the food is so delicious and freshly made to order. staff recognized that we were first timers and came over to help us order. one of the best meals of my life. a hidden gem of a location, inside the market go up the stairs to the restaurant overlooking the beach. stunning views and incredible food, everything you could want! read more

You can't get any fresher seafood. Period. Caribbean style is how you want to get your shrimp & rice. So good!! I picked out a 3.5lb lobster & ate it all. Location can be a little scary at night, just go in the convenience store & up the stairs. read more

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Seriously if you are visiting Cancun you must come here. The service is great and the food was good. Most importantly everything is fresh and reasonably priced. I would have taken photos but I ate all my fish. Make sure you get the side vegetable lasagne that comes with it as an option. By the way, the place is above the liquor store. read more

Mar-Bella - Check out the prices, of course they changed based on market price. - Mexican Near Me - Cancún, ROO

The best seafood restaurant in Cancún! It's hidden on a little market, so it's gotta get you confused. They don't have a Menu, so let them decide for you, you will never regret. The octopus it's the most delicious that you can order. The seafood is 100% fresh. read more

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Great food! Fish ceviche and margaritas were excellent. Whole fried fish and lagostinos were good, but we wouldn't return just for those.

The best Mexican seafood restaurant in Cancun. In addition, the service is very welcoming and efficient. The prices are very decently. This is a must when in Cancun. They have fresh fish so you can order their suggestions. Also, the place is right on the beach. It is heavenly!! read more

Wow. ¡Que Rico! I am one happy gringo in Cancun after that meal. Some Mexican friends took us for dinner at this out of the way "hole in the wall dive" of a place. They did the ordering for the table and I think we had everything! It started great and got better and better with every course. Lots of tequilas later, what I remember was all super fresh ceviche type foods with all types of seafood. Also fresh pacific tuna, lobster, shrimp, langostines, king crab and local fish. The atmosphere is rustic but super friendly built right into a fresh seafood market. It was kinda crowded on a Saturday night, but we had reservations and walked right in on time. I cannot recommend enough. It was quite a trip to get there from the "zona hoteleria " where we were staying but I didn't mind as I wasn't getting us home!! Take the trip if you like out of the way places among all the highly refined places you will find in Cancun. read more

Our service was just unreal. We were greeted with smiles, and seated promptly. Our group of 6 said this was the best service we received our entire trip. (We went 2-4-18). The food is just out of this world. I literally hate tuna with all my heart, and my friend got a tuna steak...well it smelled SO good...so I tried it...seriously my mouth is watering thinking about how good it was!! Our table also got snapper, shrimp and crab. (all so delicious!) They also brought us out cheesecake at the end for one of the couples anniversary. Such a nice gesture!! The atmosphere was so stunning, I can't even describe it. Our favorite part was the CLEAN restrooms. The cleanest on Isla I swear! We do wish it came with a few more sides, but no biggie. The no menu thing was a bit confusing. I think its hard because we were hesitant about not knowing what we would for sure be charged since some places on the island screw people over. The bill came and everything was correct and honest! read more

Best kept secret ever, tasty and good food in the pear to isla Mujeres Cancun, they have lobster prices are great

If you want the absolute best service, with a Perfect view and the freshest seafood alive (pun intended) than go here. Up a spiral staircase in a random convenience store, you are all one sudden looking at live lobster, crawfish, oysters and clams. But the waiter will explain everything later. You pick your seafood of choice, and they cook it to order in manner that best suits the entree. There are no menus, they don't need them. I had the ahi tuna, my wife had raw oysters ans ceviche and it was all fantastic. I also ordered their specialty drink and I definitely needed a second. I grew up in Seattle which is surrounded by good seafood, but if you put this place there it would be #1 by a mile. Well a kilometer, we are in Mexico after all. read more

