El Secreto

5 Cecilia Chen - 10 months ago

Superb service. The food is great. My favorite is the grilled cheese asparagus. The black bean chorizo soup is a little thick so it didn’t do it for me. The chicken with potato carrot and guacamole was great, especially with the sweet sauce.

4 John O'Neil - 2 months ago

This is an excepcional Restaurant in the Real de Guadalupe area of San Cristobal de las Casas.

I stopped one night after having walked by it a few times and what I discovered was a true gem.
My waiter Juan was very very good. I dont speak a lot of Spanish, but when I dine out, I insist on trying. Juan was patient, he was helpful, and he was a good guy!! I made it thru the night without speaking any English. Do while the restaurant was excellent, the cultural experience was also excepcional.

The Chef starts you off with a welcoming taste of what's to come. Tonight it was a nice salmon mix on a small tostada. I live on the Oaxacan coast so we don't see a lot of salmon. It was a nice change of pace and extraordinary in its taste. This is followed by a nice brown bread (pumpkin maybe?)with a great tzizki sauce to apply to the bread. The flavor contrast and the consistency juxtaposition was excellent.

For my meal I had Tacos de Pato (Confit Duck Tacos). These tacos (on blue corn tortillas) were just outstanding. They were as flavorful as anything I have eaten in months and they were very nicely packed with duck. They were delicioso!! I finished my meal with a wonderful Carajillo. This restaurant is excellent! The staff is professional, the Chef is a true talent and this experience was que rico!!

5 Viraj Patel - a year ago

Second best restaurant in San Cris after Restaurante Lum. The manager who we had a nice convo with in our broken Spanish is great. 1st visit: duck tostada, black cream soup, mole bass, the pumpkin castilla dessert, and the pox and pineapple cocktail. All excellent.

5 Addison Brazil - a year ago

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- Complimentary bread u0026 Jamica tostada: nice snack while we waited for the appetizers.
- Duck tostada: I’ll keep this simple. GOOD! The missus hates duck, and even she thought it was delicious.
- Garlic asparagus: Garlic, cheese, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and asparagus fried perfectly. Often, the simplest dishes are the most enjoyable - this was a real treat!
- Berry cream bean: Who knew something so simple as a slice of plantain, a slice of pork belly, and beans could be so great! The kicker? Corn chips added a crunchtastic touch to an already perfect soup.
- Wild ????: I had rabbit once before, and it was extremely gamey so I was a bit skeptical. This time it was delightful – chewy but not a chore. I highly recommend this meal, because everything came together we’ll in this dish - from the potatoes to the sauce the rabbit swam in!
- Atmosphere: The décor is beautiful. We went to celebrate my 35th, and I just say this is a great setting for birthdays, anniversaries, or date night!

2 Christopher Moore - a year ago

The drinks are great, that gives it the 1 extra star.

Because the service and food didn't match.

The food didn't match because I asked for a medium steak, and they sent me a rare steak, I asked for it to be medium, and sent it back, they brought it back ajd it was still pretty close to rare.

I then showed them multiple charts of what medium looks like, this isn't my opinion, but is just fact of what medium is, they sent it back.

The chef then brought the food back personally to me to argue with me on what medium is, he was very unhappy and bothered you could tell. He said it was then cooked to medium well and for me to check it, I did, it still wasn't even medium, but I accepted it as I could eat it at that point after them cooking the same steak cut up in pieces now 3 times and no more flavoring on it because their cook doesn't know what medium is.

When I said "that's close to medium I can take it" he said "oh you consider that medium? That's not medium that's medium well"

I share the picture below of what it looks like after being cooked 3 times, you tell me what it is, medium well is what a hamburger is cooked to on standard to understand what medium well is.

At this point I can hear him in the back in the kitchen complaining, I assume they don't know I know Spanish but all the staff are laughing now at this point about us and made the whole experience very uncomfortable.

They offered nothing in return for ruining the food, and this place is expensive to begin with. You expect high class service, food, and cooks when going to a place like this.

Not a staff that laughs at you right in front of you, not just once, the entire time. Paired with a cook that doesn't know how to cook, and food that needs to be sent multiple times so your eating by yourself as everyone else finished by that point.

So you want to go here?

You tell me, is the steak below, after being cooked 3 times "medium well" (compariblee to a hamburger at mcdonalds)? It's not even medium yet, but It is between medium and medium rare so I was ok with it.

5 jaaan Glez - 4 years ago

This place was one of the best! Service is outstanding! My friend and I are celiac and the chef came out to help us choose something from the menu that could be tailored to us. Really nice guy as well! The waiters are attentive and the food is delicious! "Tuna tartar" was delicious. Try the MEZCAL ice cream! They gave us the cutest little entrees and their house white wine is yum. They also gave us bread and yummy whipped creamy butter.

5 Анастасия Шумских - a year ago

Delicious food and super cosy restaurant. Best place to go if you are tired of typical Mexican food with chilly.