Fish Cheeks Visited 2/4/2017 4.5 Forks

Fish Cheeks  55 Bond St., New York, NY 10012

Thai food, we all love it and I used to eat pad thai by the truck full for dinner.  While take-out Thai will always have a spot in my heart, true authentic food it is not.  For real authentic Thai food that hits you in the face with flavor and spice you usually to have to trek out to Queens or Red Hook to go to Pok Pok but luckily Fish Cheeks fills that gap in the city.

I actually went for lunch on a random Saturday and as a warning their lunch menu while delicious is quite limiting.  The dinner menu isn't really any bigger but if don't have your heart set on a specific dish, going for lunch is a nice intro to the place.  The space itself is beautiful - spacious, bright and colorful, it actually reminded me more of a Caribbean restaurant than a Thai restaurant.  As I mentioned the lunch menu is small - 3 noodle dishes or 5 rice dishes.  If you're a vegetarian or don't eat seafood, don't even bother, there is nothing you can eat here.  But if you do eat seafood and or meat, everything looked amazing.  Since it was such a freezing cold day, I opted for the Senn Lek Tom Yum Noodle dish ($16) and Lily got the crab fried rice with egg ($18) and we got a side of pork belly ($8).

When I hear pork belly I usually think of BBQ, so I had no idea what to think when we ordered a side of pork belly but it turned out to be amazing and delicious.  It's mostly focused on the crispy skin and the beautiful fatty meat underneath but in small bite sized pieces and it's served with intense green chili dipping sauce.  I could have popped 100 of them in my mouth.  The tom yum noodle soup was served in a spicy lemongrass broth and topped with mussels, shrimp, squid, soft boiled egg, cilantro, galangal and thin rice noodles.  It punched you in the face with intensity and flavor which I loved.  Lily and I switched off and I tried the crab fried rice and it was packed with huge chunks of fresh crab meat and prik nam pla which is a delicious Thai sauce consisting of chilies, fish sauce, lime and brown sugar.  I would take that sauce and pretty much coat it on everything I could eat if I could.  I had come to lunch with a slight cold but all the heat of the chili really cleansed my nasal system quickly.  We saved room for dessert and got the key lime pie (I know, not very Thai) and it was fabulous - super tart with a nice graham cracker crust.

Before I wrote this I read Pete Wells' review on this place and while he didn't love it as much as I did he did write that "It’s not a groundbreaking restaurant; it simply cooks the way I wish more Thai kitchens did" and I would whole-heartedly agree with him on that.  While there is always a need for your mom and pop Thai take out with your pad thai and curries, I wished there were more places like this that didn't require a trip to Queens.  Total bill:  $36/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Rolf's Bar and Restaurant Visited 2/2/2017 2.5 Forks

Rolf's Bar and Restaurant  281 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10010

Ahh Rolf's.  It's a New York institution that I've somehow avoided for 15 years but it felt like something I should cross off my list.  They're famous for their elaborate holiday decorations and if you try to go during the holiday it is an absolute madhouse.  Seriously, Holly and I tried to go at 6pm on a random December night and the line was wrapped around the corner.  But the secret is that they keep up these decorations until May, so unless you are die hard about needing to be there in December, you're much better off going after the holidays are over. 

This time around Holly and I went in early February and just like that, there was zero line to get it. When you walk in, you're "greeted" by a very gruff German dude who asked us if we had a reservation.  We said no and he said "you must have a reservation" - mind you the place was practically half empty so we were so confused.  We asked if we could make a reservation for right now (how does that even make any sense?!) and he then walked us to a booth.  So weird. The decorations are definitely very impressive.  It's super festive and you feel like you're trapped in some holiday wonderland (or horror house - depends on how you feel about dolls being strapped to walls). Not surprising, the menu is typical German food: schnitzel, pork chops, and lots of sausage dishes.  I opted for the bratwurst platter ($25) and Holly got the wiener schnitzel ($30).  It's definitely way overpriced for what is was but I guess you're paying for the holiday spirit. 

