Arca

Arca was a beautiful restaurant. We dined here in the end of February and enjoyed it. The lamb was a highlight dish. 3 instead of 4 stars because the prices were a bit steep for the food that we received. I also had to send my cocktail back because it unfortunately tasted like soap. May try again when we return to Tulum next year.

Excellent food. Gourmet cooking using fresh, local ingredients. Great salad, snapper and braised lamb. A real find.

What an amazing meal ! As we sat down in this wonderfully cute open air restaurant we immediate ordered from the extensive drink menu. My absolute favorite was el solar. What a great drink ! For appetizers we ordered the braised suckling pig (a big winner with crispy skin) and the raw chayote (nice refreshing salad). For main we choose the whole fish (hog fish that day) which came with wonderful crispy potatoes and a homestead salad (the fish was wonderfully marinated) braised lamp shank (so tender … So so tender) with the cauliflower purée which was delicious, and the grouper which was also fresh and delicious. For sides we ordered the squash and potato gratin (amazing), the zucchini (also good but it was served luke warm. Would have been better hot). The service was good and the ambience even better. Very romantic with candles and lights everywhere. Even the bathroom was cute with a beautiful outside hand washing station. Great Valentine’s Day dinner !

We just had a spectacular experience and meal at Arca. I had the whole sea bass, cooked perfectly and shared that with my wife who shared her suckling pig. Add on a great zucchini appetizer and cauliflower dish and it made for an incredible experience. Staff was helpful and friendly from the bartender who helped with some creative cocktails to our very attentive Argentine waiter. This is a relatively new, we’ll run restaurant we talk in Sacramento about our farm to fork movement which had been wonderful but here they are doing the same in difficult circumstances. We will be back in our next trip — with a group.

Had great cocktails at Arca, but I left my wallet on the bar, stupidly, for less than 5 minutes and when I got back it was gone. The bar was empty as it was early and no one new was in our seats. The bartender was dismissive about helping look for it and I hate to accuse without certainty but I’m pretty sure he took it – the blond bartender specifically. Unfortunate ending to a fun evening.

Gorgeous restaurant, gorgeous food, gorgeous (but perhaps a tiny bit inattentive) staff. The restaurant was without a doubt the most beautiful restaurant I’ve ever dined in — it is as if the furnishings from a great high end restaurant were plopped down right in the middle of the jungle — kitchen and all! Super romantic once the sun has set — glorious during the day. The music was excellent — love that it was just an iPod on shuffle — I need that playlist!
We enjoyed every last bite of food and drop of wine from this restaurant. We shared the Suckling Pig, Bone Marrow and the local salad to start. The suckling pig, soft boiled egg & lentil dish was fantastic — perfectly crispy skin and flavorful meat. The jam that came with the bone marrow was incredible, and I could eat that salad every day. For our mains, we shared the whole roasted fish with smoked potatoes and the lamb shank — the fish was perfectly roasted in the wood oven and was reminiscent of the seafood from Matosinhos, Portugal that we love so much. The lamb shank was NEXT LEVS DELICIOUS. I’ll be dreaming of that gorgeous tender meat and especially of the puréed cauliflower and sauce… tears of joy. The cauliflower and potato/​squash gratin sides were great and we loved the lemon soufflé. We also had great cocktails and really nice Mexican red. A meal at home in NY like the one we had here would set us back at least $ 300 for 5 people, but it came in under $ 150 — pricey for Mexico, but a stellar deal back home.
My only criticism was that the wait and bar staff were a touch inattentive. The kitchen staff was great, though — loved meeting Chef Fausto Garcia!

We had a pleasant night at Arca, in spite of the massive rainstorm that forced us underneath the canopy towards the end of our meal :) I ordered the grouper, and my date had the baby octopus, and we split the beet salad for an appetizer. We both really enjoyed the food and our waiter was kind and attentive.
I will say, Arca did not charm us anywhere near as much as the smaller, more casual (and approx. ¼ price) restaurants we visited. We felt that our experience was not necessarily «Tulum-​unique» and could have been recreated in any number of restaurants in Chicago, where we live. Also, the cocktails were nothing special, and the food (while delicious) didn’t have much staying power when compared to other local cuisine. Despite all that, Arca serves as an enjoyable, trendy, cocktail joint for some romantic jungle dining.

This place is incredible. Immediately the ambiance of this place blows you away– the candles and tiki torches make for an exceptional start to the jungle dining. We dined here with another couple and ordered everything but 4 things off the menu. The presentation and flavors were off the chart; a definite must if you are staying in Tulum!

