JimInLoganSquare wrote:Dear LTH -

...a week in Mexico City...
JiLS

Notes from September 2012
Best of trip: El Hidalguense. The Tolucca chorizo stand one half block south of La Pilarica bakery near Mercado San Juan, just at the corner same side of the street. A tamale from the Friday morning Merida south of Obregon street market vended by a white uniformed woman surrounded by moms and school kids all eating tamales.

Fonda El Refugio. Salad was superb, as were thick slices of Lengua Veracruzana which included green olives and capers. Sopa Azteca was forgettable, as was the main plate assortment of enchiladas, quesadillas etc.

Snack at Con Sabor a Tixtla. EXCELLENT—I wish we had had a chance to return. Fresh clean flavors with complexity abounded both in an order of tostadas and in a superb bowl of albondigas redolent of cumin, coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, bananas, tomatoes and a bit of chiles.

El Hidalguense. The best huitlacoche quesadillas of our trip. INCREDIBLE mixote of chicken, deeply flavorful smoky gamy bbq lamb. Superlatives fail me. We returned Sunday for the same exact meal. RUN, DON’T WALK. Fri, Sat Sun only

Azul Condesa. Fiestas Patrias big night out. Exc ceviche, caldo de pollo and salad. Exc robalo Yucatan style. Ok mole negro and chicken. Exc ice creams. VG food, great value/pricing, would gladly return.

Coox Hanal. Centro. A letdown after the Sopa de Lima and Pan Cazon. Around us people were eating pork shanks which the waiters reheated to order in a microwave up front. We ordered the pork pernil. Ok, wouldn’t run back. Pan Cazon , layers of mackerel (?), tortillas and a simple sauce of tomatoes was estimable.

Tacos Alvaro Obregon. Local place for tacos al pastor. Ok, in the n’hood, not a destination.

Los Panchos. Great old place, eternal white shirt and black vested waiter professional to a tee, superb caldo de pollo and a surtida of smoky perfect carnitas. Would gladly return.

Entremar. Contramar was booked, so to Polanco we went, complete with Kevlar vested burly security guards flanking the front door. Exc ceviche and fish tacos. Grouper tips in Chipotle sauce was so so, but the grilled fish was great.

Casino Espanol. GREAT pulpo. Large portions. Good looking lamb ribs (shoulder) I wish we had ordered.

La Pilarica Bakery. GREAT empanadas—bacalao, savory queso, vg butter and choc chip cookies.

One half block south of La Pilarica at the corner the Tolucca chorizo stand. Must get one each taco de chorizo verde, rojo and longanizza, with everything including some fried potatoes. Then repeat. You will likely be offered some of the house made head cheese. Together with El Hidalguense the best food of our stay in Mexico City.

El Hueguito, Gante. Tacos al pastor. Ok, nothing special for this noon time snack.

Flor de Lis, Condesa. Maybe we hit an off day that Sunday morning, both service and food were scattered. Tamales that were first forgotten then delivered to the table old and dry, eggs albanil that lacked flavor and hotcakes which were served with cold syrup after a lengthy wait.

I'll be in Mexico City between Christmas and New Years:
1. Any new recommendations?
2. Also, what is the normal meal time? If we want to go out to an upscale dinner, is that in the evening or mid-afternoon, and does that depend on the day of the week?

Thanks!

Normal mealtimes are in the evening. They eat on average later than in the US but nothing like Spain or Argentina. My guess is the average dinner time starts around 8pm. Please correct me any locals out there.

RevrendAndy wrote:Normal mealtimes are in the evening. They eat on average later than in the US but nothing like Spain or Argentina. My guess is the average dinner time starts around 8pm. Please correct me any locals out there.

That the first team works the afternoon shift is the rule, not the exception. Peak restaurant dining time is 3PM. Often a 2 PM reservation can be had when 3PM is impossible.

Typical El D.F. eating is a roll (or 'concha'), fresh fruit or juice and coffee to get going. Then perhaps a quesadilla or some gorditas around 10:30 or 11 AM. Then the big meal around 3PM until 5:00PM. No one is going to drop your check on the table unprompted. Later, perhaps a salad and/or some tacos around 8 or 9.

Elaborate evening suppers are served at the most pricy and trendy places in areas such as Polanco, Roma Norte and Condesa.

In a metro of 20 million there's lots of variety. As a visitor among whose interests food ranks first it can be tough to adjust to. But if you plug in a second early afternoon vitamin 'T', fruit or ice cream based snack, it will improve your chances greatly.

