El Tabano

This restaurant was recommended to me for my recent stay in Tulum, and I found it decently good but not spectacular. The restaurant’s signature dish, a pablano crêpe, was unavailable, which was very disappointing. The food was average. Good ambiance. Slow and inattentive service.

El Tabano is a cute little outdoor restaurant on the jungle side of beach road serving Mexican fusion items– it was close to where we were staying and so we came in for dinner on our first night. Service was absolutely terrible in that it took quite a while to get menus, silverware, drinks, food, complimentary bread and salsa were never received, and lastly, getting the waiter’s attention for the bill. That said, it wasn’t totally the fault of our waiter, but more the owners, as there was one person serving an almost full house.
The food… ceviche was terrible– I’ve had a lot of ceviche (in Mexico, Peru, and at home in San Francisco), and this was the first I’ve had where (poor quality) red wine completely drowned out the taste completely. Is ceviche even supposed to have wine in it? Also, it was a turn-​off to see the server pouring tortilla chips from a store bought bag to serve alongside the ceviche. Really? This is Mexico– why not get some homemade tortilla chips from anywhere in the pueblo?
That said, our other entrée, vegetarian tamales, were delicious and made up for the meal quite a bit. Highly recommended. There were other items we wanted to try but they’d sold out for the night. Go early in the evening for the full menu selection.
But really, for the prices they are charging at El Tabano (including 40 pesos for water and items that are twice the price because they’re on the beach side) service really should be up to par.