Secrets Moxché Resort Restaurants & Bars Review

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Secrets Moxché Resort and Spa is a beautiful adults-only all-inclusive resort just north of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. It’s part of a secluded resort complex that also includes Impression Moxché by Secrets. Guests at Impression Moxché have access to all of the restaurants and bars on the Secrets side. Moxché is the Mayan word for the roots of a tree.

This Secrets Moxché review is different from many of the other reviews of the resort you’ll read. Since I’m particularly interested in food and drink, I visited all of the restaurants and bars at the Secrets Moxché Playa Del Carmen. Therefore, my review focuses on the Secrets Moxché all-inclusive dining options, so you can decide whether it’s worth it before you book below. The food and drink at some all-inclusive resorts in Mexico can be hit-or-miss, which is a shame since, to me, it’s one of the most important parts of the experience.

Spoiler: With just a few exceptions, the food and beverage at Secrets Moxché is some of the best at any all-inclusive resort in Mexico. The service was also high-quality for the most part, making our stay a terrific experience. Read on to get the most out of your stay, including my recommendations for the best dishes to order!

Secrets Moxché Review Tips

Before we get to my reviews of all of the Secrets Moxché restaurants and bars below, here are a few tips to get the most out of your stay.

The Hyatt Inclusive app (available for both iOS & Android) provides details about the hotel, including restaurant hours and menus. This app works well and helps you see what is open each day and the times each spot is open. Depending on the season, not all bars and restaurants will be open every day. It will help you plan out where and when to eat and drink so you aren’t disappointed. With 11 restaurants and seven bars, there’s a lot to cover at Secrets Moxché!

This wasn’t the case when I stayed at Secrets Moxché, but the resort now allows dinner reservations for the most popular restaurants. These can be booked through the app. I think this is a welcome introduction, as there were sometimes long lines when the restaurants opened for dinner service. Now people can plan a bit more ahead and not have to rush in early or wait late. I looked at the app to see what availability looked like, and it seemed decent for most restaurants over the next couple of evenings.

Each restaurant has its own dress code. The details for each are in the app. For the most part, you should be fine as long as you don’t look like you’ve just stumbled in out of the pool, but check for specific details. I did notice one guy who was sent back to his room to change because he arrived at the French restaurant in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops.

In addition to the all-inclusive food and drinks (which the resort calls Unlimited-Luxury), Secrets Moxché also offers elevated experiences and premium drink packages. These options include beach dinners, tasting menus, mezcal tastings, and bottles of wine.

We didn’t feel the need to spend extra for any of these experiences. Just know it’s an option if you want to splurge for a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary.

As a reminder, all of these restaurants and bars are also accessible by Impression Moxché by Secrets guests.

Secrets Moxché Restaurants

Dos Almas – Mexican Soul Food Dinner

All-inclusive resorts have the reputation of not exactly being representative of the country in which they are located. And while yes, visiting a hotel like Secrets Moxché isn’t the same as visiting a city in Mexico, there are still elements of the resort experience that have a decent feel of authenticity.

Dos Almas is the Mexican restaurant at Secrets Moxché. The menu is described as Mexican soul food, featuring regional dishes, including some from the Yucatan. There’s also a good selection of Mexican spirits, including tequila, mezcal, and specialty cocktails such as the Agave Azul.

We had traveled to Mérida, Valladolid, and Cancun before heading to the resort, so we’d already had plenty of excellent Mexican food. As a result, we waited for a few days into our stay to visit Dos Almas, but it should be high on anyone’s list. You can’t come to Mexico and not have some great local food. It was on par with some of the best restaurants we’d visited. Not only was the food great, but the decor and service hit all of the notes of a fine-dining experience.

The tuna tostada was small, but mighty. I could have eaten about 20 of them.

The flautas with ceviche were an interesting combo that somehow worked well. We also enjoyed the Pastor’s Volcano.

The crispy birria tacos were my absolute favorite on the menu, and one of the best things I ate during our entire stay.

There were a couple of misses. The esquites needed more flavor, and while the quesadilla de chicharron prensado wasn’t bad, it was a little underwhelming in comparison to some of the other dishes. I would have skipped it in favor of more tacos. 

The desserts were also stellar. We ordered the corn cake and the churros with Mexican vanilla ice cream. Both were served fresh and warm.