Great food, rediculous high prices. Just finished a meal for 2 with one modest bottle of wine, one appetizer and one entree to share, total = $145 before tip. Don't get me wrong, the seafood was excellent, but if you're looking for value, look elsewhere. Would have paid much less for similar quality in the states. I strongly recommend asking how much your meal will cost before agreeing for them to prepare it and asking lots of questions about the food available. After looking around at other tables it seems we were only presented with limited options when ordering, perhaps the costliest ones. There is no menu and no prices posted so it's their choice how much you pay. Left feeling only sort of full and fully taken advantage of. read more

While entering the restaurant through an "OXXO"-type store, the second floor view was indescribably picturesque. The seared tuna with mushrooms and 10-12 count breaded shrimp platter with tamarind sauce was delicious. It has replaced our usual haunt of Restaurante Kukulcan. read more

Great spot! If you have a chance you need to go here. Lobster and lobster was super good. Michis were fire. Away from hotel zone, way better than gringo style all inclusive read more

So good, so fun. It doesn't look like much at first because you have to first walk through a general store to these narrow spiral stairs near the back. Then that dumps you out into the actual restaurant. The ordering experience felt a little weird because there was no physical menu. There was a chalkboard where the listed the options and the prices. That being said, either the owner (or the manager) and our waiter (Hector!) helped us figure out what we wanted. You basically tell them what you want, the amount, and they can cook it for you however you like. Everything's customizable to your tastes. It's really quite cool. I wanted the sea bass but was told that they didn't have any, but the red snapper was the fish option of the day. I'm not a huge red snapper person, but Hector promised he would cook it so well that I would like it-and you know what, he wasn't wrong. It was good. Really good. It also came with a side of mashed plantains. They also give you chips and differences salsas/sauces while you're waiting. My table was feeling hungry, so we finished like four or five bowls of chips and had to get our sauces refilled a lot...that part was a little embarrassing. We laughed every time they had to come over and refill our chip and sauce bowls. Service was great, and it was nice that Hector spoke English-though to be fair to the restaurant, they actually assigned Hector to us for that purpose. We had another waiter at first, but my Spanish is nowhere near good enough to navigate ordering and asking for recommendations at a restaurant (yet). And Hector's English was also like...10000x better than my Spanish. Thank god really. I love seafood, but good, fresh seafood restaurants are decidedly not a steal in NYC. Mar Bella met all my expectations and more-well-priced, delicious, and great service. read more

This place is hidden upstairs above a convenience store. It has a beautiful view. It closes early, 7:00 pm. There is no menu. You just pick you seafood and tell them how you like it cooked. They do not have any entrees without seafood. You can pick the exact fish, crab legs, shellfish or they can pick for you. Everything is charged by weight. They have great drinks. We ordered the red snapper, cooked traditional Mexican fried whole. My husband ordered shrimp, battered and deep fried. Everything tasted delicious. Service was great. read more

Beautiful view, you pick your fish and they make it for you anyway you like. Oysters too! Very hard to find it's up a little iron spiral staircase inside of a little convenience store. read more

Amazing, fresh seafood restaurant. Totally affordable & really helpful staff, especially as I know zero Spanish. They have no menus & let you pick what kind of seafood you'd like straight from the market & let you pick how you'd like it prepared (garlicky? Grilled? Spicy? In a taco? Etc). Hard to see from the street, you have to go into the convenience store & up a spiral staircase to get to the ocean front patio seating. Such a great hidden gem. read more

Fantastic! No menu; order fresh seafood with the assistance of your server. Great view, great price, wonderful food

Food was delicious and the servers were amazing. I will definitely recommend this place and the price is affordable.

