More than a restaurant, we are a community, at Coral Restaurante, hearts are fed more than stomachs

Have you tried a Coral Burger yet? One that is loaded with protein and lots of love. Coral Restaurante serves healthy, colorful, creative and delicious traditional Mexican street cuisine. Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with Chef Paulino Encarnación, founder of the beautiful restaurant, right in the heart of Cozumel, Mexico.

Please tell us more about yourself

Hello I am Paulino author of the project Cocinado Experiences, I have 20 years involved in the kitchen of which 8 have been in vegan cuisine.

You have to be crazy enough to want to be a cook
Tienes que estar lo suficientemente loco para querer ser cocinero

I started in the kitchen as a director and I fell in love with cooking, the smells of fresh herbs and the exquisite flavors when combined. 10 years later I was delighted to be able to create from scratch, to mutate ingredients and make proteins in large quantities starting from just seeds and vegetables, I was one of the pioneers in the creation of vegan butchery in Mexico.

colors, flavors and textures!
colores, sabores y texturas!

Cocinando Experiencias is a project that was born in 2020 in the kitchen of my house, inspired by matching the flavors and textures of animal proteins, I was creating and evolving, sharing my experiments. The first sales were home orders that I delivered myself on my bicycle, two years later I opened the first branch, El Restaurante Coral, currently the project sells butchery, bakery and pastries to restaurants, we are also about to open a second branch.

Cozumel is surrounded by one of the most beautiful and extensive reef walls in the world

Our specialty is traditional Mexican street cuisine, but there is also international and signature food on our menu. You can find us in the heart of Cozumel, at the top of the Hostelito Hotel, we have a Caribbean and light atmosphere, you can sit under our palapa to have a natural fruit smoothie and enjoy the sunset or come for dinner after work and have a sangria.

Among the most requested items on our menu are the typical Mexican Gorditas with pressed chicharron style protein, cheese made by us from rice and corn, cilantro, onion, lettuce and cream. If you are really hungry you can enjoy our Torta Celia that has all our proteins or our beloved Coral Burger made with a steam bun painted with beets, if you want something lighter, our delicious Tzuki Bowl.

Delicious food, delicious company, delicious to be here
Deliciosa comida, deliciosa compañía, delicioso estar aquí.

I am happy with the emotions that come from being vegan and the serenity I find in being connected with my body, I want to share this lifestyle, to show that you can live and have a complete diet without mistreating animals, that plant-based diets are full of flavors and textures just like any other style of eating.

I wish everyone could experience the physical and emotional benefits of veganism.

Gorditas de chicharron prensado- Very Mexican

Did you know that when you eat animal meat you also ingest the memories and experiences that the animal lived?

I would like to tell you that at the beginning when people called me to ask me if I could make something vegan or vegetarian, I had a very tough attitude and sent them either to another restaurant or to the salad bar, now I invite everyone to try the plant-based options and of course the dishes I prepare.

I would like to thank the one who almost forced me to work in a vegetarian restaurant, Maia, a Yoga teacher and manager of Pan Comido Restaurant.

There was a surprised diner who approached me to ask me if everything I had eaten was really plant based, with a look of immense surprise he congratulated me for such exquisite taste and pleasant textures, arguing that if no one told him he could have believed that he had eaten animal meat and that now he was willing to try a plant based style of eating.

I think we have reached a stage in which it is becoming obvious that we are exhausting resources, it has awakened the curiosity for different lifestyles and how to adapt to the changes that are presented, I want to believe that humanity is becoming more sensitive and leaving behind archaic traditions full of violence and meaningless. I think that the seed of collectivity has begun to germinate.

There are countless options to find natural protein
Un brindis refréscante por la vida !

Veganism is not only eating salads and seeds, there are countless options to find natural protein, with the desire to break this myth was that I specialized in the production of vegetable proteins and vegan butchery, the flavors and textures of animal meats can be imitated by making mixtures of spices and using different cooking techniques.

I invite you to give yourself the opportunity to make a change, little by little, start for one day and allow yourself to experience the changes that will take place in you. Nowadays there is a lot of information on the net, I was inspired by the great animals that have their diet based on plants, like the elephant or the whale shark.