in the morning. The restaurant doesn't care if you bring it in.

-Blair

-Blair

 

[Zman96]

so.... Palace was off a menu? 3 different restaurants?
Lunch offered? Menu or buffet?

Cozumel Palace had 3 menu restaurants for dinner plus the outdoor buffet. Breakfast was a buffet or room service. Lunch was either a limited menu at the pool or an indoor buffet.
The food, for an AI, was good. At the Italian Restaurant, which we ate at most night after trying the other 2 restaurants, I had the steak (multiple steaks on dive days) every night.

 

[diverokc]

Another tip for hotel cozumel is they usually have guacamole and ice cream but you have to ask for it because they usually don't have much.

 

[tejasdiver]

Yes, you could order as many dishes as you could eat at Casa Del Mar on the AI. Also desserts too!

 

[Skittl1321]

When people say 'good not great' - can you give some comparisons? I mean is good Golden Coral and great Applebees? Or is good Outback and great is Ruth Chris?

I'm pretty easy to please, if we're talking Applebees/Chili's level food, I'm great for the week (though in terms of dining, that's not great food to me).

My biggest worry about an AI is that the same thing is offered every day. I don't eat a lot of variety, so that worries me I will be eating one thing 7 times... Thus far, on cruises- which kind of feed to the lowest common denominator, I've generally been happy for 5 days, and then bored with food for the next 2 or 3. I'm assuming it will be the same at an AI. I hope it isn't worse...

 

[Zman96]

My opinion is the food at an AI gets monotonous after a few days even if it is good. The Palace, I would equate to an Outback or a little higher than Chilli's. Their service is on par though with any high end restaurant, they will do just about anything to satisfy you within reason. All in all good food, nothing to nuts over. Hotel Cozumel some food would make Golden Coral look good, except for the made to order eggs (very good). I just now prefer the multitude of dining options all over the island and wouldn't do an AI again. For some people the work great and there is nothing wrong with them, just don't expect Ruth' Chris.

 

[TouchO'Gray]

I can speak to Fiesta Americana, having stayed there 5 times since it became full AI several years back. The last time, however, we've stayed at condo (for Carnaval). And for the record, FA is literally a shell of its former self, undergoing renovations until Feb. 2014. Right now there is no roof and one can see clear through the hotel - front to back - from the water as you pass by. That said, I found the food there relatively good, particularly breakfasts and lunches, but became tiresome after a week. Twice we stayed for two weeks at a clip and we were eager for the cab rides into town for dinner with friends the second week. And by "relatively good," I'll relate to the comparison Skittl uses: Applebee's/Chili's, maybe a little better, at lunches. Moderately better for the dinners. Lunches were particularly good in my opinion, either for burgers grilled on the beach or traditional Mexican fare. As driftin' noted, one can order off-menu or from the buffet at lunch or dinner. During low season, we ate dinners off the menu at the "nicer" restaurant inside the hotel since they only used one kitchen. (In fact, last September we were there and only about 11 rooms were occupied!) Service at FA is the highlight, to me. We have been treated royally at all restaurants on site - without exception - and have become friends with several of the staff whom we call on when visiting now. I like staying in condos (cheaper, for the most part, and variety of restaurants to choose from). But it's REALLY hard to beat AI for not having to even think about cooking, or cleaning, or planning a meal. And that is part of what makes my vacations special! YMMV. It's all good, though!

All of this is moot, though - until the property reopens of course. tom

 

[greenliger]

Hmmm starting to wonder. Saw this DOC on people living underwater and they complained that they lost a sense of taste because of the compressed gas. I wonder if divers are suffering from this too. But I'm going to the OG in few weeks so I'll try to report back. I'm a bit of a foodie and have an interesting palette (i think).