The quality of your pictures is outstanding, what camera are you using? I have brought my ‘good’ camera (Fuji) to my current trip, but keep on using my iphone for convenience. Looking at your pics, maybe I should reconsider!
Thanks! I’m using the camera of an iPhone 13 Pro.
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Wow nice. I have a regular iphone 12 and it’s quite a big difference. Maybe I should get a pro as well next time!
I was in Coyoacán the next day to do some shopping and also to visit the Frida Kahlo Museum again and also the Leon Trotsky House Museum which is nearby. For lunch, I went to La Barraca Valenciana, a Spanish restaurant in Coyoacán that, in addition to Spanish fare such as paella and patatas bravas, also serves Mexican tortas.
I had the Gallega torta ($230), which had warm bacalao / salt cod in a slightly spicy slightly sweet sauce that had olives and I think almonds. There were also slices of avocado in there. The sandwich roll was airy and slightly crusty. A delicious sandwich, and fairly substantial. They also have some Mexican craft beers - I drank a very nice Imperial stout from Espantapájaros brewery.
For dinner, I went to a location of Oaxacan restaurant group and mezcal maker Los Danzantes, which is next to the Jardín Centenario plaza in the center of Coyoacán.
Free bread
I started with the Hoja Santa ($230) a dish of hoja santa leaves stuffed with Oaxacan cheese and also a goat cheese I think, on a tomatillo based sauce. Delicious, with some gooey stringiness from the Oaxacan cheese and some pleasant funkiness from the goat cheese.
I wanted to try a dish with mole and my waiter suggested the Enchiladas de Pato ($400) which is duck enchiladas with two moles - Oaxacan mole negro and mole verde from Michoacán, topped with queso añejo and onions. This was very good. Both moles were delicious - the Oaxacan black mole was rich, thick, and slightly thick. It tasted of dried fruit, chilis, and a bit of chocolate. The green mole was more bright and fresh tasting but with still some richness - I believe it is thickened with pumpkin seeds. The duck enchiladas were corn tortillas filled with shredded duck “carnitas.”
Also had a few glasses of Danzantes mezcal.
Not food - pictures of Coyoacán:
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The next day I went on a tour to Teotihuacán, and had lunch at a restaurant near the site, which was a bit touristy. They had a buffet, but one could also order a la carte.
An unremarkable escamole quesadilla, some pretty good barbacoa tacos, and a surprisingly great consomé de borrego.
Not food - Teotihuacán is very impressive and well worth the hour or so trip from the city.
For dinner back in CDMX, I had some tacos and cocktails at Café Tacobar in Roma Norte. They also have a location in Roma Sur, and if the awning is to believed - London, Barcelona, Tokyo, and Bangkok (I couldn’t find any evidence for these locations 
). H/t again to @mariacarmen ‘s excellent report which mentioned this place. It’s a small space - a long bar inside with some tables outside and a little seating area in the front. The bar seats have a secret shelf that contains napkins and oddly, playing cards.
I had a couple of cocktails:
Salmoncito ($180)
Gin, Campari, jugo de toronja, agua tónica y suprema de toronja
This was very refreshing and light.
Dry Smoky Martini ($180)
Gin, dry vermut y aceitunotas infiusionadas en mezcal Cuishe ancestral
This was a good slightly smoky Martini, with a mezcal infused olive.
Free popcorn
I started with two meaty tacos:
Costilla Taco ($60)
de costilla chingona de res que no sufrió tanto
On the left - a straightforward beef ribeye steak taco. Juicy and beefy filling. All of the tacos were on green tinted (from hoja santa maybe) flour tortillas, and all were quite large.
Chilorio Taco ($60)
de chilorio de cerdo medieval zacatecano
On the right - a pork chilorio, spicy pork cooked in a chili sauce. There was some cheese in there too. Delicious!
The first two tacos were superb so I had a couple more.
Chayote ($60)
de chayote salteado con hoja santa y quesillo
I got some veggies with this taco, which was filled with strips of chayote, a type of squash.
Especial ($60)
Finally, a taco filled with zucchini, topped with a fried egg and ham. This was as good as it looked!
Menus
Great tacos and great cocktails.
