Lovely little cafe directly adjacent to the Rendevous bar off of the main lobby area. It's up on…read morethe main level above the buffet. It's really cool that it is open 24 hours a day. You can get your desert or caffeine fix any time that you want. The desserts are good. The people are nice. They have good coffee. It's all free!! What more could you ever ask for?!?!?! World peace I guess, but that would be super boring I am afraid. I like ice cream with my really strong espresso shots. Yes I do. '26 - 62

Piaf is one of eight restaurants at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, a luxury all-inclusive resort in…read morePlaya del Carmen. One of the big reasons my wife chose Grand Velas was its stellar food options. The resort has four 2024 AAA Four Diamond restaurants (Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, Lucca) and one 2024 Michelin Star and AAA Five Diamond restaurant (Cocina de Autor). Generally, the food, drink, and service were outstanding. Piaf was one of my favorite restaurants of the group. Below is how I rank Grand Velas Riviera Maya's restaurants. Book reservations as early as you can for Cocina de Autor, Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, and Lucca (the nicer sit-down restaurants). Tier One 1. Cocina de Autor - fine dining, tasting menu Tier Two 2. Frida - Mexican 3. Bistro - casual, poolside sit-down 4. Piaf - French 5. Sen Lin - Asian Tier Three 6. Lucca - Italian 7. Azul - casual, poolside buffet Piaf is located in the Grand Class section of the resort, which is mostly reserved for adults only. More specifically, Piaf is located next to Sky Bar and Cocina de Autor. These are among the higher-end establishments at Grand Velas. In this area, the dress code is more formal (e.g., no shorts or sandals allowed) and the ambiance is more sophisticated, at what's already a classy resort. My wife and I had a great time here, not only at Piaf, but at Sky Bar and Cocina de Autor as well. We got drinks and hung out at Sky Bar before dinner at Piaf. Sky Bar is worth a visit. Before or after dinner at Piaf or Cocina de Autor is a good opportunity. It's a wonderful, swanky bar with superb cocktails and service. Piaf is what I consider a modern upscale French restaurant. It's "white-tablecloth" dining, but the decor is contemporary and the service is more casual. It certainly doesn't look nor feel like a traditional, stuffy French restaurant, though they do try to "transport" you to "the Parisian luxury of the 1940s." I enjoyed the live music, which was provided by a talented violist (or violinist, couldn't tell which). The red and black interior with distinct, ornate chandeliers is beautiful. If the weather is nice, the dining room opens to the outside with an elevated view of the ocean. Below is a list of what we had. Even though this is an all-inclusive resort, the menu still has prices for those who have to pay separately. I've included those prices, in Mexican pesos, for informational purposes. Complimentary Amuse-Bouche Complimentary Bread Service * Three types of breads, rolls, and pastries, two types of butter (regular and tarragon) and herb salt Appetizers * Lentil salad in two textures, Scandinavian-style salmon, candied carrot puree with yuzu, tangerine mousseline, ikura, and mint oil ($420) * Crispy oysters with mayonnaise foam ($650) * Foie gras terrine served with apple puree, gingerbread ice cream, and toasted brioche ($550) * Traditional snails with tartiflette, Morbier cheese, and watercress puree ($450) Fish and Seafood * Scallops with black lentils, served with lime tea sauce and crispy apple ($600) Meat and Poultry * Ribeye Angus with green pepper sauce, pasta and truffle risotto, roasted cauliflower, and herbs salad ($900) Desserts * Dulce de leche and banana fondant ($350) * Financier with yuzu mousseline sauce ($300) * Dark chocolate souffle served with passionfruit sauce ($300) In general, we really liked the food. Presentation-wise, everything looked terrific. My wife and I each only had one dish that we weren't big fans of. For her, it was the snails. For me, it was the foie gras. I thought the snails were delicious and finished every last one of them. The watercress puree paired well and was unique. I normally like foie gras and we order it a lot if it's on the menu. However, this particular terrine had, in my opinion, an unpleasant funky flavor/odor that I could never get comfortable with. My wife liked it, though. Everything else was good to excellent. I have to point out the blue cheese pastry bread. It was surprisingly fantastic and I don't even like blue cheese. It was like a blue cheese-stuffed croissant. We don't remember what the amuse-bouche was. I think it was some sort of fish cake. It was yummy. We had red and white wines with our meal. I suggest going with the Mexican wines at Grand Velas. They were the best we had. The service we experienced at Piaf was worse compared to the otherwise exceptional service we experienced during our stay at Grand Velas. I think there were two reasons for this: (1) There was a misunderstanding internally within Grand Velas staff about our reservation time. When we arrived on time, Piaf staff didn't have a reservation for us and therefore, had to accommodate us as walk-ins. (2) During our visit, the servers appeared to be short-staffed. They were definitely spread thin, rushing between tables, and not really able to spend the right amount of time with each party. As a result, the service was more robotic and less personable. I get it. It happens.

