For a minute, we thought we had walked into a restaurant in Havana. The Cuban atmosphere was wonderful, so were the cheese balls we ordered for starters. Whatever it was, La B Del M is certainly not a place for vegetarian food. My husband, after scouring the menu for nearly ten minutes, got the only edible vegetarian food on it, the green salad. Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado and vinegar: nothing great. My chicken and rice prefixed dish pretty good. The mango mojito was to die for, no wonder it got on the specials menu.
Our waiter was not all that eager to serve us and often disappeared and we had to wait for pretty long for him to reappear. We asked hit to click a picture of us and he did it from the angle of his convenience = bad lighting. We had to make him click again and it frustrated him. The reggae band was awesome though, made me want to dance!
The best part of the dinner was when I found out, from their place mat, that Gabo had visited the restaurant. Apart from that, good for a single visit.

This is up the quiet, residential area of 5th avenue and it was a fabulous find for us. We went for lunch and the mojitos were excellent and cheap at that time of day. I had fish tacos, two to a serve for 35 pesos and they were seriously delicious. Not oily at all and I will be going back for more. I also had shrimp ceviche and so did my husband, it was so fresh and also delicious. The waiters were really friendly and happy to chat to us and explained the lunch menu was a pacific Mexican style for the lunch items and more Cuban for dinner. We will be back, we loved it.

I must start by pointing out that this is the best Cuban food we have ever had, and we spent two weeks in Cuba recently. This restaurant had not only great food, but also great service, and entertainment. A band of Cuban musicians played hit covers of the Buena Vista Social Club and other timeless classics.

We started with mojitos which were fabulous and refreshing with lots of fresh mint. We were later given a complimentary tropical drink as well which was a much appreciated gesture.

We decided to skip the appetizers and went straight for the big entrees which are quite big. My wife had the spicy crab dish, which she said was the best thing she tried in Playa del Carmen. I had their Cuban chicken special which was served family style. It was a heavenly young bird cooked to perfection. Juicy and tender, covered in a secret orange sauce (that has been passed down through generations of BDM owners)... simply to die for, and I am not even a big fan of the lowly bird. The rice and beans that come on the side are also very tasty.

The fried plantains are also amazing. We had them as a side dish, and as a desert later on covered with dulce de leche. Simply superb.

We spent a couple of memorable hours and shared a memorable meal just like many simple and famous people (Hemingway ate here) have enjoyed for half a century at different Bodeguita Del Medio locations. (I believe there are three Havana, Vallarta, and Playa). Watching the people dance the night away under the rhythms of live salsa music gave it a magic feel.

We would also like to point out that we avoided all the other 5th avenue restaurants in Playa because they are overly touristy, overly pricey, and soulless. This place while in the north end of la quinta (5th ave) has a soul and rich one at that.

We would highly recommend this place as a romantic, fun, entertaining restaurant with fantastic food. Our bill plus tax came to 40 dollars which was our most expensive meal in our ten day vacation in playa. Yet we found it an incredible value and worth every penny.

This place is hopping at night. They have a great bar with live music most nights and the place is lively. We had lunch there while it was quiet. The food is very good. Their Shrimp cocktail is not what we expected but was fantastic. It was more of a cold soup with cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, and shrimp. The Shrimp tacos and the salmon slices were also great. We will be back.