Cenzontle

This place is a class act. Amazing bartenders, amazing service, amazing food, amazing drinks, amazing atmosphere. This place mirrors the magical and enchanting atmosphere of Tulum. The owner /​management has taken the extra effort to make sure every little detail is perfect. Love this place.

Wow, forget the famed Hartwood of the Tulum beach area, go to Cenzontle! Wonderful helpful staff, amazing and interesting food and beer (and if your lucky some magic!). It was NYE and we needed a place to celebrate. We are not ones to book ahead of time or spend $ 500 for a super fancy coursed our meal. We wanted a fund time, good food, then to feel free to roam the beach. During our early afternoon stroll along the main road the staff told us to return before 8 to try and get a seat. They were not accepting reservations, or something like that. Maybe they were, for larger parties. Anyways, we returned maybe around 7 and were seated right away. The restaurant was already almost full and a line at the bar was forming. Our waiter was super super nice and friendly. He was very informative and took the time to answer all of our questions on the menu that night. The food is very innovative and experimental. It might sound odd, but trust them there is probably a reason they paired hibiscus flower with onion and ginger in bread. We dined al fresco at night, so things were a bit darker. I still enjoyed the warm lighting, trellises and eclectic décor.
To eat, you are started with homemade bread and butter. Oh the butter, it was a rosemary, herb light butter. It was soo delicious. (we are from Chicago and bread and butter are several of the well known restaurant’s strong points and Cenzontel’s butter rivaled those of our city!). Needless to say, we felt right at home. My fiancé and I were going to head back to our small hotel to enjoy a family dinner, so we only ordered a main between the two of us. Our main dish option turned out not to be my cup-​of-​tea, though it was very good and my fiancé still raves about it and says it was his best meal of the trip and one of the best pieces of fish he has had (he is a fish connoisseur, not a meat eater). I am pretty sure the menu has already changed, at least the online menu has. It is possible they will have the same selection when you arrive. We had a piece of bass similar to the one currently listed on their menu (local lagoon bass fillet) that was soaked in coconut water and wrapped in a seaweed, with a perfume of something and sprouts. Personally, for me the sprouts were way too much and overpowering. I also did not like the crispy tortilla strips they threw on. The fish inside the seaweed was white, juicy and tasting. I wish we had ordered more so I could have fallen in love with something. I still loved seeing my fiancé nom nom nom on a dish.
Of course NYE, we ordered or first dessert of the night. That night, we wend with the dark chocolate lava cake and ice cream. It was delicious. If we return to this part of Tulum, we will return to dine again!

My husband and I dined for dinner one evening based on some of the reviews; however, I was sorely disappointed with their portion sizing and «meh» service. We arrived at the restaurant upon opening (6:30pm on Jan.1), and we were the first customers, so I had at least expected attentive service.
Shortly after we ordered our first round of drinks and food orders, it was difficult to get our server’s attention. The drinks were tasty but weak. My husband had to go back to the room because we had forgotten something, and I requested a second drink as he left. He returned about 20 minutes later, and my second drink still had not come out. Once he sat down, my second drink arrived along with our food. He ordered the braised pork, and I had the rabbit stew. His portion seemed reasonable for the price; however, I had a lot of soup in my bowl and perhaps one or two meager strips of rabbit at the bottom.
Now, if you are going to advertise rabbit soup, that’s fine. But don’t put a ridiculous price tag on a bowl of rabbit stew if it is mostly chili-​flavored soup with meager portions of rabbit. I am not one to exaggerate in reviews because I know how critical they are to a business, but to say the least, I was really upset about what was advertised versus what I received. Ridiculously enough, I was given a few corn tortillas to «wrap» my rabbit meat with, but that was a bust as I ended up scalding my palms and famished by the end of the evening.
There also seemed to be a lot of miscommunication between our server and the kitchen because we had to ask 2 – 3 times for extra tortillas. At that time, the restaurant had just started getting busy, but if you’re going to own an establishment, you need to properly train your staff to handle rush hour… in Tulum… yes, Tulum.
I was so annoyed with the evening that had there been a McDonald’s next door, I would have gotten up and grabbed a few big macs for sustenance. To say the least, when we return to Tulum, we will not be dining at Cenzontle again.

