It's quite rare for a hotel resort to have a Michelin restaurant on-site because, well, they don't really need to. Guests have so many other activities to pursue on the property that a Michelin-recognized restaurant seems a little unneeded to complete the experience. Regardless, Ha` at Hotel Xcaret Mexico earned a star in the 2024 guide.

I visited for dinner during my stay at the nearby Casa de la Playa, which, for its own cool $3000 CAD a night, allows an included experience at Ha' which normally goes for around $5000 MXN / $246 USD / $350 CAD per person.

Food and Drink:

The "Experience Menu" is the only option at Ha' and it comes with either alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. I opted for non-alcoholic during my visit:

Like any good tasting menu, we started with an amuse bouche not mentioned on the menu above. We had a passionfruit sorbet which was both refreshing and quite cleansing on the palate with its watermelon pearls.

After the amuse bouche came yet another unlisted item because why not. The main snack of the night was a nori-wrapped tuna tartare that was equal parts fun to hold and fun to behold because I loved the little rock arrangement on the plate. You can't stack plates like this so somebody took the time to arrange these little nori planters and rocks.

The "starter bread" of the meal, if you will, were these little conchas dotted with a dulce de leche squirt and a sweet, crunchy shell. These were fun to eat too and I'm glad they weren't any larger.

Finally, we moved on to the main items. First up was the wagyu A5. This came with a starter bread presented on a ring holder which was pretty neat. I enjoyed the avocado, home-made jocoque, quelites (wild greens) oil, and pepper leaf just to make the glorious marbled tartare stand out a little more with bitter and sharp overtones.

Next up was the escamoles tetela, also known as the caviar of Mexico. This was the most ornate arrangement of bugs I've ever eaten. In addition to the ant eggs, we had in the presentation a peppery root beer leaf filled with fava bean purée, avocado mousse, and pickled grapes. This was another dish presented on a bed of smooth rocks which I appreciated the details of.

Following this was the "Mayan Ceviche", in quotations. This ceviche packed a ton into a clamshell, including scallop, cucumber, jicama, "aguachile" annatto, passionfruit habanero-pepper gelee, and crispy plantain. This experience of slurping ceviche ruined any chance of me enjoying clams the old fashioned way ever again. Also, another dish adorned with rocks made my heart flutter. I really enjoyed the presentation with the eucalyptus-like leaves.

To round out the light starters, the totoaba was the finale. This featured a potato pave with roasted leek, pearl avocado relish, and a Michelin-level saffron-habanero pepper beurre blanc. You don't typically get to be a Michelin without being a little extra on your sauces and the beurre blanc here really delivered.

Moving onto the deeper, more savoury items, first up was the beignet. This beignet features truffle sauce, shiitake mushroom, smoke onion crisp, mint, and, I kid you not, freshly-shaved truffle. I've only ever had truffle oil which I know is not the real thing, but this truffle was truly a core memory for me. Each shaving tasted like a pringle with umami turned up to the max. I'm drooling now just typing about it. Oh yeah, there was an artful display of shiitake mushroom on this plate too.

Next up was the aged duck. This had a sharp, almost gamey finish to an otherwise very good duck steak. It looks tiny but honestly I was starting to feel full by this point. The pink beetroot mole and maple syrup puree also gave this duck a lot of life on the palate.

Our final meat of the meal was a filet mignon and this did not disappoint. It had a perfect medium-rare texture with a crispy exterior and russet mille feuille make the potato portion feel extra fancy.

For our first (yes, first) dessert, we had the From Heaven. Featuring osmotized cucumber, popcorn, and yucateca lime sorbet, this felt like I was eating a cloud of cotton candy but it was actually just cucumber. I've never had cucumber melt quite like this in my mouth, but at Ha', the impossible happened. Another core memory of the meal.

Our other dessert of the night was a classic amaretto. Featuring amaretto (almond) ice cream, biscuits, vanilla toffee, and coffee cubes, this was a more traditional dessert to round out the night. I loved the little coffee cubes giving some life to the experience and the sorbet was the perfect little ellipsis shape you see in all the fancy restaurants.

Yet, we weren't done with desserts. Just like the start of the meal featured some unlisted items, so did the end of the meal. To that end, we enjoyed some little tarts, eclairs, macarons, and choux pastries to completely put our satiation over the edge.

Drinks-wise, all were very good, but I found them to be quite sweet. I didn't take as many photos of these because I figure most people prefer alcoholic drinks to get the best bang for their buck but here were the first two.

Ambiance:

Ha' Restaurant is a fine dining restaurant through and through. If you aren't staying at the hotel resort, you really should be. Beyond this restaurant, there are so many cool things you can do with a stay at Hotel Xcaret Mexico, Arte, or Casa de la Playa, all of which have connections to this restaurant.

Inside this restaurant is a cool infinity waterfall, giant ceilings, and a neat little ramp leading from the front door to the dining room. It's kinda cool how if you get a seat by the window, you can watch other hotel guests outside congregate by the late night taco truck that rolls up the main walkway. The elegance inside is completely unmatched by anything else I experienced on the property, and most importantly, well-lit!

Service:

If you aren't staying at Casa de la Playa, you'll have to pay for this meal. If you are staying at Casa de la Playa, the staff will know when you show them your fancier wristband, and the meal will be included. You should definitely tip even though the meal is included with such a stay.

The whole experience at Ha' was amazing, start to finish. Once the food started rolling out about 15 minutes after we sat, it went at a relentless pace until the end. The staff have been trained well in the ways of multi-course dining and always made time to clean up our dinnerware, scrape off loose crumbs, and fold up guests' napkins if they disappeared off to the restroom. No one went as far as Pujol to directly escort me to the restroom but that was fine with me.

Final Thoughts:

One-liner: Hotel Xcaret's best restaurant that didn't need to push for a Michelin star, but got one anyway to make a great resort destination stand out even more
Highlight: Beignet (please, inject me with those shaved truffles)
Price per person: Free if you are staying at Casa de la Playa, otherwise, it's about $5000 MXN plus tip
Would I go back? Yes.