Recently returned from a long weekend in DF. We usually head to Puerta Vallarta or somewhere else warm on the water in January but decided to shake it up and do a foodcentric trip this time around. I hadn't been to Mexico City since high school so I was really looking forward to this with high expectations. And it's always nice when expectations are exceeded!

My first impression was that it reminded me a lot of Buenos Aires. Lots of graffitti, protest posters everywhere, trash piled up in the street, chaotic traffic, indignant protest marchers blocking intersections, vendors setting up shop anywhere and everywhere - funny how the repressive one party rule places that are cozied up with the business oligarchy are more than happy to let the people blow off steam by bitching in public. and doing what the hell they want. Just as long as they stay in power, eh whatever.

And I loved the architecture here. Real hodgepodge, Modernist and Spanish Colonial, brutalist decrepit and abandoned apartment blocks and a couple blocks later some gem Bauhaus homes. Combined with lots of parks and greenery and the vibrant primary colors everywhere it's a real visual feast. Then half the shit is subsiding or tilted because the city is built on a muddy lake bed that's been walloped by multiple earthquakes. This is my favorite shot, this entire block in the Centro is all cattywampus - I think the only thing holding these buildings up is that they're leaning on their neighbors:


But on to the food! Arrived Friday afternoon, and got settled in too late for comida so went out for tacos for a late afternoon snack. El Califa and El Farolito are right across the street from each other, two of the better known al pastor shrines in Condesa. El Califa was much busier and more inviting, and for me a big plus is they had menu service at the outdoor cafe tables. After just getting off the plane it was nice to chill with a beer and gather my wits before dealing with ordering in Spanish. Tacos al pastor por favor! We demolished a few of these before I remembered to take a picture oops, awesome stuff:



Two of these and guac were pretty filling, but I insisted we do a quickie at El Farolito too. Ordered just two al pastor at the counter and the server wasn't that thrilled that was all that I was ordering. Solo dos? Si! Dos?!?! Si!!! They were pretty good but I liked El Califa better - the pic is blurry because I took it fast before the counterman screamed at me ha


Walked off the meal by strolling around Condesa for awhile. Funky neighborhood in a Bucktown kind of way, and quite similarly gentrified too. Wound up at Parque Mexico, and stopped at Hotel Condesa DF for a cocktail. I'd read they had a nice rooftop bar, and it didn't disappoint. Nice view above the park treetops, and as an added bonus it seemed like the place to hang out for the telenovella type hotties, good thing mi esposa was looking the other way a lot ¡Dios mío!


Had dinner around 9:00 at Guzina Oaxaca in Polanco. I'd asked our concierge for some recs before we arrived, I vetted out his picks and chose this one - mistake. Restaurant is half full which is always a bummer, and then some private party had some humongous dude holding court who was bellowing like a buffoon all thru dinner - the way he carried himself I suspect he was some star luchador or something, I should've taken his picture and googled his loud ass. Food was ok but not top notch, should've heeded the advise upthread - it was apparent the B team cooked this meal. It all was presented very nicely and the ingredients were obviously very good but it just didn't click. On top of that, it was expensive, and it was in the middle of a road construction zone so it took the Uber driver a half hour to find us (btw we took Uber everywhere, excellent service everywhere we went in the city. And cheap cheap cheap I'm just looking at my credit card bills and most of these trips were less than $5 US. Can't beat the convenience, you don't have to mess with dealing with the fares and tips in a foreign language - and no constantly tipping the doormen! Their faces always dropped whenever we came out for the car and I told them no thanks I'm just waiting for Uber. Just make sure you get an international cellular data package before you go, the apps a data hog. I was using about 50 MBs a day and that was almost exclusively Uber and shutting down cellular as soon as I connected with a driver)

Next morning made up for dinner. We started at Mercado de Medellin in Roma Sur, I love permanent markets and they're a must any place I visit. A feast for the senses, love the skin color of the chickeños:




There's a few butchers inside the market that have the full carnitas set up ready to go, but the ahem aroma is pretty powerful in there so I was kind enough to accommodate the birthday girl and went outside for breakfast. And how convenient, La Reyna de la Roma is right across the street! Now this is a desayuno de los campeones, 1/2 a kilo of carnitas with a big pile chicharones, avocado, nopales and all the fixins. Totally pigged out ate way too much but just delicious. btw the salsa verde everywhere was outstanding. The tomatillos we get in the states are usually pretty weak so I always roast them to get some flavor, but in DF every place served the fresh green. Such bright flavor, really makes your eyes pop every bite my mouth waters just remembering:




