Field report · Tulum, Mexico
Tulum, beyond the taco stand
Seven places worth the table, including one with no website that sits inside a yoga hotel.
Tulum, Mexico
Tulum has beaches and ruins and a reputation, and it also has a restaurant scene that has quietly got serious. These are the places worth planning a day around, across the whole range from a burger to a tasting plate.
Burgerito is the one to know if you want a good burger and nothing more complicated. Locally sourced, properly cooked. The fried chicken fries are the order, alongside the Smashburger BBQ bacon, and a Meloni cocktail of watermelon, vodka and lime to deal with the heat.
Canova is the fine dining end. Italian-influenced, with local seafood and produce, and a menu that moves with what is available. The burrata to start, then beef carpaccio with truffle, lobster linguini, or the beef filet with dijon and smoked mashed potato. It is a properly good restaurant that happens to be in Tulum rather than a Tulum restaurant.
Sonido del Mar is the one we would send you to and the one you will have most trouble finding. It sits on the street beside Canova, inside a yoga hotel, and there is almost nothing about it online. Fish balls, crisp outside and soft inside with a sharp sauce. Caprese skewers. Seafood gnocchi. A panna cotta to finish that is better than the room suggests it will be.
“Sonido del Mar has almost no presence online, sits inside a yoga hotel, and is the reservation we would fight for.”
From the journalThe rest of the list
La Braceria is the traditional one, specialising in grilled meat over open flame. Steak, and grilled octopus if you want something less predictable.
Nao does Mexican and Asian together, tuna tataki tacos and pork belly bao, in a room designed for an occasion.
Burritos Beer is exactly what it sounds like and is better for it. Wide choice of fillings including vegetarian, and a good tap list, which makes it the right call straight off the beach.
Potheads serves Mexican street food infused with THC. We are including it because it exists and because people ask, not as a recommendation. Cannabis is not legal in Mexico, and that is a decision to make with your eyes open and your travel insurance in mind.
How to book it
Canova and Nao want a reservation, particularly in high season. Sonido del Mar is small enough that turning up early is the reliable approach, since there is not much of an online presence to book through.
The others are walk-ins. If you are only there a few nights, we would spend one on Canova, one on Sonido del Mar, and let the rest happen.
Two nights of proper planning and the rest left loose is the right ratio here. Tulum rewards a reservation and punishes a schedule.
From the journal · The Travelling T · Written December 2022