I was expecting the bratwurst to be grilled but instead it was boiled which is definitely not ideal since the best part of the sausage is the grill marks and smokiness of it.  Boiling sausage is reminds me of a wet sock - although it obviously tasted better than a wet sock.  If you mixed it all together with the mashed potato and sauerkraut, it was an edible bite.  The mashed potato was a bit watery and thin for my liking but again, if you mix everything together it's fine.  

As expected you don't come here for the food - you come here to take an Instagram worthy picture of the lights and decorations and for a few beers or glasses of mulled wine.  There are much much better places in the city if you want real German food but I'm still glad I went and got my holiday cheer on. Total bill:  $54/pp with tax and tip

Olmsted Visited 2/1/2017 4.5 Forks

Olmsted  659 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

I had been wanting to check out Olmsted for a while as it was on every Best of 2016 list last year. Despite being open for a bit now, it's still pretty hard to get a reservation but Amy luckily snagged one on a random Wednesday night at 5:45pm for our monthly Rabbit Habit date with Anuja. 

The decor of this place is so very Brooklyn.  Everything looks like it came from Etsy - it's all very cute and artisanal looking and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.  As you might have expected the menu is very much farm-to-table.  We decided to split the Gobi Pakora Cauliflower ($8), the sweet potato and uni perogies ($13), the rutabaga tagliatelle ($20), the grilled scallops ($22) and the trout ($21).   What's great about this place is that nothing, even the entrees, are over $24 which sadly in this day in age in NYC is sometimes really hard to come by.

The gobi cauliflower was a small bites dish and it was indeed small bites - very tiny cuts of cauliflower tossed in Indian spices and lightly fried.  The cuts were a bit too small for me but the flavor of it was delightful.  It definitely got the palate going.  Next we got the sweet potato and uni perogies - we had asked for them steamed but they served them up fried, which was a bit annoying but clearly that didn't stop us from eating it.  You wouldn't necessarily think that sweet potato and uni would go to together but the flavor profile strangely worked and it was a delicious balance with the sour cream and sauerkraut.  I probably still would have preferred it to be steamed instead.

Next came the 3 entrees - the rutabaga (root veggie) taliatelle was cut into thick strips of pasta and served with black truffle and brown butter.  It was a fantastic use of the rutabaga a la a zucchini noodle.  I really love eating "noodles" this way and you barely even miss that it's not actually pasta. The grilled scallops came on 2 sticks and I was surprised at how many they gave us (about 4 scallops per stick) because usually scallop dishes are notoriously skimpy.  I guess since the scallops weren't huge here they could get away from serving more of them.   They were grilled nicely - firm but not overcooked and served with a refreshing celeriac and apple slaw.  But the star of the night was the trout dish - we mainly got it because it said it came with creamed Brussels sprouts and we had no idea what that meant.  What it means is god damn deliciousness.  It's exactly what you think it is and it coated the trout filet along with onion and cabbage.  It was amazing and even though it's early in 2017, it's on my list as one of the best dishes of the year.  If I were to come back and not want to share a dish, this would be it.

We saved room for dessert and contemplated getting the smores but it was $20 and seemed like a lot of work.  BUT if you do get it, you actually get to make them on your own in their freakin adorable garden in the back.  If the weather is nice, you must go out there and get a cocktail (or the smores).  t's the cutest thing ever as they grow their own veggies but then they also have this giant cage that houses two adorable quails in the middle.  Yes, can it get anymore Brooklyn?  Instead for sitting outside, we opted for the caramel apple donuts ($7) which were warm, fluffy and perfect donut holes.

Overall it was a really lovely meal.  Simple but still sophisticated.  I would really recommend this place as a nice place to catch up with friends or a cute 1st date in the garden.  Hopefully a reservation won't be so hard to get in the future but the way they are making food, I kind of doubt it. Total bill:  $39/pp with tax and tip (quite the steal!)

Photo Credit:  Yelp

48 Hours in Mexico City - Day 2 - Visited 1/28/2017 4 - 5 Forks

Quintonil  Newton 55, 11550 México, D.F.                                                                   4 Forks

Mexico City is actually home to another World's Best Restaurant and this one is actually ranked even higher than Pujol at #12.  Since I adored my meal at Pujol, I couldn't wait to see what a restaurant 13 spots above it was like.  I decided to do lunch at Quintonil instead of dinner so that we could have at least 1 dinner where we could kind of wing it and try something random if we wanted.  Quintonil is also located in the tony Polanco area and decor-wise it's the complete opposite of Pujol (or it could just be I was there for lunch and not dinner).  It's bright, airy and more casual and some people were even wearing shorts and jeans to lunch.  