Spent most of the day wandering around Polanco. At the east end of Parque Lincoln (fyi Lincoln Park ha), there's a cool tianguis every Saturday, this was fun and again more sensory overload. The park itself is beautiful and very well maintained you can tell the 1%ers in Polanco somehow manage to get better city services than other barrios



Took a load off and stopped for a cerveza and a snack at Case Portuguesa. Nice people watching at the outdoor cafe, plenty of air kissing and hugs amongst the Polancoites, everyone knew everyone who passed by, all very clubby. The assorted fritters were ok, but you can't beat the entertainment:


Dinner was at Azul Condesa. They have multiple locations but this was closest to us. After the experience the night before at Guzina Oaxaca I was a little apprehensive about dinner, I was kind of kicking myself for not fitting in the big meals at comida but there was too much sightseeing to work through. But this place was great, beautiful room, packed and lively, and no luchadors! Wife was happy, that's always a good thing


Great service, developed a taste for mezcal on this trip - I didn't see anyone drinking tequila or margaritas anywhere, it was all mezcal with every meal. Fine with me, good stuff, it pairs really nicely with the food too:


It was fairly dark so the pix didn't come out too well without flash, but everything was excellent, including the service. Couple highlights were the sopa del dia (fresh fava bean) and the mole negro con pollo - the mole was outstanding:


Breakfast next day was at Mercado San Juan in el Centro. Great market, this is supposedly where the best chefs get their ingredients. Really beautiful stuff here, including a big pavo waiting to get slathered in mole negro, and all the escamoles, guisanos and chapulines you could ever want:





Las Tapas de San Juan is located in the center of the market. This came highly praised, and they serve an outstanding sandwich. Top notch Spanish jamons and quesos on an excellent crispy baguette, plus the super friendly server was plying us with amuses and red wine and postre gratis, this is one of the best sandwiches I've ever had (on the menu this is the Español). Plus there's a nice little bench and counter you can sit at, very civilized:




Strolled up to el Centro after breakfast and stopped into the Sanborns (aka the Mexican Denny's) housed in historic Casa de los Azulejos. If you need to make a pit stop downtown this is the place to go! It's in a beautiful old hacienda, and a nice clean baño - but I was caught off guard by a bathroom attendant, I felt bad I didn't have any centavos to lay on him. An attendant in a Denny's, now that's class!


Was finally able to work in a midday comida on Sunday, and from the concierge el Centro options chose El Cardenal. I knew I'd seen pix but they have multiple locations and thought it was in a beautiful old hacienda like the Casa de los Azulejos. But this one is in the friggin' lobby of the Hilton, Madre de Dios! As soon as I figured out this was it we we're both like oh no!, but we were totally worn from marching all day and just resigned ourselves to whatever gringoed down fare they'd serve.

But what a surprise! This was probably the best meal of the trip. First of all it's a huge room, and at 3:00 most of it was filled with locals. They stuck us in a Siberia with our brethren, but whatever I understand - these folks been coming here a long time, they don't want to sit next to some knucklehead American not using his inside voice.

Meal started with this gratis amuse (!!!) of cotija, avocado and mas salsa verde, my wife just swooned over this, her favorite dish of the trip. Wow, we could've made a meal of just the amuse, this was a nice start. Then we had a very good conch ceviche for entrada, and then my wife had a killer mole negro de pollo (we had this 3 days running to compare and this was the best), and I had by far the best chile relleno de queso in my life - and I've had dozens. This was our last meal and was just overwhelmed how good this was:






Someone upthread also rec'd the shoe shine stands up and down Avenida Juarez - nice call! I'd been beating these poor zapatos to hell, so it was nice to clean them at the end of the trip, sit up on the throne and lord over the Central Alameda. I was third in line, was worth the wait. Fun trip, really glad we went:

Fast Eddie wrote:
Meal started with this gratis amuse (!!!) of cotija, avocado and mas salsa verde, my wife just swooned over this, her favorite dish of the trip. Wow, we could've made a meal of just the amuse, this was a nice start.

all the food & markets look great.. Id be down for this dish for sure.

thanks for sharing.

Yes, we really enjoyed that - it was brilliant in its simplicity, like a classic Italian three ingredient dish. I'm surprised I've never seen it in a menu around Chicago, I suspect it's the quality of tomatillos - if they suck there's nowhere to hide with this dish.