I come to Tulum for 2 – 3 months every year so have done every viable food option many times over. So it is if course always exciting when there is a buzz around a new place. Even more exciting when the place actually ends up exceeding your expectations.
From the moment you walk in you feel welcome. The open layout, the perfect lightning, the very appropriate music, and of course the staff. A mixture of young cool people from all over the world headed up by three friends from San Francisco, none of them native to the city as far as i could tell… What seemed to be a couple running the front of house and the third partner managing the open kitchen visible to the whole restaurant.
I was having dinner with some close work relations of mine, so not knowing any shame i got to try most of the dishes on offer across the table.
I had the excellent lamb shank that was so tender i was able to shake all the meat off the bone. This will not be my last encounter with this dish… wow
For starters I had the bone marrow and it was excellent.
Not usually a big meat eater so was shocked how good i felt after such a big meat feast.
I managed to try both the suckling pig and the octopus and I will definitely give them a full run for their money at one of my future visits.
I don’t drink alcohol but the bar staff managed to create some incredible mocktails for me through the night, and it became a sport for them to find new and interesting combinations. My dinner team did force me to try a few sips of cocktails as the praises were endless… Especially the gin based piña colada caught my attention, and there were a few mescal based ones that were amazing.
Prices were surprisingly reasonable for such a quality meal. 4 people not holding back and staying under 200 usd is better than could be expected in my opinion.
We were the final seating so did not manage to squeeze in dessert but I am not worried about trying the entire menu and will come early next time as this spot will only get more and more popular
Makes me excited to bring good friends here in the months to come as we were all getting a little bit fed up with the overhyped and sometimes under-​delivering Hardwood just down the street…

Great food and very thoughtfully designed cocktails. My friend had the har mar superstar and I got the el solar. We were both really happy with our choices. I was hesitant to order a drink with hibiscus in it bc I was afraid it would be really tart but it was a very well balanced cocktail. I could have had another one but refrained :)
We shared the bone marrow to start, and the octopus dish with a side of the grilled zucchini. All were delicious, especially the octopus. It was so tender you could cut it with just your fork, and it was prepared in a rustic style with local white beans, kale, and a tasty light broth. My friend was pretty obsessed with the zucchini dish, and I thought it was a great item to order too– you won’t really see anything like it on menus elsewhere. Not to neglect the bone marrow, but it’s hard to go wrong with bone marrow, so that’s as much as I can think to contribute on that…
The ambiance is great, and the décor is beautiful. Good mellow music, candles, torches. They did have some little flies buzzing around though. Kind of annoying but I guess it wasn’t really something they could help. That’s nature for ya. We were offered a bottle of natural insect repellent though, which was a thoughtful touch, though to be honest, ineffective. Smelled nice though.
In spite of an overall wonderful meal with informative and nice service from the waiter, my friend complained that the staff seem really elitist. Not exactly sure if something got lost in translation but when we got there at 6 (when they open) and were the first people to show up, we were asked if we had a reservation, and the waiter (I guess filling in for the hostess?) seemed hesitant to let us just walk in even though the restaurant was empty. I explained that I wasn’t sure if our request for a reservation was accepted bc I had emailed about it and not gotten confirmation, and then the waiter checked, found the request, and then seated us. I wouldn’t have thought much of it if my grumpy friend hadn’t mentioned the perceived elitism, but it’s one of those things you can’t really un-​hear… So I guess this is more a 4.5 star review.

Food I give one star. Cocktails we would say 4 (Chechen was great while El Solar was meh…).
Go here for cocktails and a pretty ambiance. Very pretty at night with candles and the music selection is good as well. Be sure to slather on lots of mosquito repellant.
The octopus was bland and sat in a bath water warm broth with some white beans and four shreds of a kale leaf. I asked for extra jalapeño (the garnish) to add some flavor to the meal and could only stomach three bites. Bleh!
We literally went over to a nearby pizza place to get a pie afterwards because we were hungry. Pizza in Mexico…

Really really great. Everything from the service to the food to the cocktails to the décor was top class. The pretty unique environment of true jungle afforded by this area of tulum really blends well with their style and décor.
I had an amazing cocktail here and then followed it with something I had been really craving since I had begun looking at reviews and info about tulum. An astonishingly tender roasted octopus with just the perfect level of wood smoke from their wood burning oven and just a bit of crispiness to some bits while still meltingly soft throughout.
One other notable mention: they provide beautiful mood lighting with mostly tiki torches and a lot of candles. The torches likely help drive away mosquitoes a bit as well and every now and then one of the waiters will gently carry a pleasantly fragrant piney scent incense burner around the entire area to further ward off the mosquitoes with wafted smoke. Somehow it just adds to the experience. Mosquitoes can be a huge problem in this area of tulum so going the extra mile to really drive them away allowing one to eat in peace is incredible.

