262501 Wed Mar 12 13:30:11 -0800 2003 8 26 International 0 1387137 Hi, I'm new to this amazing board. I'm going to Mexico City for 4 short days and I wanted to get a short list of must-gos. I know this is a little redundant. I've read all of the posts about Mexico City on this board and I've come up with this bare-bones itinerary based on the comments I've read here and other internet research i've done. We want to eat great food unique to the restaurant and/or unique to mexico city. I'd love any feedback: Los Girasoles downtown Izote in Polanco Los Danzantes in Coyoacan I know these restaurants are more nouveau Mexican, but they seemed to get the most raves. I'd love to visit more restaurants with traditional Mexican fare executed expertly -- I suspect that kind of food will be more available at street food stands (see question 3). I'm undecided about oft-mentioned San Angel Inn -- it doesn't really sound like the kind of food we want (the menu includes trout amandine, floating island, bavarian cream with strawberries). But is it worth visiting for the beauty of the dining room? Questions: 1. We're definitely going to the pyramids one of those days. we'll have a car. Can anyone recommend a place to eat either on the way to the pyramids or in the area? 2. I've read that many places are closed at night because many mexicans eat in for dinner. i was told Coyoacan was a good place to eat in and explore at night. are there any other nighttime areas we should explore? we're not bars and dance clubs kind of people. 3. I love street food. when I go to Thailand to visit family, I always eat the street food because it's some of the best food in the world. I plan on trying street food in mexico city. are there any particular areas where there are a lot of food stands that we should go to? Thank you so much for your help! Wed Mar 12 13:30:11 -0800 2003 0 Coco Nutella 1 1387140 I just read the great Chowhound article on street food in Mexico City, so I have an answer for question #3... Wed Mar 12 14:01:54 -0800 2003 1387137 0 Coco Nutella 1 1387141 Another beautiful place for a long Mexican lunch good food and a beatiful place Antigua Hacienda de Tlalpan, Calzada de Tlalpan 4619, 'phone 5655 7888. If you can, a table on the terrace. Dinner in Polanco, Villa María, Homero 704, 'phone 5250 1841. Reservations required, the traditional Mexican fare very good. Noisy. The best Gulf fare, El Tajin, Miguel Angel de Quevedo 687. Little known and hard to find, it is inside the Veracruz club. Go for lunch I believe there will be no one there for dinner. 'phone 5659 5759. Jaibas are a type of crab, chilpalchole is hot but try it. If soft-shell jaibas available, go for them. Rice with fried bananas. A true ChowHound experience. Casa Merlos. Victoriano Zepeda 80, 'phone 5516 4017. Their specialty is mole. If I'm correct they have a sampling try them all. Don't miss the Oaxaca Black Mole, to my taste the finnest. This is also lunch. I don´t visit that part of the city at night. The mother and father prepare your meal the daughters serve you. Take your time no one is in a hurry. Los Girasoles is good choice. I like their 'Besos de Princesa' as an apetizer. Fun food. On a visit there with a tourist I introduced her to zapote, try it. One of the best fruits in the world - it is black, I mean it - this is the time of the year to find it. There they add Xtabentum a liqueur from Yucatan it does nothing for it but it is not bad. Frequetly they add orange juice - that what they do at home - any place you find zapote try it. Lunch now starts arround 2:30. Most restaurants do not open before 2:00 PM. Enjoy you visit. Luis Wed Mar 12 15:59:09 -0800 2003 1387137 0 Luis GARCIA LAURENT 2 1387142 thank you so much! those sound like excellent suggestions. Wed Mar 12 16:59:48 -0800 2003 1387141 0 coco nutella 1 1387145 I have had little problems with street food. Of course, the proper precautions should be considered...cleanliness, hot food kept hot (hot in the US means above 140F),cold food covered if possible,no cross contamination, clean hands, and frequent turnover... I cannot say we enjoyed our experience at Los Girosoles. The tourist nature of the place seemed to overwhelming. Example 1: After two moderately priced tequilas, they suddenly ran out of anything inexpensive or moderate, only primo priced tequilas left! Our plato de gusanos was maybe just over half the size of the adjacent table's order (no, they did not order a double order, we both speak Spanish and heard them order...BTW, my wife is from Michoacan) Though the food was good, what really impressed me was the speed at which the waiters ran to the vacated tables in search of the tip. If only our food had arrived so quickly... Wed Mar 12 20:22:28 -0800 2003 1387137 0 elpadrote 1 1387146 I will second the recommendation for ex-Hacienda de Tlalpan. I had dinner there about 3 weeks ago and it was excellent. The setting is quite beautiful at night with lots of twinkle lights in the trees. There is a small