I've grown them in my garden once, they're kind of a pain because they're huge and take up a lot of space (plus you need two, or else they won't produce fruit) and then you get a massive amount of fruit at once so you're there like "now what?". But if I can recreate this dish at home it'll be worth it, we both said it'd make a perfect light summer dinner that you wouldn't get tired of. Plus it's a nice change of pace from endless Caprese salads.

In our recent trip to Mexico City, we ate at the Hilton Hotel location of El Cardenal (I think there are three total). We like the whole meal (I was skeptical given that I was in a hotel), and my wife also could have just made a meal of the gratis amuse.

Eddie, I think it's not just the tomatillo--which IS important, as you note--it's also the damn avocado. I grew up in California and forever after suffered from bad avocado--even when it was a good avocado--east of the Sierra. My solution for a while was the sister of a friend who had an avocado farm in SoCal. In season, she'd send me a box of proper, ripe, avocados. Totally unlike whatever was available in the stores in Kansas City. I'd venture the same problem exists in Chicagoland.

Geo

Well, it's not as aesthetically pleasing as El Cardenal but it was delicioso! My tomatillo's have finally started ripening, first batch of salsa verde con aguacate y queso cotija:

In my ongoing quest to cross off as many bucketlist trips as I can I recently spent some time in Mexico City. I was there for five days so you can imagine the damage that was done. Feel free to check it all out HERE and in the meantime I want to share my five favorite tacos (plus the top pastor) here. While all 34 taco stops were wonderful these are the ones I would eat (I think?) if given the option to choose just five. Not an easy decision but on this day they would be those listed below.

Tacos al Pastor at Tacos El Vilsito

- As many of us know tacos al pastor are DF's claim to culinary fame. It's almost impossible to walk down a single block and not see a cone of meat spinning. Tacos El Vilsito is commonly mentioned as having the best pastor in the city. It's a hip little place in a quiet little neighborhood. By day it's an auto garage and at night it's a taqueria. Despite being packed the product here was perfect. A combo of two trompos and good taqueros made sure these didn't suffer. I've said it before and I'll say it again - texture is important in al pastor.

Tacos De Canasta at Tacos de Canasta Los Especiales

- One of the most popular ways to fill up in DF is tacos de canasta aka basket tacos. For those not in the know these are basically steamed tacos hence their other nickname which is "sweaty tacos." These little tacos are sold out of baskets and can be one of the quickest and cheapest ways to fill up fast. I've had some damn good tacos de canasta over the years but these were on another level. Try finding something better at the ridiculous price of $.15 (US) each. The green salsa in the pic was probably the best batch of the trip. Seemed to be a mix of avocado and tomatillo. Unreal.

Mixiote (lamb) at Ricos Tacos Mixiotes

- This little stand via Hidalgo is only open for business on Tuesday's at the Tianguis Condesa Market. Therefore if you're in DF on a Tuesday this should be your first stop. Located in the prepared food section this family is making lamb mixiote the old school way - steamed in maguey leaves. This was so good I immediately began to think about the possibility of withdrawal as the chance to enjoy this taco might never happen again. Heavy hints of cumin and chili powder almost gave this tacos a Tex-Mex taste. So great.

Taco de Surtido at Los Cocuyos

- One of the most popular taco stalls with locals this is another must in my book. It's a small walk up window with an intoxicating smell coming from the comal. In it are all sorts of random animal parts frying away. The suadero (beef brisket) was wonderful and said to be DF's best but the taco de surtido aka "a little bit of everything" was the best twenty something cents I've ever spent. I'd pay $30 for a few if I could have them right here right now.

Chilorio Tacos at La Tonina

- One of the most popular taco fillings in the State of Sinaloa is chilorio. This is a pork based filling made by cooking pork until fall apart tender and then shredding it and cooking it again by frying it in a red chile based sauce. I've never seen it in Chicago so I came here to get my fix. The flour tortillas made for these were spectacular. You could almost see through them and I think that was due to the lard. The chilorio was also money. Not sure why this dish hasn't caught on like cochinita pibil has but some secrets were meant to stay that way.

Tacos de Trompo de Arrachera at Taqueria Los Parados

- Read about this place which is know for their signature Tacos de Trompo de Arrachera. Or in English - spit roasted skirt steak. Nohing more needed to say as far as I'm concerned. There's a reason DF is the greatest place in the world to eat tacos and it's places like this. Just terrific.