Cenzontle is a very cool place. Set in a little garden with candles and twinkling lights, you could come here for a romantic evening or just to enjoy a relaxing night with some friends. There are charming design elements like antique lamps and vintage mismatched furniture. They make delicious cocktails, I would call them craft i guess, but don’t worry there are no snooty moustached and suspendered mixologists behind the bar. They just definitely use very fresh, local, natural ingredients. The food itself is eclectic with a cool spin on some mexican dishes, but with more gourmet technique and some interesting ingredients that you won’t find at the average taco place. We had the duck carnitas tacos, goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers, and veg empanadas and they were all fantastic. Lots of great vegetarian options overall. The owner Pete is super nice and dj’s from his laptop. Last night he was in an early 90s mood which was cool with us! The service was also excellent all around from the hostess to the waiter. I highly recommend this place and almost didn’t want to write a review because I want it to stay my own little secret, but the team here is doing an awesome job so they deserve the recognition!

Mediocre place amidst great restaurants– would not recommend even though this place opens pretty late for local standard.
Best thing on the menu — tortilla soup with bacon wrapped shrimp. Just enough of spicy flavor.
Catch of the day grilled with salsa — the fish was way too salty but salsa was well made on the side.
Grilled vegetables– decent but the zucchini is a bit bland.
Mushroom cocktail — bland despite waiter’s high recommendation. Interesting addition of sesame seed but nothing to rave about.
Go to casa banana next door — much better food and ambience.

Food as good as any fine dining stateside. And a beautiful candlelit space with each table feeling intimate as your own dining room. Loved the pork ribs perhaps best of everything we tried but all were fantastic. The only miss is the cocktails which were creative but lacking in depth and a little watery. The restaurant, like so many in Tulum beach, is cash only and you should bring plenty as the menu isn’t cheap. And don’t count on neighboring ATMs as the beach ATMs are quite fickle!

Went here on our last night in Tulum, menu was a bit more varied than some of the traditional Mexican places we’d eaten last week. I chose to order 2 appetizers instead of an entrée, the piquillo peppers with goat cheese and duck tacos. Both were well prepared and presented and filled me up as much as an entrée. My wife had the daily catch, as usual snapper on the Mayan Riviera, also well prepared and presented.
Our daughter was thrilled with her pork ribs over sweet potato, both items are among her favorites. Our boys each were pleased with their choices as well, both entrees and the craft brews recommended by staff.
Only let down was my wife’s mojito, if you want a regular strength cocktail in Mexico I think you have to order a double!

I just got to my hotel from celebrating my 31^st birthday here. The meal was my favorite so far on this trip. We had the piquillo peppers with goat cheese and the mushrooms as appetizers. I ordered the pork ribs over sweet potato purée and apricot compote. If you love sweet and salty, get the pork ribs. Uh-​mazing! For dessert we had the fried shaved carrot glazed with dulce de leche over panna cotta gelato. I am going to dream of this meal once I am back home. The place also has great music and ambiance — think candlelit dinner in the jungle. They even offer free bug spray at the entrance, which was convenient since I forgot to spray some on before leaving the hotel. Great, friendly staff.

Best meal we had in tulum. The Garbo is a super refreshing drink for a hot night. The complimentary bread bag included fancy cheez-it’s and herbed butter. Would go back for the octopus time and time again if only we lived here…

This place was closed! Supposedly for the next month. Would have been nice for them. Not to accept and online reservation seeing as we had to take a cab there especially to go there. The restaurant 3 doors down la Velda was fantastic though!

Incredible evening of wonderful food and service!
A romantic, candlelit setting greeted us when we walked in. Make sure to ask for «smokers» (burning egg crates) as there are lots of mosquitos.
We decided to try the stuffed hibiscus empanadas w avocado mousse as its something I’ve never had before and it was incredible. The octopus/​pear appetizer was beautifully presented as it was delicious.
As suggested by our server, the local catch of the day exceeded my expectations as it bursted with flavor. My fiancé loved his choice of the rabbit stew that had the right amount of spice to it.
The warm brownie w banana gelato is a must! It’s up there with one of the best desserts I’ve had.
The staff are truly the sweetest people, the owner is a riot, and his cute dog sat next to me throughout the evening.
Don’t miss this place as it will help make your trip to Tulum a memorable one :)

The food here is impeccable. We had a large party and opted to dine family style.
This was the most well-​prepared fish that a person may ever have. The rabbit stew, amazing. Everything, really, was more than delicious.
And don’t get me started on that cocktail list. All of the cocktails are named after strong, role model women and balanced beautifully. I tend to (try to) stick to the same drink all night but boy am I glad I tried a good amount of these. Great work, bar team.
Coming from San Francisco, we like to think we know good food and cocktails. And I hate to say that we did not expect to find the same caliber down in the jungle on vacation, but I am so glad that we were wrong. Cenzontle is world class.
This place has me drooling from trying to recall the meal.
Thank you for your hospitality.