This place was mostly good. The only bad thing was the fact that our concierge booked us this…read morerestaurant and it is 12+ and I have a 10 year old. We were not told this which was very frustrating so do not believe your concierge, most have no clue about the hotel. However, after waiting for 30 minutes the server allowed us to be sat as a one time exception. The food was great. I loved the ribeye, fish with potato flakes, and soufflé with passion fruit. They can simplify the food if you have a picky teen, but my kids loved it. It's a very nice restaurant with a violin playing, but it was dark. I recommend this place but make sure your kids are 12+.

This is a buffet restaurant that is open from early morning until late night. It offers…read moreinternational cuisine but at a high quality. Azul means blue in Spanish so the cups and flowers are blue. We came on 2026-06-27 for breakfast at 09:10. The restaurant was about 50% full. It is located inside Grand Velas Riviera Maya resort, next to the main pool. If you are a guest there, there is no charge. If you are not a guest, there is a charge. Note: All prices in this review are in Mexican Peos. The breakfast buffet costs $1,044/p = C$85 = US$60. A mimosa costs $180/small glass = C$14.50 = US$10. They slice prosciutto on the spot. They even have nine different high-end cheeses. There are fruits I have never seen at a buffet like fresh Sweet Granadilla (Orange Passionfruit) and fresh Fig. There are chefs preparing hot meals and carving roast beef, making omelettes/scrambled eggs, etc. There are your typical Mexican and American breakfast items. All the food and drinks are presented well in the buffet area. They are constantly filling near-empty plate. The service is good; they serve you drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) but the food is self-serve. They clear away used plates quickly. There is always a staff member at the two exits who open the door for you. There is a huge indoor dining area and adequate outdoor seating. There are hat/handbag holders. There is free WiFi from the resort. The restaurant is wheelchair accessible (there are ramps indoors!). There are separate male/female washrooms in the resort pool areas. There is free parking in the resort's parking lots. There are high chairs for little children. Review 2026-113

L'Alsace is the fanciest of the restaurants we tried at Valentin Imperial Riviera Maya. The menu is…read moreFrench and the dining room is grand, with a large staircase and upper balcony area. They offer a dining experience called La Petite Alsace, which is a five course private chef's tasting for an additional charge. When we were there in May 2026, it was only $59 per person, which was incredible for the quality of food and service. A similar dinner in my city would be $150-$200 per person. Reservations are required for this experience - I made them via email prior to our trip. Nate and I were seated right at our reserved time in a small room just for us. We had our own server, and we were offered wine choices by the sommelier Matin. We splurged on a bottle of wine to accompany our dinner. The courses were perfectly timed and everything was explained. The food was quite good and the presentation was beautiful. My favorites were the foie gras, fried scallops, the veggies on the sea bass dish, and the steak. I would highly recommend this experience to any foodie! They also have a vegetarian menu for this special dinner. The rest of our group had dinner in the main dining room and reported that it was delicious as well.

This was my favorite dining experience at Valentin. The setup inside is really nice and feels like…read moreyou are eating at a nice restaurant in Paris. For my meal I started off with the onion soup. This is absolute must try. It was probably my favorite soup I have ever had. The flavors were outstanding. It comes with a breading top that falls into the soup and absorbs all the flavors. It was perfect. I'd also recommend holding onto the soup if you have any left for your main meal. I went with a filet mignon. It was cooked perfectly and was topped with a really good sauce. I dipped a couple of bites in the onion soup and that was the way to go. Perfect combo.

Family had a chance to dine at Sen Lin at the Grand Velas on July 19th for dinner. I did not take…read morepictures but will do my best to share insights from our experience. The atmosphere is very chill and the place huge. It's located in the Zen building of the resort on the main floor. Service to quite to receive us and made us all feel very welcomed. We started with Salapao Dim Sum. Best we have tasted by far. We also had Tempura Vegetables and Tom Yum Goong soup. Both were solid. For dinner, my wife had the Siam Pad Thai. Nothing special but tasty. My daughter selected the Beef Teriyaki and some Udon noodles. She said it was the best she'd ever eaten. But the of the meal was the Gyuniku Bata (Ribeye Steak). Oh my goodness. It was amazing. The miso butter it came with was heavenly.