Lamb Barbacoa at El Hidalguense

- Bonus Stop! If planning a trip to DF and there on a weekend you MUST visit El Hidalguense. This weekend only restaurant is one of DF's most popular. The place was popping on my visit one Sunday afternoon. Everyone was there for Chef Vargas' lamb barbacoa. He lives in Tulancingo, Hidalgo on a small ranch where he raises lambs and slow-roasts them in pits overnight. The next morning they're packed into wooden crates and driven to the city. One taste of the consomé served from the start and you will be hooked. This lamb was one of the best things I've ever ate in my life. The combination of it and all the goodies served alongside it were last meal on earth worthy. Adios mi Amigos.

Chilorio Tacos

Wanna eat 'em.

Awesome as always Da Beef - you are a taco god!

Da Beef covered a few of my favorite bites from my recent trip to CDMX. That may have something to do with his full trip report being one of the primary starting points of my research. One of his finds, the mixiote at Ricos Tacos, is something I don't think I'd have found if not for him. Some other top choices he covered were were the barbacoa at El Hidalguense, the surtido at Los Cocuyos, and the chilorio at La Tonina (although the tip from this Munchies article to add cheese was a very good one).

Here are some other favorites:


Contramar makes it onto all sorts of must-visit lists for Mexico City. To be honest, I wasn't down there for seafood. But the restaurant was just a couple of blocks from my Airbnb and we had little time between checking in and the fantastic lucha libre matches on tap for that evening, so we gave it a shot and got the one open table in the place. People rave about the tuna tostada, which is fantastic, but it was the octopus and shrimp aguachile that stole the show for me.


Anyone interested in food in Mexico City is familiar with Pujol. I strongly considered going there for my one fancy meal of the trip, but made the mistake of choosing Dulce Patria instead. Fortunately, Enrique Olvera opened a casual tortilla shop last year. The avocado taco, seemingly designed for Instragram, is a masterpiece. That's an avocado leaf wrapped around the exceptional tortilla. In the inside some avocado and a sauce that has a complexity of flavor and deliciousness that has me skeptical that it actually is, as I was told, nothing more than a combination of caramelized onions, chilies and oil.


A taco of nothing more than chilies and cheese isn't generally going to grab my attention. But I read a really enthusiastic write-up of the chili rojo taco at Taqueria Los Palomos that piqued my interest, especially since it wasn't in one the handful of neighborhoods that dominate the city's internationally known food scene. Dried ancho chili, cooked on a meat-juice covered flattop with a whole bunch of cheese, turned out to be a recipe for one of the most memorable bites on the trip. I allowed myself one bottle of Coke on my trip it was this taco (and the similar one that included chorizo) that forced the drink order.


I mentioned El Hidalguense at the start of this post and the regular barbacoa is indeed spectacular. But somehow even better was the cabeza, which comes with grilled onions and peppers. I intentionally caused pain to my stomach by continuing to eat here well past the point where I was full.


I'm sure I'm not the only one here who, when traveling, if I see a long line of people getting food, I get in the line. That's what happened to me at a food cart called La Esquina del Chilaquil, which can only be found from 8:00 to noon each day. I walked past a line of about 50 people to go grab a bite to eat. When walking back, the fast-moving and equally fast-filling line was just as long. It wasn't clear to me what they were making until I got to the front and discovered these were chilaquiles tortas. You get a choice of milanesa or pibil (almost everyone went with the former) and a mess of either red or green chilaquiles. Add a layer of beans, some cheese and some crema, and you're left with a sandwich that had me telling my friend I wish I'd gotten drunk the night before as this might have been the best hangover food ever invented.


From the moment I read about Dorilocos, I knew they would be mine. There may be hundreds of food vendors in Bosque de Chapultepec and I'd guess at least a couple dozen sell Dorilocos. I had my choice of four or five flavors of Doritos and, because I'm not an animal, I went with the original. Different vendors have variations, but they all seem to fall generally close to one another. My version - topped with pickled pork rinds, jicama, carrots, Japanese peanuts, hot sauce, chamoy (sweet sauce made from mostly fruit and chilies), chili powder, lime juice, and the pièce de résistance, gummy bears - is typical of this absolute genius creation. High school and college me are insanely jealous of my Mexican counterparts who have daily access to this. Adult me adored it but, my metabolism being what it is, would have to limit myself to a few times a year. How Rick Bayless hasn't put a version of Dorilocos on the Cruz Blanca menu is one of life's great mysteries.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:

IMG_20190402_114140.jpg

From the moment I read about Dorilocos, I knew they would be mine. There may be hundreds of food vendors in Bosque de Chapultepec and I'd guess at least a couple dozen sell Dorilocos. I had my choice of four or five flavors of Doritos and, because I'm not an animal, I went with the original. Different vendors have variations, but they all seem to fall generally close to one another. My version - topped with pickled pork rinds, jicama, carrots, Japanese peanuts, hot sauce, chamoy (sweet sauce made from mostly fruit and chilies), chili powder, lime juice, and the pièce de résistance, gummy bears - is typical of this absolute genius creation. High school and college me are insanely jealous of my Mexican counterparts who have daily access to this. Adult me adored it but, my metabolism being what it is, would have to limit myself to a few times a year. How Rick Bayless hasn't put a version of Dorilocos on the Cruz Blanca menu is one of life's great mysteries.