If you can’t make it into Dos Almas, or if you just want a snack during the evenings, don’t fret. The patio space outside the restaurant becomes a lively street fair each night.

The stands include a taco stand with a variety of proteins and toppings, plus aguas frescas such as horchata and jamaica.

There was even a stand making fresh marquesitas, which we’d had in Mérida. Since they can only make one marquesita at a time, the lines can get a little long, but they’re worth the wait, especially if you’ve never had them before. 

These stands are a great idea for people who can’t get into a restaurant when they want to go or just want something light (or a second dinner, we don’t judge here).

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Ember – Fire Kitchen Dinner

Ember is the most popular dinner restaurant at Secrets Moxché. Now that the resort allows reservations, I recommend making one as soon as possible if you are interested in dining there.

Back when we visited, there was no reservation system. There was already a long line when we arrived at 5:45, 15 minutes before opening. However, we were seated within about 10-15 minutes after it opened.

As soon as we walked into the restaurant, we could smell the wood burning from the live fire kitchen.

Ember’s menu focuses on grilled dishes, including meat and seafood. If you want to pay an extra supplement, you can get high-end meat cuts and lobster.

There is also a full vegan menu. This is actually the case at all of the restaurants at Secrets Moxché, which is nice for everyone who is vegan or vegetarian. Anyone can order from that menu, of course.

We started with cocktails. I enjoyed the Negroni Ember, which had a rib-eye fat wash. While that might be off-putting to some, it added a nice, very subtle flavor.

As for the food and the service, everything was a bit mixed. There are a lot of hits, but also a few misses.

The food service does take a bit of time since everyone is seated pretty quickly all at once. Hopefully, the new reservation system is alleviating this issue. In either case, if you want to try to be served faster, I recommend looking at the menu ahead of time if you can, so your order might jump ahead of slower orderers. 

That said, that didn’t really work for us. The table next to us had been one of the first to be seated, and they were ordering dessert before we had eaten anything. We didn’t even get bread, even though I had seen some at some tables. The people next to us ate their entire meal by 7:15 or so, while we didn’t get our first appetizers until around 7, about 45 minutes after we had been seated.

We enjoyed the luscious marrow starter, as well as the corn and vanilla soup, which was a unique dish.

Our main courses arrived another 40 minutes later. I’d ordered the mashed potatoes as a side with my arrachera steak, but I was served the corn ribs instead. Not wanting to have to wait another 40 minutes to eat, I opted not to say anything, since I’d considered the corn in the first place.

Unfortunately, the corn ribs were a disappointment. I’ve had similar dishes many times in Mexico, and this didn’t live up to the others.

The arrachera steak was excellent. It was tender and juicy.

For dessert, we ordered bananas foster and baked apple crumble. I have a pretty high standard for bananas foster, having been to Brennan’s in New Orleans. It was tasty, but somehow it literally had only one banana slice. Meanwhile, the baked apple crumble wasn’t served hot or even warm, which was a missed opportunity to elevate the dish into something great.

Suki – Japanese Dinner

Since we had heard about potentially long dinner lines and encountered one ourselves on the first night, we tried to get to dinner at opening each subsequent night.

We arrived at Suki, the Japanese restaurant at Secrets Moxché, about five minutes before the scheduled opening, but people were already being seated. We had no wait.

There are three Japanese dining options at Suki: the standard dining room, teppanyaki, and omakase. The omakase is a paid add-on that is in a separate room called Tanoshii.

We started with the Wasabi no Hana house cocktail. It was a fusion of Mexican and Japanese flavors, including tequila infused with wasabi, passion fruit shrub, and grapefruit oleo. It was a nice, light, refreshing cocktail. You could barely taste the wasabi, which makes sense. Anything more than a light touch would be risky.

The menu at Suki doesn’t have nigiri or sashimi, but it does have a few rolls. On one hand, that’s a little disappointing, but on the other… yeah, I could easily eat my room rate in sashimi alone.

There are also a lot of vegetarian and vegan dishes.

We started with the gyoza. It wasn’t very hot when it was served, but it was still tasty.

The watermelon salad was also excellent. It was soaked in mezcal, which is a nice combination.

Then it was tuna time. We ordered the spicy tuna roll along with the spicy tuna tartare on crispy rice. Neither was particularly spicy, but they were quite good. I love crispy rice.