For a snack I made a repeat visit to El Greco in Condesa. El Greco specializes in tacos arabes, which are a bit like al pastor tacos in that the meat is off a spinning trompo, but the spices are more Middle Eastern like a shawarma.
This time I had a doneraky gringa with avocado ($90)
Which was a large quesadilla like thing made with flour tortillas, stuffed with the shawarma style meat off the trompo with onions and melted cheese, and topped with avocado. Delicious.
I ended my night with a nightcap at Baltra in Condesa.
Hobart ($240)
Whisky Buchanan’s 12, Cocchi americano, Cordial de jamaica
Like a less bitter Negroni or Boulevardier
Lantana ($150)
Runnegth Dry, Jengibre, Piña, Hierbabueana, Cardamomo, Agua mineral
This was a tropical tasting mocktail that had some cardamom flavor.
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how have i missed all these posts! fabulous, and I’m glad you enjoyed a few of my recs - now i have some of yours for my next trip! (hopefully not too far off in the future…)
Loved Baltra!
your pics are spectacular, thanks for all the detailed descriptions!
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Next, lunch at Nicos, a restaurant founded in 1957 with an emphasis in Slow Food made with seasonal ingredients. Chef Gerardo Vazquez Lugo started the Slow Food movement in Mexico. More info here from Eater:
Nicos is in the Azcapotzalco neighborhood, which is a bit of a trek (especially with CDMX traffic) from Condesa where I was staying.
The menu is on index cards presented in a box. I made it easy for myself and just got the “Carta en Blanco” seven course tasting menu, with beverage pairings ($1900).
Tostadas with salsa, and esquites - a street corn dish with cheese.
A hamachi ceviche verde. Very nice. I made use of some of the tostadas for this.
A fish fritter and a tostada with avocado, a slightly funky goat cheese (from looking at the menu - queso de cabra de “Sierra Encantada,” and trout roe. Very good.
A taco of guacamole inside a crunchy cheese shell, on a warm corn tortilla. A little like a double stacked Taco Bell taco 
A delicious empanada stuffed with mushrooms and cheese and topped with salsa Mexicana. This had a nice thin fried shell and was very fresh tasting.
La sopa seca de natas. A “dry soup” that is a Nicos signature dish. It was kind of like a Mexican lasagna with layers of a tomato-ey sauce with tortillas I think, and chicken. And also nata which is apparently a cooked cream (thanks Google). Quite nice.
Shrimp in a tamarind sauce with grapefruit. Nicely cooked shrimp.
Costillas de cerdo en pepián verde - pork rib meat in a mole verde with pumpkin seeds. Also with some chayote slices. This was delicious. It came with some corn tortillas with which I made some tacos.
Dessert was a fruit gelée, with chocolate bits.
This was a relaxed, pleasant meal with very fresh tasting ingredients. Worth the shlep from the city center.
More pictures
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Sounds wonderful.
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For dinner I went to a location of La Casa de Toño in Zona Rosa. La Casa de Toño is a large chain of restaurants (over 50 locations in and around CDMX - there are two just in Zona Rosa itself) founded in 1985. Some of the locations are open 24/7.
La Casa de Toño is known for their pozole, so I got a small size bowl of their pozole, which had a plethora of pig parts. It came with some tostadas and a DIY lime press, and also the usual accoutrements of ground oregano, chili flakes, and various salsas. A very good bowl of pozole.
Dressed up bowl
Tostadas, lime, salsas, herbs
I also had a crispy chicken flauta in a piquant salsa verde with crema and cheese, which was also quite good.
I then walked over to La Clandestina, a cool mezcal bar in Condesa.
Front bar with various jugs of mezcal
Hey there’s a bug in my drink. I had a Jamaica cocktail ($160)
45ml de Espadín Jóven + Escarcha de sal de gusano, brocheta de chapulines, concentrado de jamaica, licor de naranja, limón y jarabe
And also a few mezcals. I didn’t get a pic of the menu but there is a wide selection of 25+ mezcals and you can choose from 1oz, 2oz, and 450ml sizes of each.
I had to soak up some of the mezcal, naturally. So I had a couple tacos from Taquería Los Parados in Roma Sur, which is open late. I had a couple of pastor de arrachera tacos, in which al pastor is sliced in wide slices and grilled a bit like arrachera ($54), and also a beefy cecina (kind of like jerky) taco ($75). These were perfectly fine and also hit the spot perfectly.