One day, Carolyn and I were walking through Chapultepec Park, and like you, I kept seeing signs for Dorilocos. The next day, I had to find out what it was, so I ordered one -- like you, I went with "original" Doritos. As the nice senorita rapidly prepared the snack, I marveled at the ingredients included (especially the gummi bears, which I thought worked remarkably well). "Looks like a stomach ache to me," said Carolyn, dismissively and with barely concealed contempt, and then she was the one who got sick on that trip (tee-hee).

I wrote a general piece about this epic street snack for GastroObscura:
https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/dorilocos

Next day, I tried Papaslocas, pretty much the same preparation, but with potato chips and a long straw covered in tamarind paste (as you might find in a mangonada).

Last Christmas, I attempted to prepare Dorilocos at home, without much success. What looks like a thrown-together mess requires, no surprise, a fair amount of expertise with ingredient ratios. I still have a practically full bottle of Chamoy in the cabinet -- I may try again next summer.

Headed to CDMX at the end of the month and planning on at least one visit to the Dorilocos vendors of Chapultepec.

I've seen people ordering them at La Michoacana but it hasn't appealed to me. Although I've seen the tear-off top bags or Doritos and Flamin Hots at various places in Little Village for the DIY enthusiast:

spinynorman99 wrote:I've seen people ordering them at La Michoacana but it hasn't appealed to me. Although I've seen the tear-off top bags or Doritos and Flamin Hots at various places in Little Village for the DIY enthusiast:

I could hardly believe that Dorilocos were offered anywhere around here, so I called the local La Michocana and sure enough, they sell them there. Will try and compare to what I had in CDMX. Thanks for intel, spineynorman.

Did a quick weekend trip down to Ciudad de Mexico at the end of September. Pro tip: don't do a quick weekend trip down to Ciudad de Mexico. This city demands so much more.

Will try to update about non-tacos and markets soon, but I figured it was worth updating intel from previous posters with three knockout tacos we had while down there:

1) The campechano at El Torito. This Centro Historico hole-in-the-wall only serves two meats, tripe and brisket; the campechano has both. The combination is textural genius: the tripa crisps up from cooking in all that fat in the charro, while the brisket, deckle intact, just melts into itself. Life changing.

2) Lamb barbacoa at El Hidalgnuese. We ate this on the curb across from the restaurant, rain soaking us; we were speechless. The antithesis of a textural delight: it's just soft and gamy fat--which you tame, or try to, with a great salsa verde--oozing through every wrapping and napkin.

It's a madhouse on Sundays. Go on Friday.

3) Costra and al pastor tacos at Taqueria el Califa. This is a mini-chain of modern looking taquerias, though the menu is pretty classic (albeit abetted with gringas, vampiros, and the like). My gf has been haunted by their version of a costra, which is a taco meat of choosing and cheese that's then wrapped in a frico of fried cheese and then wrapped in a tortilla--subtle, right? I found it to be overkill, though fun fact learned: a fried cheese chip with guac is actually kind of great.

I'd recommend this place instead for its al pastor, which comes from one of the most comically large meat cones I've ever seen (but surely doesn't hurt their social media shoutouts). The al pastor is reminiscent of the style at Barrilitos in Little Village, with its almost Sichuan-style tendon style in texture and appearance, though here they add crispy edges for texture. I preferred this taco to the more vaunted ones at El Hequito and Cucoyos, which while both good did not have deep marinade and textures of El Califa.

Great city. Great food.

We go for a weekend every year. There's no way a weekend does it justice but it does force us into a non-stop schedule of eating and sightseeing. If you haven't already seen it, watch Taco Chronicles on Netflix. The al pastor episode hits up numerous spots in CDMX.

