we spent our last days of vacation on the beach, in tulum – where we had one of the best meals in our trip.

i had heard a lot about Hartwood (here and here) and thought it was going to be just a fancy restaurant with new york prices. but arriving late, the hotel suggested us going as there weren’t many other places open and it was located just next to our hotel.

if you are going to tulum, this is definitely a must go to restaurant – we went twice! our favorites were the beetroot salad starter, the side of eggplant with honey, the grilled octopus, the yucatan lamb sausage and the steak. and the dessert, corn ice cream with sliced mango – i know it sounds weird, but so good!

the atmosphere is relaxed, the fruit cocktails are to die for (grapefruit mojito, seriously!?) and the menu changes daily, based on the availability of the ingredients – all the food is prepared on the grill or in the wood-burning oven.

the restaurant is owned by a new york couple, may henry and eric werne, who after coming to tulum for vacation, decided to leave their city life behind to open a restaurant – have you ever had this thought? they actually did it!

images 1 and 3 by myseastory, images 2 and 4 to 7 by bonappetit