La Dolce Vita is a ristorante Italiano with two locations in Cancun. This review is for the location in El Centro at Ave Coba #67, SM3. This is a smaller more intimate version of the hotel zone location. Our visit was on Saturday night at 8PM, Aug.29, 2009

Upon arriving we gave our car to the valet. As we approached the front door it was opened for us and we were welcomed by a member of the wait staff.  We were seated immediately in one corner of the front-most dining room. A purse tree was brought over for my wife and we were asked if we would like to order a beverage. We ordered a large bottle of sparkling water which was placed in a ice bucket next to our table, opened and poured for us. The ambiance was pleasant, and the dining room was clean, neat, and tastefully decorated.

We were then served a complimentary signature bruschetta appetizer. The bruschetta ingredients were very fresh and perfectly seasoned.

I asked for the wine list and we ordered a bottle of Chianti Placido. We found it to be the perfect match for our dinner. It was presented, opened, and served in appropriate glasses.

I ordered the Minestrone Zuppe, which was a tasty as the picture would suggest. It was also served piping hot which I really like. Several slices of fresh cheese bread were served with our respective soup and salad.

My wife ordered spinach salad which contained pine nuts, tomatoes, bacon pieces, Gorgonzola cheese, and honey mustard dressing on the side. She was completely satisfied with it and remarked how crispy the bacon bits were.

I ordered the “Enince Ternera”, pasta which has many thin slices of veal, mixed with a creamy sauce, it was  delicious and the left overs were even better at lunch the next day.

This is the linguine with crab, mushrooms, tomatoes, garlic, with a slightly spicy light sauce that my wife ordered. She loved it and the next day at lunch commented that it was even better. I guess all those flavors soaking in over night make these dishes more flavorful. The served portions are large, so arrive hungry. Yummy!

This is not the dessert which we both ordered but this is what we were served, and it was the only disappointment. This was our second visit to this location, the last being on Valentines day back in February. At that time we also ordered a strawberry dessert that was to be prepared at our table-side. Last time they said they were out of it and substituted the desert pictured below. This time we also ordered the table-side prepared strawberry dessert and no attempt was made to do so. Instead this was served to us again, but this time with no explanation. The strawberry’s were not the freshest and the topping was a creamy brown sugar concoction that was only OK. Surprising gaff for an otherwise great restaurant.

If the dessert we wanted is not available then it should be removed from the menu selections. To serve us this without an explanation is not acceptable. We didn’t complain, which in hindsight we should have.

The wait staff is highly professional and everyone we encountered spoke English. After we settled our bill  as soon as we walked out onto the side walk, the valet pulled up our car………..no waiting for it, no standing around asking for it, in my opinion this was a very classy touch.

The tab:

Sparkling water 52.00

Chianti Placido: 310.00

Spinach salad: 85.00

Minestrone soup: 65.00

Linguine: 180.00

Pasta w/ veal: 240.00

Dessert:140.00

Total: 1,072 pesos ($85.76USD)

Tip: Your call

This restaurant is worth your patronage. It has been around a long time and it’s very convenient, if you don’t want to travel all the way to the hotel zone. The wait staff can’t be beat, the portions are large, and prices reasonable. We rate La Dolce Vita 4.5 stars. It loses half a star due to the dessert gaff which has occurred twice, but will not stop us from coming back again.