What's also different here is that you can order a la carte if you want, which is a nice touch since eating a 10 course meal isn't always necessary.  But of course when in Rome, I felt like I had to get the tasting menu (1,600 pesos which is approximately $80 USD, so when cheaper than Pujol!) while Janet ordered the zucchini flowers stuffed with shrimp (190 pesos or $9.50 USD) and the Waygu beef entree (430 pesos or $21.50 USD).  I finally got a cocktail while I was in Mexico City (I was a bit weary because of the high altitude) and got a fantastic mezcal drink that really hit the spot.

The first glance, I already liked the Pujol menu a bit more.  At first I thought it was because the menu here was more geared towards a lunch style but they actually serve the same tasting menu for lunch and dinner.  There was a few cactus dishes listed which honestly I'm just not a huge fan of but I was willing to roll with the punches.

They start you with an amuse bouche of this amazing squash like soup that's served shooter style and some handmade corn tortillas with a black bean sauce and salsa.  We were almost full just from these small bites.

The first course was a cactus ceviche - it was quite refreshing but again nothing compared to the tuna crudo I got as part of the first course at Pujol.

The 2nd course was the zucchini flower stuffed with shrimp head (Janet's a la carte version came with 4 of them, mine only had 1).  This was probably my favorite dish of the night and so beautifully crafted. The shrimp was mild and very tender and I highly recommend dragging the entire flower across the puree to get the full effect.   What a lovely dish.

The 3rd course was charred avocado with esamoles and Mexican herb chips.  So while the service here was also excellent, there was a bit of a difference with how the plates were served.  At Pujol, they give you great detail of what's in the dish in perfect English.  Here, their English isn't quite as strong (which is totally fine) and the server put this dish down and said "here you have avocado".   What she failed to mention was that it was also served with ant larvae although another server mentioned it to another table so I kind of suspected it for my dish.  I would have eaten it either way but you might be a bit better off not knowing because they do look like white larvae.  But mixed with the delicious charred avocado, you wouldn't notice or care too much.

The 4th course was an artichoke tamal - my first tamal of the trip!  I was hoping I would have time to walk around the neighborhood to find a tamal on the street but I didn't really have time and this one lovely and the artichoke was a nice unique touch to it.

The 5th course was Mexican tomatoes in a clam bullion - to be honest, this dish was ok.  It tasted exactly how it's described and it was sort of like a chilled soup but the tomato flavors were sweet, fresh and reminded me of summer.

The 6th course was the grilled trout with grilled cuitlacohe, spicy potato sauce and trout roe.  Before the meal, the super cute chef comes out with a giant cuitlaoche in a pan to show you what you're eating.  If you don't know what cuitlacohe is (I didn't), it's basically corn fungus or corn smut.  It's considered a delicacy in Mexico and while it's not fuzzy like other mold, it's definitely got a fungus look to it.  Luckily when it was paired with the delicious trout you kind of forget that you're eating it. It has a spong-y texture that's kind of like a mushroom and not like corn at all.  By this point I was getting really full and shutting down again.

The 7th course was braised pork dish which frankly I can't really remember much of.  That doesn't mean that it was a terrible dish but when it's been over a week and you were eating this many courses at lunch, your mind definitely blanks out occasionally.  I was glad that we were finally getting down to the dessert courses.

The pre-dessert was a cactus sorbet - again, not really my favorite.  It was tart and tangy which I did like but I was just too full to really appreciate it.  The first dessert (yes, I said first dessert) was listed as a six and twelve month aged cheese, so I assumed it was like a chunk of delicious cheese.  While it was cheese it was not in a solid chunk that you would envision when you get a meat and cheese plate. It was kind of shredded in a really soft texture that just didn't really taste like cheese at all.  It was just kind of a weird dish to me.  The last and final course was a frozen mousse of roasted banana.  It was also tasted exactly how it was described and a great way to end the meal.

