Villa del Palmar Dining Experiences
This article is Villa del Palmar Dining Experiences. It is an overview of my experience with the food and beverage options at the resort in Cancun.
The Villa del Palmar Dining Experiences is part of my Cancun Birthday Celebration Getaway.
I previously wrote about the meals at Sandos and Dreams in Mexico. I was excited to see how Villa del Palmar compared.
Dining Options
The Villa del Palmar Dining Experiences includes five restaurants as well as in room dining.
There are six bars at the hotel as well.
Four of the restaurants are specialty ones while one of them served as the buffet.
Caprichos offered buffet breakfast and dinner and was located near the beach.
Davino offered Mediterranean food and pastas and was also located near the private pool for owners.
Zama was an open air Mexican restaurant that offered lunch and dinner.
La Casona STK was a steak restaurant that was located near the beach and offered dinner.
Hiroshi offered Japanese dinner and sushi and was located near the lobby.
Breakfast options at Villa Del Palmar Cancun include in room dining as well as the buffet.
Lunch was available at one restaurant as well as via the snack bar near the pool, which offered service throughout the pool areas.
Dress Code
Most of the restaurants featured a dress code. The code required men to wear collared shirts and nice pants or some shorts and shoes.
Similar to other resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean, the dress code for women is more relaxed than men.
Caprichos
We dined at Caprichos most mornings for breakfast during our Villa Del Palmar Dining Experiences.
Caprichos was a large indoor restaurant with windows overlooking the ocean.
Buffet
The buffet was large and it was spread out throughout the room.
The food options included two action stations where you could get made to order omelets and tacos.
The stations featured multiple hot food options including Mexican and American favorites.
Chilled items included cheese and meat stations, fresh fruit, cereal and breakfast pastries.
In addition, more healthy options including a salad bar was available.
The buffet stations were all setup neatly and had plates available.
The food had signs available and all the food was attractive in appearance.
Breakfast Experience
Staff members restocked the buffet and kept the buffet maintained.
A coffee station was setup by the door where you could get your morning coffee.
We were escorted to a table where a server got us drinks and kept our table maintained throughout our meal.
My wife and I sampled food from each of the area and found the food to be excellent in taste and flavor.
The omelets were fresh and a variety of toppings were available.
The tacos were also fresh and they were prepared to order.
The staff members we interacted with were friendly and they made us feel welcome.
Our experience at the buffet was good overall.
Hiroshi
My wife and I dined at Hiroshi two nights at the hotel.
Hiroshi offered Japanese items including sushi.
The servers and assistants were very attentive and they kept our drinks filled and the table maintained.
We tried the dumplings for an appetizer.
The dumplings were served on a decorative dish and they were stuffed with pork and spices. The dumplings were tender and they had an excellent taste. They were served in a tangy sauce.
We tried two different sushi rolls.
Both rolls were prepared at the sushi counter in front of us and they were made fresh and were presented attractively. The sushi had an excellent taste and the vegetables, rice and fish were excellent.
One of the rolls was a spicy Mexican and it had a mild spice level. The other was light and it was tempura roll with fried shrimp. Both were excellent.
For the entrée we sampled the Teriyaki Beef and Spicy Scallops.
The beef was served hot and it was cooked medium. The steak was in a sweet sauce and it was served with rice and vegetables. The meat was tender and it had a good taste.
The Spicy Scallops were served in a decorative shell. Small scallops were served in a spicy sauce with onions. The scallops were fresh and it had an excellent taste.
The food at the Japanese restaurant was excellent.
Pre-Birthday Celebration
The servers even made a chocolate cake for my birthday and gave me a balloon hat and sang happy birthday to me.
What a nice surprise.
Davino
We dined one evening at Davino.
Davino is a Mediterranean restaurant that serves fresh seafood as well as pasta.
The restaurant features an open action kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare the food in front of you.
The server was attentive and he made some great recommendations from the menu.
The meal started with fresh bread that was prepared in a wood oven and served with baba ganoush, which is a tangy eggplant dip.
The bread was soft and slightly sweet. The baked bread was seasoned lightly and it had an excellent taste. The baba ganoush was chilled and it was smooth and went well with the bread.
Appetizer
We sampled the mussels for an appetizer followed by a beat salad.
The mussels were served in a small round bowl. They were cooked well and they were all opened. The seafood tasted fresh and they were cooked in a light wine based sauce. The mussels were served with pork and vegetables within the broth. The dish was excellent.
The beat salad was served on a large dish and it included grapefruit, pear shavings, goat cheese and walnuts. All the ingredients were fresh and they had an amazing taste. The salad was light and it was topped with a fresh dressing that enhanced the flavors of the dish.
Entree
For the entrée, I ordered blackened tuna.
The blackened tuna entrée was served on a large plate that was neatly decorated with sauce that enhanced the flavor of the fish. The tuna was cut into four small pieces and it was set around a bed of lettuce, microgreens, beans, cucumbers and chick peas. The vegetables were fresh and they were dressed in a lemon based dressing. The tuna was cooked medium and it was fresh. The portion size was generous.
Also the table preparation at Davino was simple yet elegant.