Took a quick 3 day trip to CDMX after Christmas. Used dabeef (and his wonderful map) along w other info here to set my loose eating agenda. Some notes, which is a mix of new and reinforcing others experiences:

-El Vilsito was my favorite meal of the trip. I had planned on making 3 or 4 different stops in Narvarte, and decided this wasnt going to be topped, so I had 2nds and 3rds. I can't recommend it enough.

-A taqueria that wasn't mentioned here was taqueria Capote Azul in Zona Rosa. Best carnitas I've ever had. I'm sure others fall into a similar category, but this was fantastic

-Reinforcing others that the tacos at Los Cocuyos, El califa (surprised how good a modern chain was), La tonina and Ricos Mixiote were excellent.

-Thought Contramar would be overhyped but i really enjoyed it. Pulpos tacos and the famous tuna tostadas were top notch

-Least favorite meal was at Maximos Bistro. The food was more than fine, but I probably came in with way too high of expectations

-Someone recommended 1985 anti fine dining in Roma and I'm glad they did. It was a refined approach to Mexican cuisine without pretension in a beautiful old house.

-hit up 4 of the famous cocktail joints (hanky panky, handshake, licorería Limantour, baltra Bar). All very good but baltra Bar was the only place that felt like I would frequent regularly, so that's my favorite.

-the vast majority of people in cdmx were masked, both indoors and out. I've gotten into a habit of taking masks off outside. But out of courtesy to everyone else here, I followed along and kept it on.

-Everything is very affordable in cdmx. I walked around a lot but uber prices were unbelievably low.

I kept a tally of tacos and it looks like I got to 33. Here's how I ranked them. All were very good or better minus hanky panky. They required 1 food item per check and the asada wasn't good.

Tacos El vilsito (6) pastor
Capote Azul (3) carnitas
El califa (2) - pastor and pastor gringa
Los Cocuyos (5) Suadero, tripa, surtido
La tonina (3) chilorio
Contramar (3) pulpo
Ricos mixiote (2) mixiota
Ricos tacos touluca (2) chorizo verde, cecina
Maximo bistro (1) birria
El Tizoncito (3) pastor
El huequito (2) - pastor
1985 anti fine dining (1) lengua
Hanky Panky (1) Asada

WhyBeeSea wrote:-Thought Contramar would be overhyped but i really enjoyed it. Pulpos tacos and the famous tuna tostadas were top notch

Contramar is the type of place I'd visit once or twice a week if I lived nearby. Their execution is flawless, cocktails and desserts are first rate and their service is among the best I've experienced; really knowledgeable and helpful waitstaff.

spinynorman99 wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:-Thought Contramar would be overhyped but i really enjoyed it. Pulpos tacos and the famous tuna tostadas were top notch

Contramar is the type of place I'd visit once or twice a week if I lived nearby. Their execution is flawless, cocktails and desserts are first rate and their service is among the best I've experienced; really knowledgeable and helpful waitstaff.

I agree with this along w many additional places. Makes me yearn for an annual trip to CDMX

WhyBeeSea wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:-Thought Contramar would be overhyped but i really enjoyed it. Pulpos tacos and the famous tuna tostadas were top notch

Contramar is the type of place I'd visit once or twice a week if I lived nearby. Their execution is flawless, cocktails and desserts are first rate and their service is among the best I've experienced; really knowledgeable and helpful waitstaff.

I agree with this along w many additional places. Makes me yearn for an annual trip to CDMX

We had a good run of annual visits pre-COVID (6 years running) and hope to resume shortly. We've barely scratched the surface in all that time. My favorite destination without having to cross an ocean.

I will be visiting in Mexico in December. Suggest some good restaurant around there in Cancun and Mexico City

[Moderator note: Cancun discussion is here.]

WhyBeeSea wrote:Took a quick 3 day trip to CDMX after Christmas. Used dabeef (and his wonderful map) along w other info here to set my loose eating agenda. Some notes, which is a mix of new and reinforcing others experiences:

-El Vilsito was my favorite meal of the trip. I had planned on making 3 or 4 different stops in Narvarte, and decided this wasnt going to be topped, so I had 2nds and 3rds. I can't recommend it enough.

-A taqueria that wasn't mentioned here was taqueria Capote Azul in Zona Rosa. Best carnitas I've ever had. I'm sure others fall into a similar category, but this was fantastic

-Reinforcing others that the tacos at Los Cocuyos, El califa (surprised how good a modern chain was), La tonina and Ricos Mixiote were excellent.

-Thought Contramar would be overhyped but i really enjoyed it. Pulpos tacos and the famous tuna tostadas were top notch

-Least favorite meal was at Maximos Bistro. The food was more than fine, but I probably came in with way too high of expectations

-Someone recommended 1985 anti fine dining in Roma and I'm glad they did. It was a refined approach to Mexican cuisine without pretension in a beautiful old house.