We also had the hamachi and the black salmon. The latter was a bit of an odd dish. While it didn’t land with us, I did appreciate that they had tried something unique.

The desserts were also worth staying for. The yuzu sponge was light and refreshing, while the miso cheesecake was a flavor combination that worked well together. 

Allora – Italian Dinner

Allora is one of the easier dinner places to get into, since it has a spacious dining room, and Italian isn’t necessarily the first cuisine people gravitate to at a resort in Mexico.

However, we enjoyed our dinner. It’s not anything fancy, but the pizza and pasta are dependably good.

There’s a pizza oven right near the entrance, so I realized we’d probably be in good hands.

That indeed was the case. After starting with Negronis and focaccia, we had the mortadella pistachio pizza. It was legit good, with the appropriate leopard spotting.

We also enjoyed the pappardelle beef ragu and the bucatini le vongole, which had an impressive amount of clams.

Bisou – French Dinner

I know I said I went to every restaurant at Secrets Moxché, and that’s technically true. There was one that we didn’t actually eat at, but not for lack of trying.

Bisou, the resort’s French restaurant, has the smallest dining room. It’s not as popular as some of the other options, so getting in isn’t necessarily an issue, except it was for us.

On our first attempt, we arrived right at opening. There was a short line in front of us, yet somehow we were turned away. The restaurant supposedly seats 60 people, but they block several tables for upgraded, paid diners. These tables sit empty unless someone comes along who is willing to pay an upcharge at an all-inclusive resort. We bailed on our plan and had a nice Italian dinner at Allora instead.

We made plans to try again on another night. We arrived early so as not to miss out, only to find no signs of life at the restaurant. After checking the app again, it was listed as closed, despite my having checked it the day before we arrived at the resort. I’d even made a spreadsheet to keep track of where we wanted to eat every evening. Let it be known that I take these reviews that seriously.

So we had another excellent dinner somewhere else, this time at Dos Almas.

Of course, we walked around the resort later that evening, only to find that Bisou had actually opened at some point. Oh well. The reviews of the restaurant are pretty mixed anyway. I generally don’t go to Mexico for French cuisine.

Seasoul – Lunch And Dinner

Unless you have access to the Observatory, the rooftop Preferred Club restaurant, Seasoul is by far the best lunch option at Secrets Moxché.

The open-air restaurant is out near the beach, with views of the water. This area also hosts theme nights like Asado BBQ and Roads Through Mexico

Seasoul specializes in seafood dishes. Everything we ate was outstanding.

We had the fish ceviche, tuna tostada, crispy squid tostada, and Baja fish tacos.

The fish was fresh, and the fried items were fried perfectly. The sauces also elevated all of the dishes.

For a different beachside bar experience, head to the back bar steps off the sand, where you can sit in swings (unless you get a little motion sick like I did). 

Bamboo – Lunch & Bar

Right next to the central lagoon and beach area is Bamboo. This open-air spot is open for lunch, plus drinks in the evenings.

I enjoyed the nighttime drinks far more than the food. While a lot of the bars at all-inclusives like Secrets Moxché tend to have the same drinks menu, Bamboo has a list of specialty tiki cocktails, perfect for a beach getaway.

I enjoyed the Papa Nui, which was tropical, yet whiskey-forward. The Tikitano and the milk punch were also good. There was also live music. One note: the bar is surrounded by plants. While we had few issues with mosquitoes at the resort for the most part, we did get chomped that evening, so protect yourself as needed.

As for lunch, Bamboo specializes in Asian vegan and vegetarian dishes. That’s not to say that there isn’t meat available, but the menu focuses on healthier items. While the other restaurants also have vegan and vegetarian menus, I do appreciate it when resorts offer lighter options to balance out the all-inclusive gorge-fests.

Unfortunately, our lunch at Bamboo was disappointing. I ordered the chicken pad thai, which I figured would be the safe choice. However, despite my having said “chicken” twice, I was brought chickpea pad thai.

This wouldn’t have been a problem, but the issue was the dish’s overall taste. It was way too sweet. It was the worst thing I ate during my stay. I had a few bites and bailed, which I hate doing since it wastes food. Even at an all-inclusive resort, you shouldn’t have things you don’t at least try to finish, but I really disliked it.