Sen Lin is one of eight restaurants at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, a luxury all-inclusive resort in…read morePlaya del Carmen. My wife found and booked the resort through Costco Travel. One of the big reasons she chose Grand Velas over nearby resorts was Grand Velas' stellar food options. Grand Velas Riviera Maya has four 2024 AAA Four Diamond restaurants (Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, Lucca) and one 2024 Michelin Star and AAA Five Diamond restaurant (Cocina de Autor). We tried seven of the eight restaurants and, for the most part, the food, drink, and service were outstanding. Sen Lin is the Asian restaurant of the group and it pleasantly surprised us. Below is how I rank Grand Velas Riviera Maya's restaurants based on our experiences. We visited Chaka, but after browsing the buffet, decided to return to Bistro for a sit-down meal instead. I highly recommend you book reservations as early as you can for Cocina de Autor, Frida, Piaf, Sen Lin, and Lucca (the nicer sit-down restaurants). Tier One 1. Cocina de Autor - fine dining, tasting menu Tier Two 2. Frida - Mexican 3. Bistro - casual, poolside sit-down 4. Piaf - French 5. Sen Lin - Asian Tier Three 6. Lucca - Italian 7. Azul - casual, poolside buffet Sen Lin is located in the Zen Grand section of the resort, in the jungle. My wife and I were a bit skeptical of an Asian restaurant at a resort in Mexico and we were wrong. The food and drink were delicious. While the food wasn't super "authentic," it was certainly tasty, well made, and beautifully presented. That was generally the case with all of the restaurants we visited at Grand Velas. We had a lychee martini and white wine to drink and below is a list of the dishes we ordered. While everything was included for us, I've listed the menu prices (in Mexican pesos) for informational purposes. Entries (appetizers) * Sashimi Sen Lin ($640) - thinly-sliced tuna, catch of the day, and salmon with Japanese spices and soy sauce * Niku Tataki ($420) - finely-sliced beef with white truffle essence, sweet Japanese sauce, and pea puree Main Courses * Ped Yang ($580) - Sen Lin-style lacquered duck, crepes with sesame essence and plum sauce of the house Desserts * Sago ($220) - tapioca pearls with sweet coconut milk, creamy sweet potato, and cantaloupe with pandan custard sauce * Sakura ($150) - coffee jelly with Baileys foam, cherry and vanilla ice cream The lychee martini was solid. It was sweet, refreshing, and garnished with a lychee. The Sashimi Sen Lin consisted of the most basic types of sashimi: tuna, salmon, and I believe yellowtail. The quality of the fish was good and fresh. This dish basically boiled down to three slices each of tuna, salmon, and yellowtail. However, what set it apart was its elaborate presentation and garnishes. The sushi was served on top of a bamboo rolling mat, decorated with a banana leaf, atop a bowl of ice and what looked like what I can only describe as gold crushed rice. Along with sesame seed soy sauce, garnishes included a charred lemon wedge, two kinds of seaweed (dark green and light green), pickled ginger, cucumber slices with both tobiko and ikura (two kinds of fish eggs), shredded vegetables (radish and carrot), and wasabi. So yeah, the presentation was top notch. The Niku Tataki was another beautifully-presented and colorful dish with carefully-placed small flowers, finely-sliced radish, tight cucumber curls, and tiny dollops of white truffle "essence." The most impressive garnish was a single pea pod that had been carefully split open and displayed above the pea puree. As for the beef tataki itself, it tasted great. It was tender, savory, and cooked just right (cooked on outside, rare on inside). The Ped Yang, which is a Thai dish, was good/OK. It wasn't served the traditional Thai way, sliced in a curry sauce, but instead was a whole piece of bone-in duck covered in a rich, sweet sauce. There was so much sauce that the side of "plum sauce of the house" wasn't needed. I liked the warm, soft, delicate crepes, which reminded me more of Chinese Peking duck than Thai Ped Yang. This was a hybrid with what I thought were some odd accompaniments -- pickled ginger, cherry tomato, and a decorative assortment of vegetables like carrot, cucumber, and parsley. Both of the desserts were equally terrific. I think I preferred the Sago slightly more than the Sakura, but you can't go wrong with either. In the Sago, the layers of tapioca, sweet potato, and pandan custard were certainly interesting and up my alley since I enjoy creamy desserts. Both desserts came with fresh fruit on top (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, lychee). The restaurant has an elegant, glamorous vibe to it. The front bar area is gorgeous and quite spacious. Sen Lin is worth visiting for the bar alone. The dining room is large and opulent. Together with the huge, breezy hallways of Zen Grand, Sen Lin feels like dining in Vegas. During our visit, there was live music too (violinist). Service was excellent.

