Jacinta Cozumel

Our group of 5 ate here on recommendations posted on Trip Adviser. Things must have changed!! The octopus in chili pepper is the most disgusting ruination of delicate seafood I have every put on a fork. (I have had octopus in a variety of ways in 20 countries and a hundred restaurants - this was absolutely the worst). Only one member of our group got a dish they were satisfied with. The chef was haughty and arrogant. The service is mediocre. The only reason I don't give this place 1 star, is the air conditioning and the ambiance, which is good. They need a new chef and the staff needs a shake up.

I can't understand how this restaurant has such high reviews, but suspect that some 5 star reviews are not legitimate. The atmosphere is nice, it has air conditioning, and interesting dishes, and perhaps that should raise my rating to 3 stars. But the food quality is mediocre-to-poor. The cooks tried so hard to make fancy "TV show" dishes and the execution of the overall dishes left nearly all of our large group unsatisfied. For example, my chicken and risotto - the chicken had an odd texture and the risotto was very undercooked - it should not crunch when you eat it! But it did have this fancy "air" or foam on the chicken that looked like a little bubbly soap residue. Neither of us who had ordered this dish could finish it. Please spend more time on the basics and less on the fancy touches. I got a corn soup where the spices, croutons and other elements were laid dry on the bowl, and then the soup was poured over it in front of me. Fancy presentation, but the taste was odd with some overwhelming spice. We are adventurous eaters so this is not an instance of just being unfamiliar with non-American food. The tuna tartar had an overwhelming amount of olives in it that completely distracted from the tuna, and the tuna was not a bright healthy color. Definitely did not taste sushi grade or what I would serve raw. The dishes all LOOKED interesting and unique, but that's where any 4 star rating would stop because the taste did not keep up its end of the deal. We were heavily encouraged to eat at this restaurant by our hotel, and we suspect that there is some sort of deal between the hotels and the restaurants to steer people to this place. We love El Moro and enjoyed Casa Mission ... we asked for a restaurant that was similar and Jacinta was recommended - in no WAY are they similar! Avoid this overpriced place where the cooks favor fancy technique over taste and quality.

We were a well traveled party of four which came to eat dinner. We ordered 3 chili octopi, fish tacos, chicken satay, and Caesar salads. The chili octopus, although creative, looked burned and not appealing to the eye. It has an ashy taste and the delicate flavor of the octopus was totally disguised. Pros: Atmosphere and ambiance are great and the dishes creative. Cons: Service is poor, food lacks taste and/or disguises good flavors, epic fails on the bland Caesar salad and mushy fish tacos. Overall this place was just ok. Nothing great, nothing terrible. There are better restaurants nearby.

We ordered the fried octopus appetizer and the pan pizza appetizer. Both were amazing! For my entree, I got the Octopus Encrusted in Chili. That was the best octopus I have ever had in my life. This was the perfect place to come for our last night in Cozumel!

I have been to this restaurant many times and it was superb until last saturday, they change the chef and the food was awful. The chef mentioned that they are planing to change the menu to mediterranean food, big mistake everybody goes to Jacinta for its unique food, i will never go back, you just lost a very good costumer.