Hendersonville, North Carolina
2017-11-21
Return visit not as perfect as first visit
Located in the Grand Oasis Cancun Hotel, my husband and I came to White Box 2 years ago with another couple. It was our first time and it was wonderful, fun and so unique. We were back in Cancun this year and it was at the top of our “to do” restaurants. We talked to our concierge about making a reservation for 2 days later. Turns out that they only accept reservations from outside resorts at certain times during the day and we were at The Royal Sands. Our concierge had to call them to find out what time they are taking reservations that day for outside Grand Oasis guests. Then they had to call back at that specified time to make the reservation. Really??? I stopped by the concierge desk the day we were hoping to go and one of the guys on duty was actually on the phone waiting to make our reservation and while there, he got hung up on. At that point we were ready to move on to one of the many other wonderful restaurants in Cancun. A while later our concierge found us at the pool and said that our reservation was confirmed, but also relayed the information that we had to pay in cash at the front desk of the resort, before even going to the restaurant and to (bring cash for their tip...that part is accurate) as they are not set up to include tip in the bill. With unlimited wine and liquor, our bill would be $40. per person.We arrived at the resort to find out that we didn’t have to pay at the front door, information that we later conveyed to our concierge at the Royal Sands and we were escorted to the restaurant which sits just above the beach with beautiful ocean views. We arrived a few minutes before opening, but quickly seated at an outdoor table for 6.The menu has 9 categories with 3 or 4 options per category to choose from. Some of our choices my husband and I made were the Fresh Watermelon Salad, Canned Tuna, which seemed to be everyone’s favorite, Marinated Wild Fish, Tempura Asparagus with Tangerine Honey, Baby Vegetables with Salmon, BBQ Veal Brioche Burger with melted cheese...another favorite for everyone. Black rice with squids and garlic mayo was my least favorite and lastly our 8th course was Sea Bass with tomato cream and dried fruit.With dessert yet to come, most of us were pretty full, but picked 3 items that we all shared...Strawberries marinated in vinegar and nitro cream, Brioche with Almond ice cream and lime, and to finish off the evening a Bowl of Warm Chocolate Cake, caramel and vanilla ice cream.Unlike our first experience at The White Box where the restaurant was full while we were there, this visit had empty tables. We enjoyed this visit, but it wasn’t a WOW like our previous visit.I must finish this review by thanking the employee at the front desk of the resort who escorted us to the restaurant and our waiter, who walked us back to the front door of the resort when we were ready to leave, as this resort is huge and we probably would have gotten lost.