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Great pics!
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Now I’m hungry!! Thanks for another delicious report.
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For lunch on a Friday I went to the Roma Norte location of Mi Compa “Chava”, a restaurant from chef Salvador Orozco that specializes in Sinaloa style seafood. They also have a location in Coyoacán. It was very full and very lively at lunchtime. I got a seat at the bar where one can watch the chefs at work.
After sitting down, I was given a free cup of piping hot tomato-ey seafood broth with a lime wedge, and also a little fried taco filled with fish. Nice!
Tostada Cachetona ($310)
This was a mixed seafood tostada. It had a plethora of seafood on top of a tostada shell that was almost comically dwarfed by the massive pile of seafood on top. There was some mayo on the bottom and a prettily sliced avocado piece on top. A tangy dark broth or sauce was poured over it. I think there was tamarind in there. There was lots of delicious fresh seafood - raw and cooked shrimp, crab, tuna, and a huge scallop. I did wish there were maybe a little more mayo or avocado or other fat to counter the piquant and sour sauce. Did I mention that this was huge?
Camarones Zarandeados con Cabeza ($590)
Next I had some grilled butterflied head-on large prawns that were grilled and I think basted with a healthy lashing of butter. Delicious! This was a large plate of rich sweet perfectly done prawns with some smoky bits from the grill. Complete with the heads to nibble on. It came with two sauces - a citrusy green sauce and a chili flavored mayonnaise.
Taco de Ostión Empanizado ($145)
And finally, a taco of a fresh blue corn tortilla topped with two plump oysters fried “tempura” style and garnished with seaweed salad and salsa Mexicana. Also delicious!
I had also ordered an aguachile negro but thankfully my waiter held off on putting that in before asking if I still wanted it. I saw some of them going out of the kitchen and they looked huge. I was absolutely stuffed.
This was a delicious seafood lunch.
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Their caramel flan is awesome
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Those Shrimp look fantastic!
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I’ll put it on the list for next time 
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I had a coffee and guava roll break at Panadería Rosetta, which is a short walk from Mi Compa Chava.
And then to counteract the caffeine, a couple cocktails from Licorería Limantour.
Oakland ($240)
SIN PENA MEZCAL, PUNT E MES, APEROL, COFFEE TINCTURE
I admit I ordered this in part because it shares a name with my hometown. Very good, it was a bit like a Negroni but with mezcal.
Jamaica Mezcal ($220)
7 MISTERIOS DOBA YEJ MEZCAL, HIBICUS AND CARDAMOM SYRUP, LIME
This was a little on the sweet side for me.
I walked around Roma Norte a bit. It was raining a little.
For dinner, I went to Azul Condesa, a restaurant from chef Ricardo Muñoz Zurita. They also have two other locations in Centro Histórico.
Keeping with the name of the restaurant, the interior is very blue.
They had an English menu.
Escamoles, the Mexican Caviar ($388) Tlaxcala
Small white ant eggs. Served with guacamole and corn tortillas, ideal to make tacos. This dish is a great delicacy for Mexicans, almost impoissible to find outside the country.
I started with the escamoles, with which I made tacos with the included guacamole and fresh warm tortillas. This was very good. Escamoles kind of taste like a protein-y rice to me. The guacamole was very smooth.
Tamalita de Huitlacoche y Camaron ($230)
I forgot to take a picture of the menu description of this. It was a blue corn tamale with huitlacoche / corn smut and some nicely cooked shrimp in a tomato sauce with olives and capers. Good.
Buñuelos con Pato Rostizado ($450) CDMX
Seven fritters stuffed with roasted duck, served with mole negro oaxaqueño. This dish has become a classic, and we have served it since opening our first restaurant 22 years ago.
This was the famous buñuelos de pata from Azul. Delicious crispy packets of duck, with a delicious mole negro poured over it. There was some more mole negro on the side to add, and some blackberries on the side for an added touch of sweetness.
I also had a few servings of mezcal, which was served in a hollowed out calabash fruit shell (which is called a jícara - thanks Google) and came with the requisite orange slices with spices. They have an extensive mezcal selection broken down by agave type.