The meal lasted close to 3 hours too and we were exhausted from just sitting and eating the whole time.  Poor Janet had to sit there and watch me eat almost 10 courses while she had 2.  While the tasting menu is quite a bargain and I would highly recommend it, it was definitely very hard to eat 2 back-to-back tasting menus.  But we were here for such a short time that I couldn't space them out, but I would definitely recommend you take a break in between such decadent meals.  Total bill for 2 with tax and tip:  3,264 peso or approximately $163 USD

La Docena  Av. Álvaro Obregón 31, 06700 México, D.F.                                                        5 Forks

By the time dinner time rolled around on Saturday,  neither Janet nor I were really hungry.  We were still reeling from our crazy fancy pants meals, so we wanted to go light and casual for dinner.  The NY Times had this fantastic 36 Hours article on Mexico City last year and they had mentioned a great sounding oyster place in the hip Roma Norte area which sounded perfect.   It was nice to get out of the Polanco neighborhood and see some of the other neighborhoods.  Roma is kind of like their version of Brooklyn - super hipster and cool with a hint of a European feel to it.  It's got adorable tree lined streets and TONS of cute restaurants, boutiques and other stores to wander around.  I wish I had spent a bit more time in the daylight walking around.

La Docena was hopping when we got there but luckily we able to snag a seat quickly.  This place was my dream!  Super bright, lots of people in their 30's and 40's having fun conversation plus a raw bar and everything seafood menu - everything sounded amazing and the oysters were only $1 with no happy hour pricing.  I wished I was hungrier because I would have gone to town there - ok, who am I kidding, we still went to town.  We ordered the seafood tower which came with 12 oysters, ceviche, 6 shrimp cocktail and usually 6 clams but they gave us 1 giant cut up scallop instead and I also ordered a side of blue crab toastadas and Janet got a cup of oyster chowder.  The waiters barely spoke English but they were so nice and tried really hard to communicate with us. There was this one octopus special that we really wanted to get that everyone in the restaurant was getting but we were so full that we couldn't do it but it was pretty much an whole wood oven grilled octopus.

The seafood tower was heavenly.  The oysters were a good mix of briny, creamy and sweet.  They told us what kinds they were but frankly I don't remember but they were all fantastic and shucked really well - I barely had any shell in mine.   The giant scallop was cooked and cut up into pieces and was great as well although I was secretly hoping it was going to be served raw.  I enjoyed the shrimp cocktail (Janet didn't) although they were a bit tough and as missing that crunch.  But the best dish of the night was the ceviche.  Holy Shit - it was some of the best ceviche I've had outside of South America.  Tart, acidic and perfectly sour with the right balance of red snapper, lime, red onion and cilantro.  If I had room I would have easily gotten a separate order of this.   It was right up there with the tuna crudo at Pujol as one of my favorite dishes of the trip.

We left just as how we came in - super full and happy.  I loved everything about this place and its vibe.  If you're into seafood, this is an absolute must stop while in Mexico City.  Total bill for 2 people: ~$65 USD

 Churreria El Moro Querétaro 225, Colonia Roma Norte              5 Forks

Yes, I was totally stuffed and overwhelmed by all the food I had had during this trip but I would have never forgiven myself if I walked about this historic (ok, the original one in the city center is the historic one but this outpost will have to do) dessert place and NOT gotten anything.  Luckily the line was pretty long here which gave me time to digest and figure out what I wanted to get there.  I mean the only thing thing to get is the churros but you can choose what kind of dipping sauce you want or if you want to get it in an ice cream sandwich form.

The actual sit down portion of this place is beautiful with its blue and white tile themed decor.  The menu is pretty basic and easy but still overwhelming with choices.  I hemmed and hawed and finally decided on an ice cream sandwich (you can get 1 or 3 minis) with oreo ice cream (you can get chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, oreo or the ice cream of the day).  I knew I wouldn't be able to finish it but I do not regret the probably 2,000 calories this dish had.  It was everything and more I could have imagined.  The churros were freshly made and perfectly crunchy and crispy but not oily at all.  It was the best and only way to end an almost perfect day of eating in Mexico City.  Total cost:  50 pesos or approximately $2.50 USD.

