My Favorite Cabo Dinner: Hacienda Cocina y Cantina {Travel Review}

Hello, hello!

In recapping my recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, so far I’ve shared a post about our resort as well as our awesome sailboating excursion. Today’s post is the last trip recap I’m sharing, and it’s about one of my favorite travel topics (well let’s be real, one of my favorite topics in general): the food! 

Traveling internationally as a vegetarian can definitely be a challenge – especially because I’m kind of particular in that I like my food fresh and healthy. I had been to Mexico a couple of times before, and what I expected in the cuisine was to have at least a few options everywhere I went. I mean, how hard is it to make dishes just full of veggies, avocado, tortillas, and cheese?

Unfortunately, eating was a bit tougher than I anticipated. Meat, meat and more meat was the name of culinary game in Cabo. I understand that the vast majority of people eat meat, but it was disappointing that most of the places we checked out had almost nothing for me to eat.

In foreign countries, I’m hesitant to custom order things without meat. A language barrier coupled with a general ignorance of vegetarianism has led to a lot of confusion in my travels. Some people take “not eating meat” as just not eating red meat. It’s hard for some to grasp the concept, and after explaining that I don’t want any meat of any kind, I’ve then been given chicken and fish dishes. In Cabo, I actually ordered a menu item that had two options: a pork option, or just beans and cheese. I chose the latter, but when I cut into it…. there was pork.

I don’t think it’s hard to cater to plant-based eaters, I think it’s just that people are not used to getting that request. Luckily our resort was accommodating to my dietary needs, and I never had a problem finding something to eat for the meals that we ate there.  On our first night in Cabo, we dined at a resort restaurant called Los Riscos Grill. While they didn’t have any entrees that suited me, they did offer a salad bar. I went to town and ate tons of veggies, and I was perfectly fine with that.

At their more upscale restaurant, La Trajinera, the chef made me my own dish for dinner one night. Although the waiter initially seemed very confused at my request (“So miss, you’re saying you would like no meat at all in your meal tonight?”) it turned out pretty well.

The one day we had breakfast at the resort, I enjoyed fresh green juice and fruit with toast. And for afternoon eats, we either ordered guacamole (always a winner in my book!) or veggie sandwiches at the pool bar.

While all of that was good, on our third night in Cabo, I was itching for a really great dinner in town. I might be a healthy, picky, vegetarian foodie, but I’m still a foodie who adores a wonderful meal, especially when traveling. Beforehand, I had reached out to someone I know that often visits Cabo who had given me a few recommendations, and one of the places she mentioned was Hacienda Cocina y Cantina.

Located in the absolutely beautiful and posh Hacienda Beach Club resort, I immediately loved this restaurant. It offers a spectacular view of the marina and a perfect background of the Arch of Cabo.

The resort is located downtown, but it’s a bit off of the riffraff of the main strip. We actually had a bit of a hard time finding it at first, but I’m so glad we wound up making it there because it turned out to be my favorite dinner of the trip!

The restaurant is mostly outdoors and has a festive, island getaway type of vibe. Our table had a great view of the marina, and we were mesmerized by the ships coming in and party boats passing by. As the sun began to set, we took the moment in as I sipped on a mojito made with guava and A enjoyed a Mexican beer.

Our server brought us jicama that was dipped in chili powder. I had never eaten jicama on its own, and it was so mild.

First up, we ordered the house salad to share. It had mixed greens with strawberry, mango, goat cheese, jicama, and spiced pecans, tossed with a tamarind vinaigrette. It was so flavorful! I really liked the addition of jicama and pecans because it gave the salad a nice crunch.

For my entree, I ordered their chile relleno dish: cheese stuffed poblanos with black bean sauce and mango pico de gallo.

Yum! It hit the spot for exactly the type of Mexican dinner I was hoping for. My hubby ordered some sort of fresh fish. I neglected to take a photo of it, but he loved his meal as well.

And because we were impressed with our first two courses, dessert had to be ordered. We ordered churros de la casa – Mexican street doughnuts served with chocolate and caramel sauces.

You guys, I died and went to dessert heaven. The churros were so worth the splurge!

All in all, our dinner experience at Hacienda Cocina was awesome. The food, the drinks, the service, and the views were all on point, and the restaurant gets a huge thumbs up from us. If you’re planning a vacation in Cabo, I definitely recommend heading there for a meal!

Tell me… What’s your most memorable culinary experience while traveling? For readers with dietary restrictions, do you ever have a hard time finding food?

My most memorable culinary experiences come from my time in Italy. From studying abroad in Sicily eating an abundance of amazing food to my magical first dinner in Venice with my hubby, I have a lot of unforgettable Italian food memories!