I’m excited to start my series of reviews and articles about our stay at Banyan Tree Mayakoba this February, 2026. First up, I wanted to write all about the Ixchel private dining experience, which is offered by the resort for breakfast or dinner. While pricey, this was easily one of the best experiences we had at the resort all week, and well worth the money.

Ixchel is a Mayan goddess governing the moon and fertility as well as medicine and weaving. Worship of this deity was very prominent in the Riviera Maya/Playa del Carmen area of Mexico, where Banyan Tree Mayakoba is located, so it’s fitting that we had a romantic dinner in her name. You have a choice of menus including Mexican, Thai, and Italian. Knowing that the resort’s best restaurant is Thai, and that the Thai menu (provided in advance to help you choose) was easily the most diverse and interesting of the three, we were excited to try some new dishes.

Prior to your embarkation, you are invited to have a complimentary cocktail at the Copa Bar in the lobby – a nice touch, considering that cocktails at the resort are, at minimum, $30 each. You are then greeted by the Captain, ours was Jesus, and brought down to the dock area in the lobby to board the small, electric craft to cruise around the Mayakoba lagoons. There’s a table set up on the boat, as well as a lounge area.

Osiel was our chef and server for the evening and he provided some of the best service at the resort all week. He was kind and attentive, and cooked our food freshly and perfectly! He did everything except drive the boat, and it was a lot of work, since there were so many courses of food! You are also provided one complimentary bottle of wine to go with your dinner. We enjoyed a bottle of Chardonnay, and Osiel even poured us an extra glass at the end.

The food was plentiful and delicious. We had some familiar items like spring rolls and battered shrimp, and also tried some new things like chicken in a coconut broth, and beef with a peanut sauce. Following are some of the highlights of the meal:

First, it seemed like the appetizers were never ending! We started with saffron sticky buns and an entire plate of some of the best shrimp spring rolls we’ve ever had. The sweet and sour tamarind sauce was to die for.

We loved the Nua Yang Takrai, which is marinated beef in a peppery broth, as well as the Yum-Som-O which is a fried, soft shell crab with a cashew and grapefruit salad.

Next up was my favorite dish of the evening, which is called Tom Kha Gai. It was an impossibly tender slice of chicken in a coconut broth with kefir and lime. I loved the sweet and savory combo of the coconut and chicken, and lime gave a nice touch of acidity to this soup. Definitely a new favorite Thai dish.

Next up were the THREE main courses, which started with lightly battered tiger prawns (plus more of that incredible sweet and sour sauce), followed by steamed sea bass with a chili-lime sauce.

The last main course, and one that was too delicious not to try to eat, but definitely wasn’t finished, was grilled steak in a red curry sauce with saffron rice. Wow – it was all so flavorful and there was just so much food!

This entire time we were floating around the Mayakoba lagoons, enjoying the different birds and wildlife and getting a feel for this large area that is home to four upscale resorts and a golf course. We caught an incredible sunset over the lagoon, which was a huge highlight of the evening as well – almost as if Ixchel herself ordered it up for us.

Oh, but there was still dessert to be had, and there were two! We enjoyed the sticky rice with mango, and as an extra dessert, as though this wasn’t enough, was a very sweet sort of tapioca pudding with cantaloupe. The strawberries that adorned these dishes had to be some of the sweetest I’ve had in my life!

Honestly, I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary, than this special private dining experience. Osiel and Jesus were professional and perfect, and, since they heard that we really loved the churros at the resort, brought us a complimentary plate of churros that evening to our villa (as though we didn’t already have enough food!). Their service was above and beyond, and was easily the best we experienced at the resort. I would highly recommend the Ixchel dinner experience at Banyan Tree Mayakoba for an extra-special splurge!