Bueno Vida en Akumal
I luckily found myself and my youngest daughter way down south in the idyllic beach town of Akumal on this hot and sunny Domingo. After taking the obligatory journey through the always disappointing (didn’t used to be) and muy caliente Tulum...ruins, we left and made the right turn to have lunch at the lovely seaside of Akumal bay. Know I’m sure you long time expats and others might claim our lunch spot was a bit “tourista-y” but you can certainly do much worse than the iconic “La Buena Vida” restaurant on Beach Road, right after the turn. Situated directly on the water, with its own pool, swing set bar, cool gift shop and optional treehouse dining, the LBV has it all.
There’s something really peaceful about taking that short drive on Beach Road in Aku, no loud music blasting, no crazy parking agents, not even one massage offered. The steady ocean breezes cooling me down was the first immediate thoughts of sitting at our waterside table. Add in the soothing sounds of the lightly breaking waves just below our table and I was certain Tulum’s scene had nothing on this place.
Then, there was the service, drinks and food. All topnotch. The service was just perfect, not overbearing, not unresponsive. Simply attentive and helpful. Drink-wise, I went was the rarely ordered and often poorly made margarita de la casa. Wow, was righteous and more-severed in a rocks glass, as it should be. My companion, recently returned from her Italian Amalfi hipster trip, of course ordered the Med salad sans any queso and the tacos de pollo, plus green tea cause she’s, you know, got it all figured out! Just sayn.
I went with the most manly and fatherly selection they offered, the Cheyenne Tacos. Even sounds tough, Cheyenne! It combined grilled marinated arrachera steak, cheese, onion and refried beans on something they called a “tortilla” with assorted salsas. Yum, yum. My jet-setting young off-spring commented that her order, besides being way too much food, was delicious as well.
It’s a short drive south of PDC and always well worth it. And sometimes tourista is not necessarily a bad thing.More