I know it’s terrible to review a place based on drinks and ambiance alone, but I’m doing it, ok? No, I haven’t eaten here, but I did have some kick-​ass Mezcal-​based cocktails and marveled at the truly AMAZING décor here. For those of you who don’t know, Tulum is basically a place where Brooklyn + Anthropologie mated and gave birth to an effortless, organic offspring whose style blows almost every other resort town I’ve been to (including Bali) out of the water. Arca embodies this underground-​organic-​chic style like no other establishment. We went at the end of May/​beginning of June. Remarkably uncrowded and pleasurable. Fresh juices, large ice cubes, loungey-​romantic music, muted tones, crisp graphic design, greenery and candles. LOVED it. If the stars behind NY Fashion Week popped out from behind the sleek bar, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Forget the hoopla about Hartwood. Check out Arca. Now.

Great ambiance and great food. The mani crème brule was out of this world! Quality of the food is top notice which is aligned with the vibe. Prices are as if your back in the States so you not getting much of a deal.

Comimos super bien, estamos hace tres dias y fue la mejor comida x lejos. Muy buena atencion. Lo unico, lleven repelente! Hay muchos insectos.

This was a less pretentious, sleeker version of Hartwood, and with equally creative, delicious food made with high quality über local ingredients. I appreciated the lower key, less frenzy for a table aspect to it but get there before that changes!

I liked the place a lot. Excellent seared fish and sides with great cocktail. Service was so good 2 people were presenting the dishes. Much much better that «hipster wannabe hardwood». Strongly recommended

This place was totally unexpected and soooo delicious. I would rate it as #1 over the ever-​popular Hartwood (also good) but I really enjoyed my dining experience at ARCA so much more. It’s a newer restaurant only being open for two months now (I visited in June) and the décor, the food, the ambiance, everything is great. Hopefully it’ll stay that way once it’ blows up!
The octopus dish was so tender and flavorful, the braised pig was super tender and went perfectly with the veggies and beans, the wood-​fired zucchini had the perfect amount of crunch still left to it, not soggy and mushy at all. The lamb was fall off the bone. A friend of mine had the quail salad that she really enjoyed but I didn’t taste I was way too stuffed.
The dessert was shared among a group of five of us and was gone in seconds. We should have ordered two, but who knew the citrus soufflé was going to be that delicious?!
We even got to meet the co-​owner, and chef, Maya and she was super sweet. As an aside she has worked at various kitchens, even one in SF (Gary Danko)– you can tell her culinary experience has definitely translated into the wonderful dishes they serve here. Well done ARCA, I’ll definitely be back!

This place is going to become huge very soon… They opened a couple of months ago, but look at all the reviews and you’ll understand why it’s already a must go…
Everything there is perfectly balanced. The décor, the music, the bar, the service, and of course, the food! Chef Maya is the daughter of 2 American hippies, born and raised around here, then lived 15 years in San Francisco and now back in Tulum. Her cuisine is so flavorful, it’s hard to describe. If you’ve ever been to San Francisco and were lucky enough to dine at State Bird Provision, you’ll recognize the same culinary influences…
Give it a try, you’ll be amazed…
PS: for some reason, Unilocal or Trip Advisor have the address wrong. It’s actually located right by the restaurant Hartwood. They didn’t have a sign when we went there, so it was a bit hard to spot. Make sure you don’t miss it!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this restaurant ! My friend and I were staying at the hotel across the street and stumbled upon the newest and best place for excellent cuisine and desserts ! Thank you to Chef Maya and her staff for making our meal amazing. Love the casual, yet chic interior and also the personal touch of receiving an email when the rain cancelled our first reservation. We will come back !

Where to start… Music, food or drinks all were perfection. If you can’t appreciate what a unique gem this place is its prob not meant for you. From the moment you hear the tunes the ambiance lures you in. The smell of great food and view of eclectic attractive people also make for an unforgettable evening. A tulum must!!! Can’t wait to go back