Description: Prior to visiting Cancun, my husband and I received recommendations for dining from friends and family who had traveled to Mexico in the past. One of the highly praised restaurant referrals was Thai Lounge ("Thai"). We were initially skeptical because we could not imagine eating Thai food in Mexico, much less expecting it to be as ‘fantastic’ and ‘amazing’ as our friends indicated. However, we took their recommendation and made a reservation at Thai for our anniversary dinner while our traveling companions remained at the hotel and dined on room service.
Reservation
We made a reservation through our hotel concierge and specified an over the water palapa at 7:30pm. There are various seating areas within the restaurant and the over the water palapas are typically the most coveted due to their location on the lagoon with views of the sunset. If you are interested in booking one of these palapas, I would highly recommend booking in advance and specifying this location.
Location
Thai is located in the La Isla Shopping Center within the heart of Cancun which is easily accessible from any hotel within the "Cancun Hotel Zone" via the public bus transportation. Once you enter La Isla, the actual location of the restaurant can be difficult to find as it is situated in the far back near the Interactive Aquarium on the lagoon. If you are facing the Interactive Aquarium ticket counter, walk to your left and around the corner of the building and you will find the entrance to the restaurant. Once located, a diner can then understand why it is situated in such a remote location.
Atmosphere
Even though La Isla is an active tourist mall, Thai is intended to isolate itself from this hustle and bustle and provide sanctuary, peace, and romance to every diner. Thai’s atmosphere is incomparable. It is romantic, serene, calm, tropical, trendy, earthy, lush, and private. When we arrived, we were immediately seated at our "over the water palapa", as requested. On the way to our table, we were guided through the remainder of the restaurant which allowed us to casually survey the other table options throughout the dining area. As we walked through the main dining area, I noted individual walkways leading to three sided tiki huts made out of teak wood and covered with a thatch roof. Each table within the huts is similarly built using teak wood. With the exception of the main seating area and the huts, the remainder of the restaurant is ‘open’ air. All throughout the open air section of the dining area are multiple palm trees and tropical plants (all living and natural) which create a lush, green, earthy feel to the restaurant juxtaposed against the soft wood of the huts. After surveying the main dining area, IMO, there is no ‘bad’ seat in the restaurant. Each hut is private and secluded; however, we preferred the over the water palapas over the main dining area. Of particular note, there is one ‘special’ table in the main dining area which is different from the remainder of the huts. This table is built low to the ground as an open sided square which can seat a larger party. It was not private as it was situated near the hostess station, but the lack of privacy was countered by the ambiance. Directly above this table is a large glass window that diners could view the dolphins swimming at the Interactive Aquarium. My sister, who recommended this restaurant, dined with her husband and two children at this table and stated that the kids enjoyed watching the playful dolphins swim across the illuminated glass. As with the over the water palapas, this table needs to be specified when making a reservation.
We then left the main dining area and were escorted across a small walkway to the over the water palapas. Our over the water palapa was similarly designed like the huts in the main dining area except it was larger and contained two open walls with a sloping roof making up the other two sides. Inside the palapa is a small table for two diners and a twin sized sofa with tons of comfy pillows for lounging. The sofa creates a very decadent vibe, encouraging diners to enjoy their meal with leisure and even linger into the evening hours with an after dinner cocktail or coffee. We arrived prior to sunset and were able to watch the sun set over the lagoon, illuminating the water and sky in purples, reds, and oranges.
Service
Because the palapas are located a small distance from the rest of the dining area, waiters and waitresses are provided their own stand to manage tickets, water, etc. which is situated on the walkway over the lagoon area. As with all restaurants in Cancun, the dining experience was paced on the slow side, but was not so slow that we found ourselves impatient for the next course. Our server was extremely polite, attentive, and helpful with recommending certain dishes from the menu. Given our location, one could easily get overlooked when it comes to placing orders, filling water glasses, or delivering food. However, we did not have any issues with service during our visit.
Menu
Thai’s menu contains almost 100 different dishes and can be ordered mild, medium, or spicy. All dishes are served "family" style which allows for sharing and sampling. For even the non-adventurous eater, I believe that any diner could find something on the menu that would be pleasing to the palette as most of the dishes are interesting but not so unusual that it would deter someone new to Thai food. However, do not come expecting to order a hamburger or a taco as all of the dishes are rice or noodle based Asian cuisine. Each item on the menu contains the name of the dish in Thai designated by a number and a description. The number is helpful in ordering and the descriptions are thorough enough to prevent any unexpected ‘surprises’. Finally, I have a minor peanut allergy and was pleased to note that the menu was very specific to note when peanuts were included on a dish. Further, after I mentioned this to our server, she was helpful to ensure that the dishes we ordered did not include peanuts. (I am not severely allergic – use your judgment on this).
Food
My husband and I ordered an appetizer, two main dishes, and two desserts and left with very full tummies. I do not believe that one main dish would be big enough to share, but the portions are large enough to satisfy a hungry diner. For an appetizer, we ordered their chicken and vegetable spring rolls (#6) which were served with a sweet and sour chili sauce. They were tasty, and we had not complaints. I would not say that there was anything unique or special about them, though. For our main dishes, we ordered the Shrimp with Basil (#62) and the Red Curried Duck (#44). Both were served with a side of jasmine rice. Each dish was delicious and tasty. The shrimp was plentiful and perfectly cooked throughout the dish. The basil nicely complimented the brown soy based sauce and the vegetables were crispy, not mushy. It was colorful, light, and fresh. Our red curried duck was rich and decadent and a nice complement to our lighter shrimp dish. The red curry coconut sauce was creamy and spicy, but not so hot that you could not taste anything else. The duck was delicious. We lapped up each dish and could not decide which item we preferred as both were so well prepared and delightfully enjoyable. We finished our meal with dessert. My husband loves ice cream and ordered the coconut ice cream which was so good he would only let me have one bite. He still talks about the creamy and flavorful coconut ice cream that Thai served. I ordered the mango and sticky rice (#92). I have enjoyed pistachio sticky rice at our Thai food restaurant in Dallas so I knew that I would enjoy this dessert. Sticky rice is served warm and most closely resembles rice pudding except the rice stays more intact. Thai’s sticky rice was sweet and the texture was perfect. The mango, a must in Mexico, was sweet and perfectly ripe.
Overall
We were extremely pleased with the service, food, and atmosphere at this restaurant and would highly recommend it to anyone intending to visit the Cancun area. Don’t miss this ‘hidden’ gem in La Isla Shopping Mall!
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