Arca Tulum, Mexico

In Mexico, open-fire cooking is a traditional culinary practice, encompassing techniques such as barbacoa, grilling, and cooking over a brasero (fire pit). If you want to try out this cooking style, book a table at Arca - a contemporary, palapa-style dining room built on sand and surrounded by palm trees and colourful plants.

Chef Jose Luis Hinostroza Buenrostro, hailing from Tijuana in Baja California, reinvents Mexican street food with local ingredients and modern techniques. He brings the flavours from his hometown's street food scene to the Caribbean jungle, crafting unique recipes with a refined Mexican soul.

Top of the to-eat list is roasted bone marrow with tamarind and pasilla glaze, or the crispy oxtail carnitas with chapulines (fried grasshoppers), served alongside seared prawns in chilli butter, plantain vinaigrette, green grosella (a native relative of gooseberries) and salsa. Finally, mamey brulee with caramel, pixtle ice cream and amaranth granola, is a worthy conclusion.


The cocktail offering works in symbiosis with the kitchen - shaking up bold drinks with all-natural ingredients and a whole lot of character, plus a wide range of Mexican spirits. And, yes, it all comes with a side of beach vibes.