48 Hours in Mexico City: Day 1 - Visited 1/27/2017 4 - 5 Forks

La Merced  La Estación, Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico                                           4 Forks

I'll say this upfront - Mexico City is god damn amazing.  If you haven't been or if it's not on your list, go or put it on your list now.  It deserves to be right at the top of any foodie or urban hipster's list. I'll admit that I was probably like a lot of folks and unsure about visiting Mexico City because of its reputation of crime and not much to see.  I couldn't have been more wrong.    I'm sure there are some unsafe parts of this sprawling city but the places that I visited were no scarier or less safe than places any other big city I've been to.   The thing I was most excited for during my visit was the food (duh) and it was beyond my wildest expectations.  Seriously, the culinary scene has blown up here and it's becoming one of the most well respected food destinations in the world and I can absolutely see why. 

After landing around 12:30pm, Janet and I were stuck in hellish traffic to our hotel (the lovely Hyatt Regency in Polanco).  Knowing that we didn't have a ton of time in the city, we decided to hit up La Merced because it was the furthest of anything we were interested in seeing and we weren't sure if we'd have time for it on Saturday.  Plus we were starving and what better place to go when you're hungry than a local market?   We took an uber there and again with the traffic, it was almost an  hour long drive.   This city reminds me of LA where you just need to prepare to sit in a car for a long time even to go 5 miles.  I didn't know what to expect when we got there and it was definitely way crazier than I expected. Our driver told us earnestly to be very careful (everyone in Mexico is so nice and kind) and to keep an eye out for our purses.  While I never felt unsafe there, I can see why he said it. The place is insane - it spans across several street blocks and full of people everywhere.  Everyone we saw was a local - not a tourist or non-Mexican in site.  We definitely didn't see everything there but the market is full of meat (if you don't like see raw meat or heads of animals, don't go to this section), exotic spices, fresh produce and a lot and lots of tchotchkes.  A lot of the blogs I read suggested hiring a food guide to maneuver thru the madness and I would totally agree - it was too overwhelming to do our on our own and we really had no idea where to go.  We were starting to get hungry so we stopped at a food stall that had a bunch of local looking people eating there but I'm not really sure it was THE place to eat at the market. 

My spanish is terrible but I could obviously understand taco, quesadilla, pollo and few other food related terms.  I settled on the carnitas taco, an agua fresa and Janet and I split a quesadilla tinga pollo.  When I ordered the drink, I mixed it up with watermelon and it turned out to be strawberry which was totally fine as it was refreshing and tasty.  What wasn't fine was the size of it - it was an entire take-out tupperware size fit for 4 people but it was 18 pesos (so less than $1) so I assumed it would be a regular size.  Be aware that just because everything is cheap here doesn't mean it comes in a small size.  I kind of thought the carnitas would be shredded pork but instead they were chopped up and the taco was served very simply with some potato and peppers - it wasn't some American style taco dripping in cheese or sour cream or even guacamole (although I do love those kinds of tacos too).  Very fresh, simple and delicious.  I'll admit that it could have used a bit acid like a pico de gallo but the spicy green salsa helped to take care of it.  The quesadilla was also not what you think of at home with a flour tortilla with cheese inside, this was more of a corn tortilla with a chicken stew in it. Again, very hearty and fresh.  I could have used maybe some tomato or acid to the dish too but for $1, I'm not going to complain at all.  While this isn't 100% street food, it was close since you're sitting in an open air stall in plastic stools.  I really enjoyed seeing them make everything by hand in front of me but compared to the street taco I had on Sunday, it didn't really quite compare in mind blowing-ness (more to come on that later) but it was an excellent start to the trip.  

The market is so huge that I couldn't even begin to tell you which one this was or where to find it but there are definitely enough places to eat there that you'll have no problem finding something tasty and delicious to eat.  Total bill for 2 taco orders (which came with 3 tacos per order), 2 agua fresas, and 1 quesadilla:  $5 USD (no that is not a typo). 

