Gran Bahia Principe: Alux and Maiko

Alux is located in the middle of the resort and stars in the pictures used for marketing. 

There are a number of benefits to staying at the Sian Ka'an section of Gran Bahia Principe.  Among them are unlimited ala carte dinners (eating at the resort restaurants as opposed to the buffets) and access to two of the nicest restaurants at the resort: Alux and Maiko.

The first of these two restaurants we tried was Alux, pronounced Al-loosh. The cuisine is fine dining of the type that is commonly found in the US and Europe. We selected an appetizer, soup, and entree.  However if you have a larger appetite you may chooser more.  Or you may choose to skip a course. It's all good. 

An amuse bouche of salmon and goat cheese.

An appetizers salad of tuna tartare with avocado salad.

Seared foie gras with a small salad

A savory mushroom soup.

Perfectly cooked tuna over peas and carrots. Absolutely divine.

Hard to tell from the picture but this is a perfectly cooked steak.The Lovely Spouse said it was among the best he's ever had.

A white chocolate cake. It was alright. If you come here for dessert, purchase a bottle of wine to get the special one.

Everything was absolutely divine. And we found out there's a bit of a secret menu.  If you purchase a bottle of wine (costs vary and are extra beyond the cost of your stay - billed to your room and payable at check out) you will be offered a cheese cart for a cheese course and a special dessert that's not on the menu: strawberries en flambe served over ice cream. The special dessert is absolutely delicious and I recommend it if a bottle of wine sounds appetizing to you. 

Lovely ambiance located just off from the lobby at Sian Ka'an.

The other fine dining restaurant at Sian Ka'an is called Maiko.  This one serves mixed Asian fusion with fine dining preparation and service. I took my camera with us on 2 separate occasions.

Amuse bouche #1. A lovely bite of a tempora roll.

Amuse bouche #2. A small bite of tuna sashimi. 

Appetizer for 2. A nice mix of rolled sushi and tempora.The sauces are a sesame sauce, soy sauce,and a siracha cream sauce. All were delicious. 

Appetizer of standard nigiri for one. Much better than the sushi I tried at the resort in 2011.

A fried roll.  Good mixture of umami and other flavors.

Miso soup. 

The duck served on one night.  Fabulous and perfect preparation.  The sauce was citrus and rich.

The duck on another night.  Slightly different presentation. I really like the tempora tree made from noodles.

Stuffed chicken only sounds boring. This was had a lovely combination of flavors and veggies.

Fried bananas with coconut ice cream. Delicious on their own, amazing with the chocolate sauce from the other dessert.

Tempora fried ice cream. I actually used the sauce on the bananas above and it was divine.

Lychee sorbet with tapioca pudding. I love lychees so this was a wonderful dessert for me.

The special dessert if you purchase a bottle of wine. This was coconut ice cream served with the liquor of The Lovely Spouse's choice.  In this case Bailey's Irish Cream. Topped with toasted coconut and a chocolate triangle. Delicious.

If you stay at Gran Bahia Principe at either the Sian Ka'an or Akumal sections (both Don Pablo Collection), I recommend dining at Alux and Mikado. The food was fantastic and the service was wonderful. Booking was easy with the Bahia app, with reservations made after we arrived. 

Disclaimer: none of the above represents or should be interpreted as endorsement of Gran Bahia Principe or the Pinero Group. We had a lovely time on our vacation and I'm just writing about it. We receive no compensation for this blog.