Mexico’s culinary scene
Ancient Pyramids, Mayan temples, tacos, and beautiful beach resorts. These are some of the images that pop into my head when Mexico is mentioned. So when we were invited to celebrate a dear friend’s 50th birthday party there, we immediately jumped at the chance—not only to partake of the revelry and travel with a group of amazing friends, but also to explore a new country that we have never been to.
Whenever my husband and I travel, we always schedule our itinerary around the culinary delights, just waiting to be discovered on each trip. We believe that food is the ultimate expression to see the cultural identity of a country. In Mexico City, here are a few of our favorites:
Maximo Bistrot
An ever-changing menu based on seasonal ingredients; this farm-to-table restaurant uses Mexican ingredients with French techniques.
Must-haves include the mezcal negroni, bread served with charcoal eggplant dip, grilled prawns, roasted baby corn with hollandaise, macadamia, and parmesan, ceviche tlayuda, and snapper aguachile with coriander oil. And for dessert, the mango sorbet with pitahaya.
El Moro Churreria
An institution since 1935. You can choose between Espanol chocolate that’s thicker, or the Mexicano chocolate version that’s more traditional and airier in texture. The churros itself is lighter that the Spanish version.
Hugo Wine Bar
A trendy bar serving wines and amazing bar plates. The callo de hacha crudo with a celery and chile manzano aguachile is an absolute must!
Casa de los Azulejos
This Sanborns restaurant is housed inside a beautiful 18th century baroque palace, formerly owned by the Valle de Orizaba family. We had a traditional Mexican breakfast here before we started our city tours.
Favorites include the huevos rancheros, huarache (corn dough with refried beans, cheese), huevos motulenos (eggs with black beans, cheese and tomato sauce), and salbutes and panuchos (puffy tortillas, black beans, shredded chicken with pickled red onions).
Contramar
A famous seafood restaurant. The star dish is their pescado a la talla (grilled snapper in a red chili sauce and a green parsley sauce).
Rosetta
A one-star Michelin restaurant ranked #34 World’s Best Restaurant in 2024, with chef Elena Reygadas (named as best female chef in Latin America in 2014) at the helm. Their elevated Mexican cuisine is inventive, flavorful, and you taste joy in every bite.
Personal favorites include the scallops crudo and lemongrass appetizer, vegetable minestrone soup, mushroom risotto with Chiapas cheese, tagliatelle with Italian sausage, short ribs with polenta, and wagyu beef with pink mole. As for dessert, the lavender tres leches and hoja santa (a Mexican herb that’s crystallized with white criollo cacao) are a delight!
Pujol
Beautiful Mexican cuisine using modern gastronomy. Our favorite restaurant, with the highlight being the aged mole madre.
Must-have snacks include the papadzul with quintoniles, scallop ceviche with peas, heart of palm juice, and esquites. The amberjack al pastor tostada, pineapple puree, avocado, and coriander, along with the shrimp, oregano mole, shiso, and grilled cucumber are just as good. And the beans tamal, salsa martajada, avocado leaves, and ococingo cheese.
And finally, the mole madre, aged 3142 days, made with seasonal fruit, cherries, sake, kasu, and yogurt.