-hit up 4 of the famous cocktail joints (hanky panky, handshake, licorería Limantour, baltra Bar). All very good but baltra Bar was the only place that felt like I would frequent regularly, so that's my favorite.

-the vast majority of people in cdmx were masked, both indoors and out. I've gotten into a habit of taking masks off outside. But out of courtesy to everyone else here, I followed along and kept it on.

-Everything is very affordable in cdmx. I walked around a lot but uber prices were unbelievably low.

I kept a tally of tacos and it looks like I got to 33. Here's how I ranked them. All were very good or better minus hanky panky. They required 1 food item per check and the asada wasn't good.

Tacos El vilsito (6) pastor
Capote Azul (3) carnitas
El califa (2) - pastor and pastor gringa
Los Cocuyos (5) Suadero, tripa, surtido
La tonina (3) chilorio
Contramar (3) pulpo
Ricos mixiote (2) mixiota
Ricos tacos touluca (2) chorizo verde, cecina
Maximo bistro (1) birria
El Tizoncito (3) pastor
El huequito (2) - pastor
1985 anti fine dining (1) lengua
Hanky Panky (1) Asada

I would definitely try them out.

Book Contramar ASAP if you can. You might be able to muscle your way in if it's just for 2, but they're extremely popular with both tourists and locals (and save room for their excellent desserts and a carajillo or two). Pujol has a tendency to be overhyped but really love their omakase. I can see the poster's perspective on Maximo Bistro but I've never had a bad experience there (and I've been 4 or 5 times). Finally, I'm not much of a "food tour" guy but this guy does a great job and you get a nice tour of Roma Norte and La Condesa (the hipper areas of CDMX): https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/581049?c=.pi0.pk12763241999_120661082613&gclid=CjwKCAjw4P6oBhBsEiwAKYVkq4EqnhP1TR63pET7k_N5Rgr4ZJF-bN8KZSB1AY4V733-S96h9XgCFxoCHv0QAvD_BwE

The clear standout of a multi-day trip earlier this year was Mi Compa Chava (basically just a wrapper for an Instagram page). LTHer Titus mentions it in his recent CDMX blogpost here (also worth checking out).

MCC is a marisqueria. I didn't take pictures, but the Instagram page has more than enough for you to get an idea of what they serve. I remember the aguachiles verde (there are a couple of varieties), fish tacos, and whole fish preparation as being memorable. For me, the whole fish (they have multiple varieties on offer and you select by variety and size) was the real standout. Our lunch was so good, we returned a few days later which should tell you a lot.

They do accept reservations only during the week and only via Instagram. Weekends are first come, first serve and there will be a line. We arrived 20 or 30 minutes before opening on Saturday and got the last table in the first seating. Plenty of people remained in line while we ate. So if you want to go, I'd say target a weekday or have enough flexibility in your schedule to be prepared to plan ahead, go at off hours, and/or wait.

Mi Compa Chava
Zacatecas 172, Roma Nte
Cuauhtémoc, 06700
Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico

Posted hours are 12-8PM Tuesday-Sunday

I am now living full-time in CDMX. What a fantastic city - overwhelmed with all the amazing food adventures. I have been on a continuous taco crawl for the past year. I'm not sure how discerning I am since each taqueria seems better than the last. But I am addicted to "costra" tacos. El Califa is my goto spot since one of its locations is near where I live.

Bill/SFNM wrote:I am now living full-time in CDMX. What a fantastic city - overwhelmed with all the amazing food adventures. I have been on a continuous taco crawl for the past year. I'm not sure how discerning I am since each taqueria seems better than the last. But I am addicted to "costra" tacos. El Califa is my goto spot since one of its locations is near where I live.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to see some notes and pics of your culinary adventures.

Bill/SFNM wrote:I am now living full-time in CDMX. What a fantastic city - overwhelmed with all the amazing food adventures. I have been on a continuous taco crawl for the past year. I'm not sure how discerning I am since each taqueria seems better than the last. But I am addicted to "costra" tacos. El Califa is my goto spot since one of its locations is near where I live.

We fell into El Califa on Paseo de la Reforma on a visit many years back. Not the best tacos ever but very competent execution and a good value. The rib-eye is a favorite and even my non-meat-eating wife can find good options.

We had lunch at a place in Woodstock (IL) and were surprised by a very decent costra-style taco.