We have many refined Mexican options in Los Angeles, but not like this. Not at all like this.
We had the octopus pear appetizer, which was outstanding. The unique delicate flavors of each component were such a surprise to work so well together.
My girlfriend had the catch of the day with sage and caper butter with quinoa – this brought us back to California. Warm, citrusy, savory and light.
I had the special, which I hope makes it on the menu permanently: Rabbit Birria. This dish had such a personal satisfaction for me there aren’t words to describe: I am an 11^th generation Angeleno, so although primarily caucasian, my food culture is mostly Mexican. On the first spoonful I melted into sensory memories of my food experiences growing up. You know how smell carries those subconscious memory ties to other senses? This made me feel like I was eating the food of my great grandparents, it felt like I was there.
Really cant recommend this place more.
Dear chef, keep going.

Great food ! Interesting, local ingredients made everything unique and delicous. The wait staff was attentive even when we got bit by bugs — bring your bug spray — but they have some there too thank goodness. The octopus on pear appetizer is delicious and the hibiscus flower empanadas were tasty !

what a lovely surprise! we walked in, not knowing what to expect and everything was just fabulous — ambience, service and food! the beet juice gazpacho was totally refreshing and really loved the salad — perhaps I am just missing my greens, but the spinach was blanched to perfection! everyone else at the table enjoyed their orders, too! particularly loved the décor — very cool, yet comfortable… can I transport this home?

This lovely restaurant, appropriately named el ‘jardin secreto’, is one of Tulum’s best kept secrets. The owners Ivan and Linda are such amazing and accommodating people, the ambiance is unpretentious yet jungle chic, and the food is thoughtful and unexpected. We held an event for our wedding here based on a recommendation from our planner, and I must say-​Cenzontle exceeded expectations. The bartenders are some of the hardest working I have ever come across and the waitstaff did such a great job of making sure all of our guests were happy and well-​fed. All of the craft cocktails were delicious and eclectic and the food was equally outstanding. Some noteworthy menu items include the duck tacos, beet gazpacho, coconut shrimp and hibiscus empanadas.
There are many options on the beach road, but please pay Linda and Ivan a visit when you are in Tulum. Cenzontle will dazzle your tastebuds and celebrates the true essence of this this very special town!

Great, fresh, interesting food. Definitely the place to go when you inevitably can’t get a table at Hartwood. Add this place to the list of must try’s in Tulum.

Cenzontle may not be as popular as Hartwood, and that’s a good thing. It means you can walk in and be seated right away. The bar area is absolutely adorable with its sweet collection of vintage furnishings and friendly bar staff. The owners are always running around too, to make sure you have everything you need. The food is every bit as fresh and delicious as you would expect, and the sauces are innovative. If you want to try something different, the chapuline empanadas with a chile sauce are fabulous. Yes, that’s crickets, and they are delicious. The octopus is also very tasty, and their hamburger is one of my favorites. Desserts such as a brownie with gorgonzola cheese satisfy the sweet tooth with a twist. Cocktails are a bit on the weak side and not as creative as some other places, but a standard margarita is always perfect. Pro tip: bring your mosquito repellent or ask to borrow theirs, dining on the jungle side is always a little buggy. I’ve dined here many times, both solo and with a group, and I always leave with my tastebuds feeling really satisfied. There is also something about this spot that just makes you have a good time.

LOVED this place. A close second to Hartwood and certainly not to be missed. Loved the décor esp the bar. Fab food. So fresh and inventive. Super super super drinks. Can’t wait to revisit in March.

Holy crap yes yes yes… yes!
Amazing new classic yet refined Mexican style restaurant in Tulum (on the strip). We tried this place because Heartwood was packed and wouldn’t take us, and it was an incredibly good surprise.
I tried the octopus on pear appetizer (phenomenal), cheese stuffed peppers (very creative and yummy as hell) and seared tuna steak (delish), and all were fantastic and beautifully presented.
Also, the restaurant is located in a gorgeous and quaint outdoor garden, and the service is casual but absolutely on point. I’m definitely going back there before I leave Tulum this time and will be back next time I’m in this neck of the woods.