Restaurant recommendations for dinner?

[judydivescoz]

I always rent a car. Most times we stay in an Airbnb in the Corpus Christi part of town. I like how easy it makes everything I like do. It works well for us and where we like to stay. I like different beach clubs and dive so a car is very convenient. That said, one trip with a friend she insisted we stay at Hotel Mary Carmen intown. Great inexpensive local hotel. Having a car was problematic with parking. We did cabs for the week and it was OK. I missed the car!
Do not miss Cozumel Dreaming or Kooben Laab. I have never done the all you can eat option at Cozumel Dreaming, I just can’t eat enough to make it worthwhile. Kooben Laab has to be my new favorite place to eat. Great pasta. I order a loaf of their sourdough bread for the apartment. I plan breakfast around that bread.

 

[divezonescuba]

We are too worried about the accident and parking issues to rent a car. Since we generally stay closer in, that has not been an issue yet.

Now that scuba club Cozumel is no longer serving dinner, we are also looking for other places. They are the only AI that we ever stayed at where we considered the food edible for all three meals. When we used to stay at Hotel Cozumel, we would just go out to eat dinner. I always felt like I was wasting money doing that. I don’t know how it is now that they have been bought out.

I don’t know if deep exposure is still serving lunch onboard their boat given the CV thing. Their onboard lunches were better than most AIs that we have stayed at.

if you stay at Casa mexicana or one of the associated facilities, you get breakfast. With deep exposure, you got lunch. That would only leave dinner to shop around for.

 

[ggunn]

I always rent a car. Most times we stay in an Airbnb in the Corpus Christi part of town. I like how easy it makes everything I like do. It works well for us and where we like to stay. I like different beach clubs and dive so a car is very convenient. That said, one trip with a friend she insisted we stay at Hotel Mary Carmen intown. Great inexpensive local hotel. Having a car was problematic with parking. We did cabs for the week and it was OK. I missed the car!
Do not miss Cozumel Dreaming or Kooben Laab. I have never done the all you can eat option at Cozumel Dreaming, I just can’t eat enough to make it worthwhile. Kooben Laab has to be my new favorite place to eat. Great pasta. I order a loaf of their sourdough bread for the apartment. I plan breakfast around that bread.

Staying back away from Melgar in a bnb like that I might rent a car, but staying anywhere in or close to town along the waterfront I wouldn't bother. DSFDF.

 

[sefuchs]

We always rent a car because usually stay at El Cid or an AirBNB near the Money bar. I also like to cruise the 'hood' to check out all the different neighborhoods and roads in Cozumel. It's probably cheaper to do the taxi thing but it's not what we like. Would love to rent a true 4 wheel drive and head up to Punta Molas Lighthouse on the east side someday.

Attached is a list or restaurants & Mexican Food Glossary that I've pilfered over the years.

Has anyone done the "10 Experiences" Food Tour (https://www.10experiencestour.com/)? It looks like fun but seems awfully expensive for Cozumel so trying to decide if our group should do this in March.

 

[ReefHound]

I used to think El Moro was 'way out there' until I started walking there and back. It's a 30 minute walk from downtown (1.5 miles) about the same as from Blue Angel to downtown. If you keep that in perspective you will realize that San Miguel is really not that big of a town, traffic for the most part is pretty slow so it seems bigger. Cabs are also relatively cheap. Lots of great restaurants in the downtown central area and more above 30th

Go to google maps and turn to satellite and it's amazing how San Miguel is such a small but densely developed area amidst an island of green.

 

[ReefHound]

Kooben Laab is my current favourite for modestly priced, well-prepared food (mostly pasta, sometimes risotto as a special, the odd meat or seafood special, fantastic desserts). Well run kitchen by Italian chef. On 30th and between around 5 and 7 (or thereabouts). We go there all the time. I have had a couple of good sushi dinners (and I am really picky about sushi) at Cozumel Dreaming. Beautiful presentation. But it's very small...as is Kooben Laab (which last year added seats on their roof).

Nice tip. Will put that on the must-try list next visit. Hopefully in March/.

 

[ReefHound]

Wow. What great suggestions. Thank you to everyone for being so specific.

So getting a bit off topic but along with eating out and not staying at an AI:
1. Pesos - It looks like many people recommend not exchanging until you get to the island and going to one of the two main grocery stores? How much pesos do you recommend to have for the week of eating out? It would be two of us.
2. Rental car - do many of you rent a car while on island?

The ATMs typically limit to 5000 or 6000 pesos. For just dining that might be enough. If paying for diving too you'll likely need several visits.

We usually rent from ISIS for an east side day and various adventures but it is not necessary. Plenty of cheap taxis.

 

[ggunn]

We always rent a car because usually stay at El Cid or an AirBNB near the Money bar. I also like to cruise the 'hood' to check out all the different neighborhoods and roads in Cozumel. It's probably cheaper to do the taxi thing but it's not what we like. Would love to rent a true 4 wheel drive and head up to Punta Molas Lighthouse on the east side someday.

I have been told that true 4WD vehicles are not available for rent on Cozumel, that the "road" such as it is north of Mecalito's is impassible even with 4WD, and that taking a vehicle that way will void any insurance you have bought from the rental car company. If you try it anyway and get stuck you will likely be in for an expensive misadventure.

 

[gopbroek]

There are a couple tour companies that advertise road trips to Punta Molas. I took the road up past Mezcalito's in a private vehicle, to go shore diving, a few years back and the road was very bad, non 4WD truck and the road became impassable a 1/4 of the way up. One outfit offers 4WD and the other uses RZR 4 wheelers. A friend on the island wanted me to go back in December on the RZR 4 wheelers but his group was going the day after I had to go home otherwise I would have went.

 

[sefuchs]

I have been told that true 4WD vehicles are not available for rent on Cozumel, that the "road" such as it is north of Mecalito's is impassible even with 4WD, and that taking a vehicle that way will void any insurance you have bought from the rental car company. If you try it anyway and get stuck you will likely be in for an expensive misadventure.

Yes you will void insurance from most car rental companies. I believe most Cozumel rental policies state something like if you take the rental car (or scooter) on any dirt or unpaved road insurance is void and you are in violation of the rental contract. I was talking to a couple motocross racers at the MX track near the Punta Molas road and they said they take their bikes up the road and it can get tricky. I'd want a RZR or 2 4-wheelers so there is a second vehicle to case one gets stuck. I've heard that somebody offers day trips to Punta Moles but don't know who that is.

Occasionally I fly fish up north by Passion Island and several times it was up to me to get to the marina up there to meet the guide. The road is dirt and can get real bad at times but my only way there was with my rental, took the chance and survived. In November I drove up there to check out if the new road was completed, the new road ended near the water plant and the dirt road was in terrible shape so didn't take the risk in my rental.