I didn’t have room for dessert, but did have some room for some bittersweet Mexican chocolates. This was a delicious dinner.
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For lunch the next day, which was a Saturday, I went to El Hidalguense in Roma Sur. El Hidalguense is a restaurant specializing in barbacoa, a dish of lamb that is slow cooked in pits. Barbacoa can also be made from goat or beef. El Hidalguense only opens from Friday through Sunday. Its owners, chefs Moises and Norma Rodriguez, live in Tulancingo, Hidalgo where the barbacoa is cooked. They bring the barbacoa to CDMX and open up the restaurant on the weekends (thanks Google).
Salsas and condiments
Escamoles Taco ($420)
Escamoles / ant larvae taco on blue corn tortillas.
Plato Hidalguense ($190)
I ordered a plate of accompaniments. There were some nice salty chunks of a fresh cheese that was a little tangy, cold nopales / cactus pads, radishes, and an avocado cut into slices. It’s probably meant to be shared 
One can order barbacoa by the pound, but my waiter suggested for a solo diner to order the tacos rather than by weight.
Barbacoa Tacos ($240 for 3)
My tacos were also on blue corn tortillas. They were good. The meat was tender with a bit of smokiness.
Consomme ($85)
This was fine. A plain lamb broth with a little smokiness.
These were good tacos with good barbacoa, but not mind blowing IMHO.
On Saturday night I went to a performance of the Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Centro, which was a fun show! I definitely recommend checking it out. After the show I made a repeat visit to Taquería Los Cocuyos in Centro for dinner.
I had five tacos and una cerveza - longanisa / sausage, cabeza / head, cachete / cheek, lengua / tongue, cabeza / head meat, and campechano / mix. All were very good. Still some of the best dollar (a little bit more now due to exchange rates ) tacos I’ve had.
I then a little bit later had a second dinner at Cantón Mexicali which is a Chinese-Mexican restaurant in the northern part of Condesa. I think this was my first experience with Chinese-Mexican cuisine. The restaurant takes its name from the city of Mexicali - the capital of Baja California - which historically has had a large Chinese population. Mexicali is right across the border from Calexico in California. Cantón Mexicali is open late, until 1am and I think I got there around midnight.
I started with a cocktail, the Chicali High Ball ($220) (115ml)
Baijiu, Mezcal, Ancho Reyes, Honeym Ginger, Lime
A highball with the Chinese liqueur baiju, which was quite refreshing.
Condiments - hot mustard, salsa macha / chili oil, soy sauce, ketchup, and limes!
Food Menu
My friendly waiter said that his favorites were the Mexicali Beef, the General Chicken, and the Lemon Fish.
I ended up getting the Mexicali Beef ($295)
Marinated beef (150g) stir-fried until crisp, mixed with fermented black bean sauce, broccoli, asparagus finished with lime.
This was kind of like a broccoli beef plus asparagus, with some salty fermented black beans. The beef was kind of crispy, almost with a deep fried consistency. I quite enjoyed it.
The side of rice rice / arroz blanco ($85) was ok, maybe a little on the dry side. It had green onion and sesame seeds.
Dessert
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I had a flight back home on Sunday in the evening and had lunch at Tacos Hola el Güero in Condesa, another repeat visit. Tacos Hola is a guisado tacos place, which has tacos filled with stews or stew-like fillings.
This time I had the higado / liver taco which had onions and was topped with guacamole, and a relleno verde taco, which was a chile relleno filled with cheese, topped with beans and guacamole. Both tacos were delicious and quite large. The liver was not very gamy and nicely cooked.
Then for a snack, I walked to the Puebla street location of Panadería Rosetta in Roma Norte, where I was looking for their dulce de leche bun. They were sold out of that though so I had a rol de cardamomo / cardamom roll ($50), which was good but not quite as good as the guava roll I had a few days earlier at the original location.
That’s it until next time!
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Wow. What a fabulous trip! Thanks for the prolonged report, very much appreciated!!
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What a great post!! Thank you for taking the time to post and share, with fantastic detail and photos. Those shrimp do look crazy good. Thanks as well for photos and details on the smaller taco places.
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