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Are you heading to Playa del Carmen and debating whether to book a food tour? This article will help you decide whether that’s the right thing for you or not.
Firstly, I’ll mention that I love food tours and I always include one in all my travels because I think they are great value for money.
Having said that, I totally understand that it’s not for everyone and that some destinations offer better options than others.
After doing the Playa del Carmen food tour with Eating with Carmen, I can tell you everything you need to know about this tour and if it’s worth it for you!
You can find below all the reasons you should do a food tour in Playa del Carmen and why you shouldn’t.
1. It’s great value for money
When you first look at the prices of the food tour, it may look a bit expensive however, I actually think it’s great value for money.
Firstly, it lasts 3 hours so it’s not a short activity. Secondly, the guide is extremely knowledgeable.
They will tell you about the history of Playa del Carmen, the street art murals, give you local tips, information about Mexican culture and of course about the food you’ll eat.
In terms of food, you will definitely get more than you can eat!
The tour includes between 6 and 10 stops and you’ll get:
- 1 bottle of Agua de Jamaica
- 1 corn mushroom quesadilla
- 1 big glass (1L) of soft drink which can be horchata, passion fruit water or others
- 1 enchilada
- 1 cochinita taco
- 1 other taco
- 1 tamal
- 3 or 4 different types of fruit
- 1 popsicle
2. It’s the perfect thing to do when you arrive
I always recommend doing food tours when you just arrive and Playa del Carmen is no exception.
The main reason for that is that it’s a great way to explore the town and find your footing.
Also, you’ll get a lot of recommendations and will discover local spots where you’ll want to go back.
3. You’ll try food that you would never have tried otherwise and will be more adventurous in your choices going forward
A lot of things you’ll eat during the food tour are dishes you would never have even thought of trying.
The best example for that is the corn mushroom quesadilla.
Most people have never heard of it, I certainly had not and yet it was the thing I loved the most during the food tour.
Getting to try local dishes and snacks will give you confidence to be more adventurous in your choices going forward.
This will elevate your food experience in Mexico because you’ll get to try these things you would never have even seen and you’ll look for more authentic dishes in the future as well.
4. You’ll learn plenty about the local culture
Being with a local guide is always a great opportunity to learn more about the local culture but the food tour in Playa del Carmen is particularly good for that.
Usually, it’s quite a small group which means you get a lot of time with the guide and can talk about everything you want to.
This tour was literally the first I did in Mexico so at that point, I didn’t know much but I had a lot of questions.
I got to ask him most of them and it was very interesting to hear the answers.
It went way beyond food and Playa del Carmen so you can easily broaden your knowledge if you want to.
5. You discover local food spots where you’ll want to go back
The food stops are very carefully chosen by the tour company and they are great local spots.
If you are staying a few days in Playa del Carmen, chances are you will want to go back to try more things.
Also, the guide can give you some local recommendations. This is a huge plus because you won’t waste as much time looking for restaurants and places to eat going forward.
6. It will give you confidence to eat street food
One thing I particularly liked about this food tour is that there were quite a few street food stops.
If there is one thing I always notice while I travel is that most tourists stay away from street food.
There is a common misconception that street food will give you food poisoning because it’s less hygienic and they don’t have fridges.
This can’t be further away from the truth. Most of the time, if you do get food poisoning, it will be from a restaurant and not a street food stand.
Street food stands are loved by locals and the food is fresh! It’s usually prepared at home and only assembled or cooked in the streets.
Also, it’s cheap and definitely the most delicious food you can get in Mexico!
Of course, it can happen to get a bad belly after eating street food but it’s definitely not more likely than in a restaurant.
As a general rule, try to stick to street food stands where you can see locals ordering and eating. If there are a lot of locals that means it’s good and won’t make you sick.
The thing I liked about this food is that we went to two taco street food stands and tried very traditional tacos.
In all honesty, they were definitely not fancy looking and I’m sure most visitors would never have tried a taco from them and let me tell you something, they were delicious!
We went back several times after because they were by far the best.
7. You also get to try local drinks
There are a lot of local drinks in Mexico and while you may only think of tequila or beer, there is so much more than that.
Mexicans love soft drinks. This is most likely due to the heat and the need to hydrate and refresh all day long.
The most popular (and traditional) drinks are called Aguas frescas. They are a bit of a mix between a flavoured water and a fruit juice but can also be made with flowers or almond milk.
With this food tour, you will get to try several of them. The first one is ‘Agua de Jamaica’ which is made with hibiscus flowers.
This is something you will see everywhere in restaurants in Mexico so it’s great to get to try it on the food tour.
You will also stop at an Agua fresca stand where you can choose your own soft drink.
The horchata is also very popular (that’s a drink that actually originates from Valencia in Spain but is a lot more popular in Mexico and Latin America) but the watermelon and passion fruit options are also delicious.
I hope this article has given you a good idea of what to expect during the food tour of Playa del Carmen and whether that’s something you should be doing or not.
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