pond on the premises in which several swans float and are tame enough that they will eat right out of your hand. There are also several peacocks including 2 albino ones. I had the Crema de Cilantro sopa which was good, but very mild and the Pollo Yucateco. The chicken was over cooked and dry, but the sauce and accompaniments were excellent. I was in a large group of about 16 which might have contributed to the chicken being dried out by the time I got it. There were thumbs up for the cabrito, the salmon and the chile rellenos. They also do classic Crepes Suzette tableside which were very, very well received. Ex-Hacienda de Tlalpan is in the southern part of the city and it is a long (45 mintues to an hour) taxi ride given D.F.s normal traffic congestion. From the Zona Rosa, Polanco, Chapultepec Park area it is about a $15 cab ride. Here are some additional restaurant recommendations. They come from Marily Tausend who has traveled extensively in Mexico for the last 30 years of so and who owns and operates Culinary Adventures, which offers four culinary intensive trips to Mexico each year. I have given the addresses, hours of operation and phone numbers where listed and have paraphrased Marilyn's comments on each restaurant. I believe that most of this information is also available on her web site. Circulo del Sureste - Located near the Zona Rosa, serving Yecatan specialties. Moderate. 11 AM - 1 AM Lucerna 12 Tel. 546-2972 El Bajio Cuitlahuac 2709 Colonia Obrero Popular Tel. 341-5877 Antojitos, breakfast dishes, specialties from Veracruz. The owner Carmen Degollado has published one of the most stunning Mexican cookbooks (in Spanish) I think I've ever seen. She has also been featured on Rick Bayless' PBS show One Plate at a Time (1st season). Moderate, 8 AM - 5 PM El Caminero Rio Lerma 138, right behind the Hotel Maria Isabel Sheraton. Noon to Midnight. Taqueria. Inexpensive El Tajin Miguel Angel de Queveda 687 Tel. 659-4447 Dishes of Veracruz. Expensive. Dressy. Not open at night. Estoril de Polanco Alejandro Dumas 24 Colonia Polanco Tel. 280-3414 Reservation required 1:30 Pm - 11 PM Mon-Sat. Closed Sun Estoril de Zona Rosa Genova 75 Zona Rosa Tel. 511-3421 8-11 AM/1:30 - 11 PM Mon-Frid. Closed Weekends Sister restaurants owned by the same person. Good food served in elegant surroundings. Expensive and dressy. Fonda Don Chon Regina 159 in the La Merced area 10 AM - 7 PM Authentic Mexican, many pre-Columbian specialties, not fancy but good food. Moderate. Not touristy, so dress conservatively to fit in. Fonda el Pato Dinamarca 9-A, near Reforma & Insurgentes intersection Tel. 546-2272 8 AM - Midnight. Closed Sunday Pato means duck and that's the specialty here, particularly the Pipian. Breakfasts are excellent, but cooks are not completely reliable about getting to work on time ;-) Guadiana 19 Bar Restaurant Guadiana 19 Colonia Cuahtemoc 1 PM - 11 PM. Closed Weekends Tel. 535-0951; 535-0726; 566-8995 High tech bar with good food. Wildly popular for comida with the young business crowd. Abundant botanas. 1/2 block from the Hotel Maria Cristina. Expensive. Dressy. Reservations suggeseted Hacienda de los Morelos Vazquez de Mella 5225 1 PM - 1 AM. Daily Tel. 540-3225 Another 16th century hacienda that's been turned into a restaurant. Possibly better than San Angel Inn. Expensive. Dressy. Reservations suggested Hosteria de Santo Domingo Belisario Dominguez 72 (near Brasil St.) 1 PM - 8:30 PM Daily Tel. 510-1434 This claims to be the oldest restaurant in Mexico City dating to 1860. House specialty is Chiles en Nogada, and it is best shared as it is very rich. In season this place also serves dishes made with maguey larva and ant eggs. BEWARE - this place in located in a pretty "iffy" neighborhood and should only be tried during daylight hours. Moderate. Isadora Moliere 50 Colonia Polanco 1:45 - 5 PM/8:30 - 11:30 PM Mon - Sat. A converted private home offering inventive dishes using Mexican ingredients in unusual combinations. Reservations required. Expensive. Dressy. La Galvia Campos Eliseos 247 Colonia Polanco Tel. 281-2310 One of D.F.s finest restaurants for creative Mexican cuisine. Reservations required. Nice dress. Expensive. La Palma Temistocles #12 Colonia Polanco Tel. 280-9947 Traditional Mexican dishes at their best, such at tacos de jaiba, filete de res al jugo con platanos, or sopa de tlalpeno. Service can be leisurely. Moderate. Las Mercedes Darwin 113 Colonia Anzures (near the Camino Real Hotel) Tel. 254-5000 or Rio Guadalquivir 91 Colonia Cuahtemoc between Reforma and Rio Lerma 7 AM - Midnight Monday - Saturday 9 AM - 11 PM Sunday Upscale traditional Mexican food. Several dishes using huitlacoche (corn fungus). Single women dining here have reported gracious service and attention. Also note the hours they are open. Moderate. Wed Mar 12 22:30:29 -0800 2003 1387137 0 Gayla 1 1387147 I got so involved with my other response I totally forgot you also asked about restaurants out at the pyramides. (Be sure to take a hat