Amazing place if youbwant to wait for more than 1hr for regular food and aweful service ;)

Great great hidden gem far removed from the hotel zone. We knew we were in for something special by the fact we were the only tourists in the place. The seafood was amazing - shrimp scallops crab octopus tuna ... each one better than the next. Also incredible was the ceviche - scallops and shrimp. Service was excellent. As soon as it became obvious we knew little Spanish, an English speaking waiter stepped in. He couldn't have done better by us .... patiently described how the menu worked, made sure we'd been served what we had ordered ....it was all around attentive. The view is also pretty hard to top. You sit up high on the deck above the fishing boats and the gorgeous blue water. Finding it is another story but part of the charm. Here's the tip: it is located in a non-descript building between the captain Hook tourist boat and the public beach called Playa Nino. Very easy to miss --- so keep your eyes open. You enter through a small convenience shop of same name via a skinny spiral stair case to the second floor. We waited for at least 30 minutes --- but don't let that dissuade you. Everyone waited that long .... and happily too. It's the price of popularity. read more

What can I say other than this is a tourist trap. If you walk a few steps further you can have your toes in the sand with the same exact food for a fraction of the price. They will sell you a dream if you let them. I was so excited to eat here with my husband and thought I truly found a gem. Not the case, the service was terrible they rushed us to order food saying it was a process to fillet the fish we ordered. It really is a shame, I had been telling him this had the best selection in the area. Not true at all! After eating our overly priced meal I walked around the corner to the little tents on the sand to find you can have the same quality meal for close to nothing. What a scam!!! So disappointed. Shame on Mar Bella! I would never recommend this place the hospitality was not up to par. They sell you on the view and that's only if you can manage to get one at the balcony. Never ever will I go back to this mediocre restaurant. $71 USD for a lobster with some basic rice and undercooked beans Really!!! Oh and I forgot to mention they forgot to bring the tortillas and I had to ask multiple times for them to bring me another salsa. Waste your money if you like but this is not worth it! read more

Wonderful experience! Fresh seafood, caught the same day!! Stone crab, coconut shrimp & crab legs were amazing! Great service, sit back and enjoy the view!! read more

Fantastic seafood, amazing view, great service, and friendly staff. I lived this place.

We heard about this place from the concierge at the hotel we were staying at in Cancun (Villa Del Palmar) and so glad we listened to her. We ended up coming here twice, and as many have mentioned - you'd never even really notice it was even there from the street. You go through a little convenience store up a staircase, and into a fish & seafood market before heading out to the patio for your meal. The food was fantastic, and the staff, especially Hector, were super friendly and helpful. Living in Denver, we don't have a lot of great fresh seafood options, so took advantage of this while on vacation. We had a full lobster and giant shrimp one night, and then fish and scallops the next time we came a few days later. They prepared each item into 2 different recommended ways (half of a grilled lobster, and the other half in tacos for example) and we weren't disappointed with any of the recommendations. Much to my wife's dismay, I am not as adventurous when it comes to seafood (or pretty much any food for that matter) - so we didn't get to try a lot of the items it looked like the locals were eating (octopus, clams, oysters, etc) however she said she thought they looked delicious. Anyways, it was a great value for the money, and I'd almost make a special trip up to the north part of Cancun to eat here even if staying in the hotel zone. I would guess this is probably a 15-20 minute drive from there, but couldn't say for sure. One last thing, when we were there (early May 2017) I believe only a couple of the waiters spoke English, so if you don't speak espanol, I'd recommend asking for Hector if he is there. The patrons are definitely more locals than tourists, but that's also probably how you know its good! read more

food was so so good!!! the shrimp was amazing and the view was great! the only reason i'm giving this place a 4 is because the service wasn't that great and the waiters kept forgetting to bring things read more

Delicious lobster (my wife didn't like it quite as much), beautiful location, excellent service. Ceviche very fresh but too sour, probably too much lime juice read more

What a gem! Best mixed ceviche ever. The king crab is also incredible. Definitely go for lunch :)

By far the BEST place to eat in Cancun !!! Everything was excellent. Lobster fed four of us!! So worth it. Desserts are fantastic too!!

Wonderful view, nice and professional service. Ordered grouper, coconut shrimp and shrimp tacos. Each were delicious. Easy bus trip from Villa Palmar (9 pesos each way) and much, much better than on site restaurants. read more

Meal was fanstasically fresh. Our only critic is that they give you so many options that it's hard to know what to order. We ended up ordering too much food but it was amazing. read more