World class buffet in a beautiful setting! I loved it!…read more I came here four times over the course of our stay. I wish I could have mad it more. I kept finding great things to stick in my mouth! The selection of foods is unmatched. You can have pancakes, bacon, eggs, chilaquiles, crepes, yogurts, waffles, braised beef, pastries, soups, fresh fruit, chia seeds, milks, gluten free stuff, made it order omelettes, that bad ass ham from Spain, coffees, lattes, espresso shots, cinnamon rolls, bagels, English muffins, donuts, and even locs and caper bagels. I am sure I am only saying half of what they have. Servers were almost overbearing, but most likely were the best buffet servers ever. They just kept coming and trying to give you things to put in your mouth. I wish I had this within walking distance every day for the rest of my life. I am pretty sure I could die here and it would be fine. For only $750 a day, I suppose I could make it happen. I'll get to work on that. '26 - 59

This was quite the experience- we were guests at the Conrad and were celebrating a friend's 40th…read morebday so there were about 20 of us in the group. We had a family style prefix tasting menu and it was very versatile featuring pork, beef, seafood and vegan options. I will say that the flavors were different and though I enjoyed the experience, in the end a few of the guest were still pretty hungry. I will also say, not everyone appreciated the creativity and unique nature of the dishes but I enjoyed it. The desserts were pretty tasty to me but we also had a cake for the bday so it was a lot. The service was top notch and the presentation was beautiful. I think the food is an acquired taste.

Love this place. I visited the Grand Velas a couple of years ago when I was a guest and part of…read morethe all-inclusiveness of this resort is having complimentary access to their fine dining restaurants. Sis tried the Mexican restaurant next door to Cocina and she says its fabulous, but I made the mistake of going to Cocina my first night, fell in love with them, and stayed at that restaurant for all of my dinners during that visit. Who wouldn't love eating molecular gastronomy without having to pay $600+ for every meal? On this visit they had a new chef in charge of the kitchen, Nahum Velasco who got this star a Michelin Star. The food and service are as impeccable as ever. Since we were staying off site, we had to make a reservation to dine at Cocina and to be allowed past the moat, through the little door in the big white wall and because of that, we had a little card with my sister's name printed and waiting on our table welcoming us. Mariel and Juan traded off on serving us our beverages and courses and they were so gentle and wonderful, making us feel truly welcome. We started with some mocktails and Sis got this amazing passion fruit with coconut whip that was so good she ordered two. Everything was delicious. I love when they use an ingredient that I loathe and make me like it. In this case it was the striped bass in celery soup which I thought yuck because I hate celery, but this was nice. Last time it was olive and cauliflower that they made me love, so I adore how this restaurant has a way of making me change my mind. My favorite bites were things you wouldn't expect, like the thinly shaved sourdough bread served as a chip or the cocoa chip in the veal or the honey chew in the last dessert. In fact, that honey chew was so buttery and delicious that it is my favorite bite in Cancun. I will go to this place over and over again because it's always an amazing when tasting something makes you emotional.

This was a great meal! Such a fantastic place in the world to be! Highly recommend…read more There is not much more that could be done to make it any greater. I suppose there are things. They cover every single base here. All of them. Over and over. The service is over the top, they make sure you have no need that they can fulfill immediately. Instantly they accommodate your every desire. The dining area is just off the bar/swimming pool/bar on the other side area. It's got great architecture and some sweet views inside. We ate like kings! This was one of the better lunches we had. After a long morning of drinking in the sun, you need a little recharge with more drinks and infamous gluttony. Eat. Eat. Eat. Yum. Chips. Dips. Chains. Whips. They have it all! Food was stellar! Just look at my pics! I love you Mexico tourist attraction resort junt that includes all food, booze, spa, and party times! This was a great place!!!!! You should go here! Go now. '26 - 54