Mexico City - June / July 2009 [Pictures]

I recently returned to Chicago following a 10-day visit to Mexico City. My Mexico visits typically start/end in Mexico City and I tour-around various parts of the country in-between. This visit, however, the entire time was spent visiting the city and some of the surrounding/nearby areas. During my visit I had the opportunity to eat in some restaurants, while at other times I ate in the homes of friends.

Some reaction/reflection about the visit:

Pozoleria Restaurant Los Tolucos



Pozlole Verde



Pozoleria Los Tolucos is my 'go to' pozoleria in the D.F. People in Mexico City are as passionate about their choice of pozoleria as Chicagoans are when you ask them where to get the best Chicago-style hot dog or Italian Beef sandwich - there are as many opinions as there are pozolerias. A specialty of this Guerrero-style pozole house is 'Pozole Verde" - the green stuff . . . my favorite. Not only is one confronted with ordering a specific color of pozole, the second question asked by the waitstaff will be what meat you want in it. My preference is for chicken. This is a no-nonsense pozoleria almost laboratory-like in cleanliness and orderliness . . . with starched white-coated waiters moving back and forth like men taking part in a ballet or symphony, interacting with the three or four now health department-masked cooks working off to one side of the main dining room. This is a colonia/street where you'll find several pozolerias, and a couple of Argentina-style steak houses. Me, I stick to the Pozole.

Pozoleria Los Tolucos
Juan Hernandez y Davalos 40
Colonia Algarin
Mexico, D.F.
10:00 to 21:00

Restaurant La Casa deToño



Pozole Rojo



Flan de la Abuela



I stopped during the week, also, at Restaurant Casa de Toño in historic Colonia Santa Maria la Ribera – wherePozole Rojo is the featured meal. The Casa, quickly gaining recognition as one of the best pozolerias in the city, is an old home dating to the Porfiriano period and if you don’t watch your step you'll get trampled by the young male waiters as they race back and forth from customer tables to the kitchen, and back, with bowls filled to the brim with hot pozole. Casa de Toño is now a 'chain' of restaurants - having recently opened its fifth location.

La Casa de Toño
Sabino 144
Colonia Santa Maria La Ribera
Mexico, D.F.

Restaurant La Polar



Birria





For fans of birria (a group in which I will not claim membership) the temple at which one worships in Mexico is La Polar, in Colonia San Rafael. This restaurant has been in business at the same location sitting alongside the busy expressway Circuito Interior for more than 75-years. It's a lively place, full of people - many families - enjoying themselves and enjoying the many strolling mariachi and other musicians. Though I wouldn’t stray too far out of my way for a bowl of birria I enjoyed a good meal.

Restaurant La Polar
129 Calle Guillermo Prieto
Colonia San Rafael
Mexco, D.F.

Restaurant Canto de Sirenas









Widely considered as one of the finest seafood restaurants in Mexico City, Canto de Sirenas is a heavenly place in which to enjoy a meal . . . pass a couple of hours. The restaurant has been in business for a couple or several generations now - occupying four or five storefronts on the same street in the after-dark and 'sketchy' Colonia Tlaxpana . . . steps from the Circuito Interior expressway (and a'stones throw from Restaurant La Polar (on the other side of the Circuito). The fresh and well prepared seafood combined with an impeccably attendant waitstaff that truly seems to love their work come together to make this an enjoyable place. My dinner was a plate-sized pan-seared filet of white fish covered with an ample helping of garlic - a favorite dish of mine. If you're not familiar with Mexico City - very familiar with that urban environment)) travel to the restaurant by taxi.

Canto de Sirenas
Axayácatl 89
Colonia Tlaxpana
Mexico, D.F.
9 to 21 HRS

Restaurant La Poblanita de Tacubaya



Mole Rojo with Chicken




This is a restaurant specializing featuring regional fare principally represented in the state of Puebla. Don’t expect to find Mole Poblano on the menu, however – and it’s omission demonstrates how varied the food within a state in Mexico can be. Not finding Mole Poblano on the menu was a major disappointment for me and in its place I ordered chicken with Mole Rojo. Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec (in which the restaurant is situated) is a good place to explore (‘back in the day’ the neighborhood where foreign embassies were located – and some still are) and within easy reach on foot of both Colonia Condesa and Chapultepec Park.

Restaurant La Poblanita de Tacubaya
Luis G. Vieyra 12,
Colonia San Miguel Chapultepec
Open daily 9AM – 7PM

Restaurant Kolobok



Pelmeni



Russian Empanada – Apple



At one corner of the Alameda Santa Maria de la Ribera, across from the pretty park with the unusual kiosk, sits a restaurant featuring Russian food. Restaurant Kolobok is a comfortable place that makes a good rest spot after exploring the colonia. I walked over to the restaurant following a visit to Tepotzotlan (State of Mexico) and the return train ride on the new suburban train which terminates service at historic rail station Buenavista . . . less than a 10-minute, easy walk from this restaurant. My dinner choice was Pelmeni - a minced meat filling wrapped in a small, thin flour dough, boiled and served in a clear broth (probably chicken). The Pelmeni was nicely spiced, the dough tender to the fork and the broth a compliment. For dessert I ordered a 'Russian empanada' filled with freshly sliced green apple. The empanada resembled, at first sight, a presentation of Chicken Kiev . . . the dough was sweet and a nice compliment to the apple inside.

Restaurant Kolobok
Salvador Díaz Mirón #87 (esquina Dr. Atl)
Colonia Santa María la Ribera
Mexico, D.F.
Teléfono: 5541 - 7085
http://www.kolobok.com.mx/

very nice pictures, and reviews. thanks for taking the time to post these, I enjoyed your post alot.

I feel like I just spent a day walking around Mexico City. Great pics, terrific post.

Bill, you may have solved all my problems regarding where to eat on my upcoming trip to Mexico City in August. Question for you or anyone else reading this, is there a way to map all the addresses of the places noted above?

Guia Roji, the map publisher in Mexico, has a very helpful, interactive online map of Mexico City available to use free of charge and you will probably find it helpful when it comes to pre-trip logistical planning. When the map page opens type the street or street address, and the colonia, if you know it, and a map of the area will appear (or you will be prompted to select from several streets similarly named which you can check on). The Guia Roji website is found at: http://guiaroji.com.mx/.

I've marked-up some of the Guia Roji maps and have indicated the specific locations of the restaurants I mention in my report above. Major thoroughfares/streets are identified as are stations on the Metro system and you should be able to find the locations easy enough if you're consulting a separate map, the Guia Roji online map I mention in the paragraph above or if you have a guidebook such as Lonely Planet's Mexico or Mexico City edition(s).

(Edit: I've just tested the Google Map feature with a couple of the restaurant addresses and good maps are displayed and you can zoom out to compare a specific restaurant's location with the hotel at which you're staying at in the Polanco neighborhood.)