Market Cafe Buffet – Breakfast And Lunch

The Market Cafe buffet serves breakfast and lunch (and sometimes dinner). If you want the widest amount of food options or you’re with a big group, it’s the most reliable spot to eat at Secrets Moxché.

The number of food bars and fresh preparation stations is impressive. There are areas for quesadillas, chilaquiles, toast, omelettes, juices, and more.

I really enjoyed the made-to-order avocado salmon toast with poached eggs.

The French toast with hot pineapple in syrup was another standout dish.

We didn’t eat at the lunch buffet, but we did get to see it one night for dinner.

On Friday nights, the Asado BBQ is held out at Seasoul. If the weather forecast is bad, the dinner is moved inside Market Cafe.

That was the case during our visit. We still went to the dinner, but we felt the buffet was more like a lunch buffet, which we confirmed another day by checking what was available during the regular afternoon hours.

Not that it was bad, but it didn’t have the menu or vibe of a nice BBQ dinner, though there were still several stations serving prime rib, brisket, ribs, and fresh seafood.

The lunch/dinner buffet also had a ton of salads (balanced out by a ton of desserts), plus a pasta station.

Coco Cafe

Need a caffeine fix or an afternoon snack? The best place to go is Coco Cafe.

Coco Cafe serves specialty coffee drinks, including frappes, which are perfect on a warm day.

There’s also gelato, baked goods, and other sweet treats. 

Barefoot Grill – Lunch

Barefoot Grill is a quick-service lunch spot out near the pools. The menu is what you’d expect, with burgers, hot dogs, nachos, etc.

Unless you want to grab something quick to take back to your chairs (or you stay there and order from the servers), Seasoul is the much better lunch option out by the pools.

Observatory – Preferred club Breakfast and Lunch

Secrets Moxché has one of the best Preferred Club setups at any Hyatt all-inclusive resort. Between the Preferred lobby bar (see below) and the rooftop of the main building, it’s a great perk for Globalists and one many other guests find worth splurging on.

Observatory is the restaurant at the Preferred Club rooftop pool. It offers breakfast and lunch service. We enjoyed both.

When we arrived, there was a bit of a list ahead of us, so we had some carajillos and sat in our beach chairs while we waited.

The French babka was a legit real babka.

Meanwhile, the Yucatecan croque madam had excellent flavors.

We also enjoyed the salmon toast and seasonal fruit. Each day, there’s also a special juice. We loved the watermelon, grape, and ginger juice.

Everything we ate was excellent. Observatory is definitely a step up in quality from the breakfast buffet. That’s no slam against the buffet; it’s good and has tons of options. It’s just nice to have quality over quantity some mornings.

We were still up on the rooftop for lunch, so we later enjoyed the tuna tataki, burrata, short rib tacos, and glazed pork rib.

Preferred Club Lounge

As I mentioned above, guests with Preferred Club reservations also have access to the Preferred Club Lounge. There are special room rates that include the Preferred Club. It’s also a benefit given to Hyatt Globalist members. That was how we had access.

The Preferred Club benefits at Secrets Moxché are some of the best at any Hyatt all-inclusive resort. We had previously stayed at Secrets Huatulco and found the Preferred Club to be lacking.

However, the Premium Club Lounge at Secrets Moxché is a welcoming start to your resort stay, especially if you’ve arrived early or at the same time as a lot of other guests. There’s plenty of comfortable seating, so you don’t have to stand around.

The lounge had snacks, drinks, coffee, and premium liquor at a private bar in the back corner.

I started my stay off with an excellent carajillo, which set the tone for the whole trip.

Room Service

One of the special amenities at Secrets Moxché is its room service, which can be delivered with zero-contact via a private delivery box. Yes, this means you don’t have to get dressed.

We had to try it at least once for breakfast. Breakfast is always my favorite time to get room service, since it’s nice to eat without having to get ready to go outside. Ordering through the Hyatt All-Inclusive app required us to select a time, so we placed an order around 9:30 for a 10:30 delivery. That’s reasonable.

At 9:45, I got a message saying the food would arrive in 40 minutes. Not long after, we got a call from someone saying that our selected tea was unavailable. Despite there being a long list of teas, only chamomile was available. Take notes, Brits, since this would be a major disappointment for those who depend on a regular cuppa.

I ended up having to call them back just after 11 because the food still hadn’t arrived. I was told it would be there in 5 minutes, but it ended up being about 15 minutes more.

