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Oaxaca coast food: what to eat in Huatulco
Pescado a la talla, tichinda, mole costeño and Pluma coffee. What people eat on the coast, explained plainly.
Oaxacan cooking, ocean edition
Oaxaca cooks differently in every region. On the coast, from Puerto Escondido to Huatulco, the base is the same as across the state (corn, beans, chile), but the sea takes the lead: fish, shrimp and tichinda, almost always with chile costeño.
Six coastal dishes
Pescado a la talla
A whole fish, butterflied, rubbed with chile adobo and grilled over coals. The classic at beachfront palapas.
Tichinda
A small clam that gets rinsed many times before cooking. It goes into broth, tamales and cocktails; tichinda tamales rarely show up on tourist menus, so ask.
Mole costeño
The coast's mole, made with chile costeño, the base chile of many local dishes. There are shrimp versions too.
Shrimp tamales
Masa with shrimp and chile costeño, wrapped in leaves. Along with tichinda tamales, the coast's seafood tamales.
Acamayas en adobo
River prawns stewed in adobo. They sit alongside shrimp and fish broths among the coastal specialties.
Shrimp or fish broth
The spicy port broth, for after a morning in the water.
Pluma coffee and mezcal
Pluma coffee. Up the hill from Huatulco, in the Sierra Sur, is Pluma Hidalgo, one of the oldest coffee areas on the coast. Since February 4, 2020, Pluma coffee has a protected designation of origin: shade-grown arabica from 30 municipalities in Oaxaca.
Mezcal. Oaxaca's other designation of origin, since 1994. On the coast it's drunk the same way as in the valleys: neat and slow.
Where to eat in Huatulco
We don't do restaurant lists: we don't recommend places we haven't checked, and they change fast. What we can say: in the bays with services, like Maguey and San Agustín, there are beachfront fish and seafood palapas, and in La Crucecita you'll find everyday Oaxacan food at local prices.
To pick a bay, see Huatulco's 9 bays; if you're here to surf, the Huatulco surf guide.
Frequently asked
What local food should I try in Huatulco?
Pescado a la talla, tichinda tamales or broth, mole costeño, shrimp tamales and acamayas en adobo. To drink, Pluma Hidalgo coffee and mezcal.
What is tichinda?
A small clam from the Oaxaca coast, cooked in broth, tamales, ceviche or cocktails.
What is Pluma coffee?
Arabica coffee from the Pluma Hidalgo area, in the Sierra Sur near Huatulco. It has had a designation of origin since 2020.
Is coastal food the same as in Oaxaca City?
Not quite. The valleys are about moles and tlayudas; on the coast the sea leads, with chile costeño, shrimp, fish and tichinda.
Sources: Larousse Cocina, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Mexican Gastronomy (Oaxaca); Wikipedia, Oaxacan cuisine; Gudó; El Financiero and WIPO (Pluma designation of origin, Official Gazette Feb 4 2020).