We are going in February. Have hotel and air. Need recommendations for meals (aside from Pujol—we are going for lunch; couldn’t get a reservation for dinner) and sights (including guides). Thanks in advance. Thanks
Was not impressed with Pujol at all for dinner… Definitely do Dulce Patria and Quintonil. Also do not miss Teotehiucan if you have not been. Hire a private guide if money allows.
Drink lots of Mezcal with sal de gusano and oranges.
George
I spent a week in CDMX for work last year - it’s a tremendous city, esp. for foodies.
Highly recommended are Guzina Oaxaca to sample delicacies from the southern province of Oaxaca and Agua y Sal Cebicheria for a selection of unique ceviche appetizers and other seafood.
I liked Pujol more than George, but I don’t think it deserves top 20 in the world. The service was notably better than at Quintonil, which is more casual. My favorite meal was at Dulce Patria – not necessarily the best food, but very fun atmosphere (though they had a service mishap too – a Mexican friend had pre-ordered desert for me and it never came).
Also agree with George about the Mezcal. Cocktails are the way to go.
I love Quintonil. Great fish at Contramar. Graze at a market, perhaps Coyoacan (and can then check out the nearby sights). The Rufino Tamayo museum is a small gem. The anthropology museum is fascinating. Wander around the Zocalo and the old quarter (the small square in front of the Franz Mayer museum is beautiful and close to Diego Rivera’s famous mural). Walk from the La Merced market to the Sonora market to see another world. Brunch at Maque.
Mercado Roma would be a great place to spend a couple hours. It’s a large food hall. Sit in the back and get a Paloma cocktail. The waitress will bring you food from the stalls if you don’t want to go yourself.
FWIW, I didn’t care for Contramar.
Did you get Contramar’s whole grilled robalo? I have had but few better whole fish dishes in my life.
They were out of it. The waiter offered to substitute another fish; we agreed and while it was good (by no means great), it was a significantly more expensive, which wasn’t explained to us. Left a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak.
Thanks to all who posted.
Scott
If you go out to Teotihuacan there are tons of touristy restaurants in the area. We went to this one on the recommendation of our guide and it was really excellent. New, spotlessly clean and amazing food. We ordered a dish cooked in a giant molcajete with different meats, sausage, cactus and vegetables. Home made blue tortillas and salsa. Really quite excellent. Great view of the Temple of the Sun too.
http://teotihuacanmayahuel.sinestesiamedia.net
George
Following closely as my wife and I will be there Feb 8-11 before flying to Cabo
Saw this today: 17 things to know before you go to Mexico City – Explore Parts Unknown
And I would love to give you advice, but I haven’t been to Mexico since I lived in the DF from 81-83. This being said… cash in all four pockets, have one wallet that you bring out the has maybe $50usd and an id you can lose. Keep the other wallet well stashed. If you are driving this is especially true, be ready to bribe the cop without letting him see how much cash you have on you. Then be this way everywhere else.
I loved the new Pujol space and the food. I also enjoyed Quintonil. Biko was a let down.
Walking around Roma is great for galleries and cool shops.
We just returned from a 9 day trip to Mexico City (CDMX). My thoughts/comments:
-I enjoyed our trip a lot. It was curious to me that friends would react quizzically when I told them I was going to CDMX. They were basically questioning why I would go. I think this is a holdover from times when CDMX wasn’t as save as it now appears to be. (We never felt unsafe.) CDMX is rich in culture and history and worth a trip. Also, CDMX is very inexpensive. You can really live it up. By the way, I think a visit could be nicely completed in 5 days; our extra days allowed us to get to know the city better.
-Uber/Cell Phone: If you go, make arrangements for and bring your cell phone with you–if for no other reason than to hail an Uber. We used Uber extensively and gave us great freedom to walk one direction and get a ride back to our apartment. It was instrumental in getting to and from restaurants. Using Uber saved us from dealing with taxis.
-Guide: We used Alexander Ramirez (alextourguide@hotmail) for three days (pyramids, city center and south of city). He drove his SUV. He is an old pro.
-Eating: After a while we got somewhat tried of a consistent diet of Mexican food. We went to Padella, a really nice French restaurant I recommend. We also had a nice dinner at Contramar, but it is very busy/hustling. We were disappointed with our dinner at Dulce Patria. I didn’t like the room and it was over priced for what you got (even it was less expensive compared to the U.S. A “soup to nuts” dinner for four with three bottles of wine cost a little over $200 U.S.). We had a couple nice lunches at the El Cardinal restaurants (at least two locations in CDMX). By the way, Mexicans eat lunch for 2:00 to 4:00 and dinner not before 8:00-9:00.
-Tipping: They run the credit card at the table and expect to told the percentage of the tip to add to the card (or you can leave the tip in pesos.) I think they expect a 10% tip. I usually tipped more and received genuine thanks of appreciation (so I thought).
-Wine: It is overpriced when compared to the cost of the meal. But I found it no big deal because things overall were inexpensive.
-Handicrafts: I highly recommend la Ciudadela (near the Alameda).
Bit late to this but I thought that Tori Tori was one of the coolest places I’d been in a long time. Love the design of the place.