We got French toast, yogurt, eggs Benedict, and the chile croque. The latter was my favorite dish, as it was a cool localized take on the French classic.

The food was tasty, well-prepared, and well-presented. However, there was one big issue: It was no longer hot. Our breakfast had clearly been cooked long before it was delivered to our room. In hindsight, I should have called sooner, but I had figured the 40-minute estimate wouldn’t be exact.

Aside from that room service experience, the rest of our in-room food and drink experience went as expected. Our mini-bar was also refilled each day. It included soft drinks, snacks, and beer. There was also a bottle of sparkling wine waiting for us when we arrived.

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Secrets Moxché Bars

The Cove Bar

The main entrance of the Secrets Moxché resort leads right into an open-air lobby. As soon as we arrived, we walked to the end of the lobby to see the beautiful views.

Right below is a man-made beach with a huge pool right in the center of the resort. This pool and beach area is served by The Cove Bar.

Servers walk around the area taking orders. The service is pretty quick, but you can also walk up to the bar for the quickest service (or if you’re sitting at one of the more secluded chair areas nearby).

The Cove Bar has a few specialty cocktails in addition to traditional favorites, but the rum runners are our usual go-to. 

Sugar Reef Pool And Beach Bar

Sugar Reef is the main bar at the largest pool and beach area at the resort.

It has all of the tropical cocktails you’d expect, with plenty of servers circulating the area. We never had any issues waiting too long for drinks, no matter which pool we were at.

This pool area was actually closed to the public for a large wedding party for most of our stay at Secrets Moxché. We didn’t mind too much, since we’d rather be in a quieter place. As a result, we spent a lot of time at one of the three man-made cenotes located just south of the main pools.

Mantaray Swim-Up Bar

The second-largest pool area at Secrets Moxché also has a swim-up bar. Thanks to the private party that had taken over Sugar Reef during our stay, it was usually pretty busy.

It has a menu with a few featured cocktails, though they can also make whatever else you want.

The bartenders did a decent job of keeping things moving quickly, even though a large group of people was insisting on doing shots (or at least the equivalent, since shot glasses weren’t available).

Dark Horse Sports Bar

The Dark Horse Sports Bar is one of the most popular places to spend the evening at Secrets Moxché.

The bar has TVs showing sports, plus games like a golf simulator and pool tables.

It also hosts other entertainment, such as karaoke. We went there on one packed evening, and the entire room was singing along to “Zombie” by The Cranberries.

Given how popular the sports bar is, the space should probably be even bigger. It would also be nice if it were open earlier, since there are games being played earlier in the day. But it’s a fun, lively place to hang out.

There is supposedly a bar food menu, but when I asked a server, she said they weren’t serving food. I’d heard good things about the smash burger, but it sounds like either the food is no longer being served at all or it was temporarily paused. The servers did bring around some snacks like pretzels and peanuts.

Moxche Theater

Every evening, the Moxche Theater hosts live entertainment. Shows include music, dancing, and more.

There’s a bar at the theater.

Gypsy Club Speakeasy

Just outside of the Moxche Theater is a pharmacy. If you’ve got an upset stomach or a hangover, or any other ailment, it’s the place to go.

It’s also the place to go for nightlife.

Pass through the secret door, and there’s a speakeasy inside.

You do need a daily password, but you can get it from the staff or at the theater.

Although it’s called a speakeasy, the Gypsy Club is more of a nightclub. There are cocktails, but if you’re expecting a traditional cocktail bar, you’ll be disappointed. Clubs aren’t really our thing (and we were usually tired from being out at the pools each day), so we skipped it.

Lobby Bar

This bar isn’t listed in the Hyatt app’s bar and restaurant guide for the resort, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

Inside the lobby, next to Market Cafe, there’s a bar.

It’s a standard bar, but if it’s a busy evening at the sports bar or the theater, or if you just want a quiet drink, it’s another option to check out.

Secrets Moxché Food & Drink Review Summary

Overall, I enjoyed the food and beverage offerings at Secrets Moxché. Nearly everything we ate was excellent, and the service was very good as well. Between all the different dining options and the menus at each place, I could spend weeks at the resort and not get bored with the food. Hyatt, feel free to invite me back to test that out.

Book your stay at Secrets Moxché