La Casona STK
My wife and I dined two times at the Steakhouse during our Villa del Palmar Dining Experiences.
The steakhouse is known as La Casona.
La Casona is a one large room with windows on one side as well as an open kitchen where the steaks are prepared.
The tables are setup neatly and are simple yet elegant.
During our visits, we were given a table near the window.
The servers were attentive and they were able to recommend items from the menu.
The restaurant offers traditional steakhouse favorites like lettuce wedge salad, filet with classic potato side items.
In addition, other specialty dishes are available including chicken, pork and even a luxury burger.
Ribeye Steak, Lobster and a few other luxury items were available for purchase and were not included with the all-inclusive option at the hotel.
Salads
We sampled a traditional wedge salad as well as a cobb salad.
The wedge salad was served chilled and it was a large wedge of lettuce with a creamy dressing and bacon. The salad was fresh and it had an excellent taste and flavor reminiscent of a traditional steakhouse.
The cobb salad was also fresh and it contained a mixture of lettuce, vegetables and tomatoes with cheese and tangy dressing. The salad was excellent.
Steak Entree
For the entrees, I ordered the filet and my wife ordered the New York Strip.
The steaks were prepared in the open kitchen on a grill. The chef finished the steaks with placing butter on top of the steaks and letting them rest for a minute before serving.
We both ordered our steaks as Medium Rare and they were served as requested.
The steaks were tender and they had an excellent taste and flavor. The New York Strip had marbling and it was also bold in flavor.
Steak House Side Dishes
We sampled some traditional steak house sides including baked potato, Au Gratin Potatoes and mushrooms.
All the side items were served hot and were excellent.
Birthday Dinner
On the last night of the trip it was my birthday and the servers surprised me with a birthday cheese cake.
The servers sang happy birthday to me in English and Spanish before serving the cake with a candle.
The cake was a cheesecake and it was fresh and it was decorated neatly.
The cake and singing were a nice way to end the evening for my birthday celebration.
Pool Service
During the daytime, the pool attendants offered food from the restaurant serving burgers, nachos, hot dogs and pizzas as well as a large cocktail menu.
We sampled a few of the dishes and enjoyed all of them during the stay.
The servers kept our drinks filled as well as provided bottled water and they were friendly and attentive throughout the stay.
We mainly stayed in one section and had the same server each day who remembered our drink orders as well as anticipated our needs by providing a bucket for water and beer.
We enjoyed the Cobb Salad and shrimp quesadilla the most.
The Cobb Salad was served on a bed of fresh lettuce with vegetables, bacon, cheese, avocado and a flavorful dressing. All the ingredients were fresh and it was a light and refreshing lunch.
The shrimp quesadilla was cut into four pieces. The tortillas were served hot and the cheese was melted well. A generous serving of small shrimp were provided. The shrimp were fresh and they had a great taste. The quesadilla was served with guacamole and fresh salsa. Both the guacamole and salsa tasted freshly made and they enhanced the flavor of the quesadilla.
In Room Dining
My wife and I had breakfast via in room dining one of the days during the stay.
The ordering process was easy and food was available 24 hours a day from a limited menu.
The breakfast items were available via several pre-set items as well as there were a few additional items you could order separately.
I ordered an omelet for my wife and pancakes for me.
I watched the chefs preparing pancakes in the buffet restaurant during the week, so I thought it would be fun to try some.
The agent on the phone said the food would be delivered in 35 minutes; however, it was actually delivered in about 10 or so minutes.
In Room Dining Experience
The server greeted me politely when arriving in the room and he used my name.
The server setup the table on the patio and prepared all the food and beverages for us to eat with removing the plastic wrap and setting it up for us. That was a nice touch that you often do not find with in room dining.
The table was setup well and the server even left a flower in a vase as part of the setup.
The omelet was large and it was served hot. It consisted of bacon, ham, vegetables and cheese. The eggs were fresh and the toppings were excellent. The cheese was melted well and it had a good flavor. The omelet was large in size and it was excellent overall. The omelet was served with potatoes that were also fresh and they were seasoned well.
The pancakes were also large and they were presented neatly on the plate with fruit and powdered sugar. They had a good taste and were served with whipped cream and berries. The dish had a good taste and flavor and was presented attractively.
Overall
We enjoyed the meals throughout our stay at Villa Del Palmar. We found the staff at all the restaurants to make excellent suggestions and they were friendly and attentive. The food was fresh and we got to try a lot of different dishes. It was nice that the server at Hiroshi provided the birthday cake and balloon hat as a pre-birthday treat prior to our formal birthday dinner at the steak house.
Our two favorite restaurants were Hiroshi and La Casona as the food was outstanding at each.
The one thing that we did not like about the stay, was the fact that even though we were on the all-inclusive package and had wristbands, we had to sign checks for all the items that we had including drinks and food. It took away from being able to enjoy the vacation by having to wait for the servers to provide the checks and it seems like a lot of extra work for the servers. It is not clear what the wrist bands were for if they did not signify we were on all-inclusive. Many other guests commented about this during the stay as well.
Despite this, the food and beverage experience at Villa del Palmar was excellent and we had some amazing meals.
Have you been to an all-inclusive hotel recently? How did your meal experience stack up?