November 8, 2026 · Menu Guide · MERO 18
It happens at least once a day. A table of four sits down, three of them light up at the ceviche list, and the fourth quietly scans the menu looking for something — anything — that hasn't been cured in lime juice. Modern seafood restaurants are built around aguachiles, tiraditos and poke bowls, which is wonderful unless you're pregnant, dining with kids, put off by the texture, or just plain not in the mood. So here is the honest guide to cooked seafood in Cancún as it actually appears on our menu: hot oysters, breaded and tempura rolls, wok-fried rice, main courses and desserts. Real dishes, real prices, no vague reassurances.
How to read a seafood menu when you want no raw fish options
A little context first. MERO 18 sits on Avenida Carlos Nader, in downtown Cancún, inside Mezcal Boutique Hotel — and it is open to everyone, hotel guest or not. The setting is a jungle hidden in downtown Cancún: a planted garden, a cenote-style pool, and a glass-walled dining room with air conditioning for when the midday heat wins. We're open every day from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.
In practice, the menu splits into two halves. The cold bar — ceviches, aguachiles, tostadas, tiraditos, nigiri and pokes — is where raw and cured fish live. Everything else is fair game: the cooked rolls and rice bowls in the sushi bar, the main courses, the warm starters and the desserts. That second half is considerably bigger than it looks on first read, and it's what this article covers. One practical note: if you're unsure how a specific dish is prepared, just ask your server at the table. It's a normal question and they answer it all day long.
Hot oysters: the best cooked opener on the menu
If you want to start with the sea but want it to have met some heat first, hot oysters are $90 MXN apiece in three styles: Rockefeller, zarandeado style and garlic mojo. Because they're sold by the piece, you can order three and try one of each without committing to a dozen. Rockefeller is the indulgent one, baked and buttery; garlic mojo is the classic; zarandeado is the most Caribbean of the three.
They're also the easiest way to keep the table together: while the others work through cold oysters at $70 a piece, you order the hot ones and nobody's eating a different meal. If molluscs are your thing beyond this, we wrote a full guide to oysters in Cancún.
Breaded, tempura and vegetarian rolls
Here's what surprises most people: sushi doesn't have to mean raw. Our rolls come in 10 pieces, and several of them list no raw fish at all. The Breaded roll ($200) — shrimp, two cheeses, crab and tamarind sauce — is the most substantial and the one families with kids order most: crunchy outside, faintly sweet at the finish. Shrimp tempura ($180) comes with masago, cheese and avocado. Plantain & cheese ($165) is shrimp, eel sauce and toasted sesame, and it's the gentlest first sushi anyone could ask for.
The Crab roll ($220) adds cucumber, avocado, cheese, tempura soft-shell crab and kanikama. And if you want to leave the ocean behind entirely, the Vegetarian ($180) is asparagus, cucumber and carrot topped with avocado and crispy leek. All five live in the sushi bar section; if you want to understand roll styles before you order, our guide to sushi rolls walks through them.
Yakimeshi: the wok-fried rice that rescues any table
Yakimeshi is rice stir-fried in the wok, and we'd argue it's the single most useful dish on the menu. It's hot, complete, has nothing raw in it, and is neutral enough to please almost anyone at the table. Vegetarian is $185, chicken $270, shrimp $290 and beef $320; tuna ($280), salmon ($290) and mixed ($290) versions are there for everyone else.
Travelling with children? Chicken yakimeshi ends the negotiation before it starts. And if you're the one skipping raw fish, a shrimp yakimeshi plus a couple of hot oysters is a genuinely good dinner — not a consolation prize.
Main courses: this whole section is cooked
The main courses are hot kitchen from top to bottom. From the sea: charred shrimp ($280) roasted in the stone oven with a spicy zarandeado sauce; shrimp in filo pastry ($290), wrapped and finished with sweet-and-sour sauce; grilled salmon fillet ($290) with sriracha sauce, rice and salad; and seafood fettuccine ($290) with mussels, clams, shrimp and calamari in tomato sauce with Parmesan.
From the land, two exits for anyone who doesn't want shellfish either: tempura chicken ($270) with sweet-and-sour sauce and gohan rice, and a 250 g rib eye ($390) served with patatas bravas. It's the reason mixed tables work here — something we dig into in our guide to group dining in Cancún.
Starters and salads to round it out
Several of the starters never pass through the cold bar at all. Roasted cauliflower ($170) with cheese sauce is the one that surprises people most. Beet salad ($130) arrives with roasted beet, fresh greens and a light dressing. Then the reliable classics: guacamole ($150) with fresh avocado, lime and salt; tzatziki ($150) with cucumber, garlic and olive oil; and Greek salad ($150) with tomato, cucumber, olives and feta. Three of those down the middle and there's plenty to graze on while the hot plates arrive.
Dessert: the easy part
Nobody has to compromise here. Fried plantain ($165) is the tropical finish that shares best. Catalan cream ($165), with its caramel crust, is the birthday order. Chocolate cake ($210) never loses with kids. And the Basque-style cheesecake ($250), a truffled cheesecake by @JONAPLAZAS, is the one guests most often come back for.
Arriving in the morning instead? Breakfast runs every day from 7:00 am to 12:30 pm and is cooked by definition: red or green chilaquiles with egg ($195), with chicken ($210) or with shrimp ($230); Motul-style eggs ($205); shakshuka ($215); Spanish tortilla ($185); classic pancakes ($150) or French toast ($195). It's all laid out in our guide to breakfast in downtown Cancún.
Bringing someone who doesn't eat raw fish? Tell us when you book and we'll note it. Book your table in a minute, or message us on WhatsApp at +52 998 490 1961.
Three tables built with nothing raw
- For two, still craving the sea: four assorted hot oysters ($90 each), a Breaded roll ($200), charred shrimp ($280) and one Catalan cream ($165) with two spoons.
- With kids: guacamole ($150), a Shrimp tempura roll ($180), chicken yakimeshi ($270) and chocolate cake ($210).
- Mixed table, split tastes: cold and hot oysters down the middle, a Vegetarian roll ($180), seafood fettuccine ($290), a 250 g rib eye ($390) and Basque-style cheesecake ($250) for the table.
Come decide with the menu in hand
Ordering cooked seafood in a seafood restaurant shouldn't feel like an apology. The freshness is identical: the catch of the day and the produce behind the cold bar are the same fish and shellfish that end up on the grill, in the wok and in the stone oven. Find us on Avenida Carlos Nader, in downtown Cancún, inside Mezcal Boutique Hotel, open every day from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. We hold 5.0 stars on TripAdvisor and 4.9 on Google. Browse the full menu and book a table.