Holbox by Chichen Itza

[rlw]

I really liked the set up of the tasting menu. It’s pretty casual sitting at the bar, while chef does his thing in front of you preparing most of raw dishes and then handing them right to you.

Menu (me lusting after that taco)

Conchas - shigoku oyster, Baja blood clam, and east coast surf clam

Power Ranking:

1. Blood clam
2. Surf clam
3. Shigoku oyster

Ceviche de Erizo con Lenguado - live Santa Barbara sea urchin and scallop ceviche

Aguachile - local shrimp, diver bay scallops, spicy green aguachile avocado

A punch up of their alc aguachile with the addition of fresh shrimp

Crudo Curado - cured Hawaiian kanpachi, grilled Meyer lemon vinaigrette, cucumber, serrano pepper

I really enjoyed the thicc slices of fish.

Taco de Jaiba - lightly smoked dungeness crab, smoked kanpachi head, house made oaxaca cheese, crab butter salsa macha

A stunner. The soft dungeness crab gets mixed with cheese in the fried tortilla, but the crab brain mixed into a salsa macha is nuts.

Camarones a la Talla - wood grilled Santa Barbara spot prawns, calamari ink rice, x’catix sauce

The prawns were great, but the rice was killer.

Chef said they almost cancelled on us because they were so busy that day they were close to running out of food! I’m very thankful they didn’t, but super glad that they delivered a fantastic experience.

[JeetKuneBao]

Damn I need those crab tacos. That could possibly beat the octopus/squid ink taco as the best taco at Holbox.

[PorkyBelly]

@JeetKuneBao

That could possibly beat the octopus/squid ink taco as the best taco at Holbox.

[Haeldaur]

How filling was the tasting menu? I’m going tonight and excited, but also wondering if I’m going to need to supplement with the sopa de mariscos…

[rlw]

I was fine with the amount of food and was satisfied, but did get tacos from tire shop a few hours later. I wouldn’t have minded another course or two if I really wanted to be full.

[Haeldaur]

As an update, this meal was phenomenal, one of the most enjoyable eating experiences I’ve had since the start of the pandemic. The crab taco, with the crab butter salsa, was a transcendent dish. We supplemented with the octopus and kanpachi tacos; loved both. That octopus soffrito is insane.

[rlw]

@Haeldaur

The crab taco, with the crab butter salsa, was a transcendent dish.

Awesome, great to hear! Was it busy with others doing the tasting menu as well?

[Haeldaur]

There were two others at the bar, and a table of four doing it as well.

[Rodeogig]

Do they sell the crab taco separately, or is it only available on the tasting menu???

[Haeldaur]

Only on the tasting menu.

[Haeldaur]

One other thing I really appreciated about this meal was you really got the fish in the raw preparations. That is, with so many ceviches, the fish itself kind of melts into the acid, and it’s delicious and all, but you don’t really get the fish. Here it was the opposite, and was really delicious.

[hungryhungryhippos]

Were most of the items from the menu or were most of them unique and only available on tasting menu?

[Haeldaur]

The first two dishes could be mostly recreated from the regular menu. It started with an assortment of oysters and blood clams, some of which are on the regular menu, and a ceviche with kampachi and santa barbara uni that I think is on the regular menu, though with a sauce that it doesn’t normally come with. There was also a geoduck ceviche which I don’t think is on the regular menu.

The third item was a surf clam aguachile, which is not on the regular menu. The fourth was camarones al mojo de ajo, which is not on the regular menu; the fifth was the aforementioned crab taco, and last was butter poached lobster on a squid ink tortilla with various sauces–which is not on the menu.

So basically, the first two you could come close to recreating on the menu, but not the remaining four.

[hungryhungryhippos]

Oh wow sounds like it’s way more unique than earlier iterations. Thanks for the info I’ll need to go check it out!

[Dommy]

OMG. If it was legit Yucatecan Mojo de Ajo it must have been so good. So many other places it’s all bitter and greasy….

[Haeldaur]

It was really good though, if I’m being honest, was probably my least favorite course. The shrimp was slightly over which, if I’m being honest, is almost always the case in every mojo de ajo I’ve ever had.

[rohto]

Now offering memberships: https://table22.com/holbox#membership-tiers

And featured in this Eater video on TransparentSea: How America's Biggest Indoor Shrimp Farm Sells 2 Million Shrimp Every Year — Dan Does - YouTube

Has anyone does any memberships of this type from other restaurants?

[boourns]

I’ve done a wine club and some cocktail pickups through them during the pandemic. It’s kind of a whitelabel storefront for people to sell a package experience for pickup. You can also get Holbox delivered through Locale.

[CiaoBob]

Quick Note on Holbox.
I was dreaming of the Shrimp Torta when I arrived on a recent Sat afternoon, and found it not on the menu. I made my sad-ass-self incredibly happy with other offerings. Then, before leaving, I circled back to the counter to ask when it would be returning to the menu. The nice fellow there told me that they “pretty much always have it” but - because the menu has gotten too big- *they don’t always put everything on it."
And no, I was too full to bang-bang Holbox with Holbox.

[moonboy403]

@CiaoBob

bang-bang Holbox with Holbox

A bang bang with Holbox would’ve been perfect.