or cap and use sun block) As you drive into the Teotihuacan complex you will see lots of roadside restaurants (all numbered) with people trying to flag you down to stop and eat there. Go past them all and try Las Grutas. Gruta is grotto in Spanish, and this restaurant is in a grotto. The setting is really fun, creates an inviting dining atmosphere and is a cool retreat from the heat of the Pyramides and ground level. You go down a BUNCH of stairs until you reach the bottom where all the seating is. There is a dance floor and Mariachi entertainment. The menu is extensive and for the most part well executed. I had a Watercress Salad with Jamacia (a type of hibiscus)Viniagrette. The salad was pretty good. It had plenty of tender watercress and was garnished with avocado and tomato wedges and a little onion. I was a little disappointed that the flavor of the Jamacia didn't standout more since I was really curious about how the Jamacia would be as an ingredient in the dressing. I also had an order of sopes (3 to the order), which were good, but not outstanding. One my friends had the quesadillas (3/order) which really were outstanding. They were in the traditional Mexico City style, i.e. masa stuffed with various fillings (cheese, mushroom and pork pibil) and then cooked on a comal. These were perhaps the best of the appetizers we tried. There was also a Queso Fundido con Chorizo that was very flavorful and served in a generous portion. The cheese cooled off faster than we could eat it and kind of congealed, which wasn't very appetizing looking, but it didn't affect the flavor at all :-)). The Queso came with fresh corn tortillas. I should also mention that the 2 ubiquitous table sauces - red and green - were on the table and the green was excellent. Redolent of cilantro and garlic with a nice after-kick from green chiles (probably serrano) but not searingly hot. It paired nicely with the fresh corn tortillas and the Queso Fundido. Rather an addictive combination. The menu is in Spanish on one side and English on the other. One of the more amusing appetizer offerings was listed as "Machitos" on the Spanish menu and "Hung Beef" on the English menu. This was a great topic of conversation at my end of the table with much speculation as to what it really was. And, of course, there were a lot of double entendre comments of a sexual nature given the English translation ;-). I did guess right, however, about what Machitos really were. Knowing that unneutered male animals are referred to as "machos" in Spanish I was pretty sure Machitos were just the Mexican version of Rocky Mountain Oysters. We got one of our Mexican hosts to ask the waiters and they confirmed that Machitos were, indeed, testicles of the veal variety. Several people ordered the steak platter and discovered that Mexican steak doesn't always bare a lot of resemblence to the American version. First it was thinner, second it was probably grass-fed Sonoran beef rather than our grain fed variety (and there are many people who feel grass fed is better), third it's tougher and fourth, Mexican's don't do "rare". With only 1 exception the steaks were flavorful though somewhat chewy. The exception was a very well done, very tough steak that wasn't all that edible. The sides on the steak platter were enchiladas, beans and something else I don't remember now. The sides were uniformly very good. 3 people had the Lamb Barbacoa which came wrapped in maguey leaves. It was falling off the bone tender, very aromatic and pronounced to be delicious. Our most adventursome diner ordered the rabbit dish with mustard sauce. He ate the whole thing and didn't offer the rest of us any samples :-(. There were also a variety of combination plates which the other end of the table ordered and said they liked. The consensus was that the food was good and everyone enjoyed what they had. Service was attentive and well paced, they let us have drinks and peruse the menus and didn't rush the courses. We could have stayed as long as we wished. And speaking of drinks, if you go, try the Sangria. It is a gorgeous looking drink and goes down quickly and easily. It comes in a Tom Collins glass with lemonade on the bottom and the red wine floating on top, garinshed with an orange. Very tasty, very easy to drink, but potent nonetheless. I'm sorry I can't give you specific directions to Las Grutas, but it is on the Teotihuacan property and there may be a road sign marking the turn off for it (it was down a small side road, off the main road). If not, I suspect someone working at the Pyramides could direct you. It is a large restaurant and had a lot of customers. They also have clean, working restrooms (with attendent)where you can wash your hands before you eat. Wed Mar 12 23:49:18 -0800 2003 1387137 0 Gayla 2 1387148 what a terrific read! thanks for taking the time, Gayla! ciao Wed Mar 12 23:53:35 -0800 2003 1387147 0 Jim Leff 3 1387169 Thanks. It was a great trip ;-) Fri Mar 14 10:16:52 -0800 2003 1387148 0 Gayla