Pujol  Francisco Petrarca 254, 11570 México, D.F.                                                                     5 Forks

Behold, the crown jewel of the culinary world in Mexico City.  Pujol is quite possibly the most famous restaurant in town and it got a significant bump after being featured on Chef's Table on Netflix.  It's ranked #25 on the World's Best Restaurant List (it was ranked #16 the previous year) and is probably one of the most affordable tasting menus you'll ever have.  What made this meal even more special was that they are actually closing this location in a few weeks and moving to a new place down the street - so we were one of the last few people able to dine at the original location. 

It was surprisingly easy to make a reservation on OpenTable - I just looked about 3 weeks out and sure enough there were several times to choose from - I picked 9:30pm, which in retrospect I wished I picked a slightly earlier time because it ended up being a 3+ hour meal, so it ended way past my bed time. 

The space and decor is sleek and very very dark.  It reminded me a bit of a Vegas casino where you have literally no idea what time it is because the walls are painted black and there is only 1 small tiny window, so you can be here for hours and have no clue what time it was.  But it kind of sets the serious tone of the meal.  The menu here is pre-fixe and when you sit down there is an envelope with a wax seal on it with the menu of the day inside.  It's listed as 6 courses but don't let that fool you as some of the courses had 4-5 dishes in it.  You can pick what you want for course 2, 3 and 4 - I got the beef tartar, suckling lamb taco and the chicken while Janet got the beef tartar, suckling pig taco and the sea bass. 

The first course is listed as street snacks and it's 5 small dishes - chicharron gordita, squash, chia and avocado, baby corn and a crudo dish.  The only 2 things you need to know about this course:  one, the famous baby corn (served in a gorgeous smoking gourd) is served on a stick with flying ants, coffee and a chile mayo and was amazing (don't let the flying ants scare you) and two, the absolute star of the course was the crudo, which for us was a bluefin tuna that might have been one of the best tuna dishes of my entire life.  It was perfection top to bottom. Fresh, simple and clean - I might have actually wept when I finished it because I wanted more of it. 

Luckily the rest of my meal was also incredible.  The next dish was the dry beef tartar with preserved lemon, radish, watercress and avocado.  It was cubed and as its namesake says dry as there was no raw egg with it.  But the quality of the meat and the moisture of the avocado made it such that it wasn't really necessary.  It was elegant yet simple dish. 

The third course was the suckling lamb taco with avocado leaf adobe and avocado puree.  Jesus - this was probably the most elegant, most creative and one of the tastiest tacos of my life.  The lamb was perfectly cooked - juicy, flavorful and super moist and it was served on a fabulous corn tortilla that held all the juices and flavors in.  Pictures don't do it justice but it was also one of the most beautifully constructed tacos I've ever seen.   Usually in a tasting menu, I assume all the courses are pretty small and even though this was one taco, it was incredibly hearty and filling.  By the time I finished it, I was so full but there were still 3 more courses to go.  

The 4th course as chicken, chile adobe, nopal (cactus), and black radish.  This was also a visually stunning dish with the black radish adorned on top of the chicken.  As expected the chicken was amazing - it was the thigh of the chicken so it was super moist.  The radish was a beautiful visual touch but taste wise didn't do too much for me but I appreciated it none the less.

By this point I wanted to literally crawl under the table and sleep for 10 hours.  I've never been this full from a tasting menu before in my life and it was past 11pm at this point, so I was fading fast. Thank god I managed to keep it together because the next dish was life changing:  mole that had been aged for 1,187 days.  Yes, it's been aging for over 3 years.  I'll be honest, I've never thought much of mole but this was like a spiritual level.  It's so good that it's served on its own on a plate with some of the delicious home made tortillas but really you should just eat it with a spoon.  I watched how they made it on Chef's Table and the dark outer circle is the aged mole and then there is a smaller light brown circle that is a younger mole.  The combination of the two is beyond anything I've had - rich, intense yet not super aggressive in flavor, it's a perfect combination of spice and chocolate.  I've ever only had mole with chicken or some other ingredient so to eat it on its own was a very unique experience.  I was so so sad that I couldn't finish the whole dish but my body was literally shutting down that I had to say no to finishing the whole thing.  I wished they had served it earlier in the dinner or had one less street snack to make room for this.

I stayed alive for the dessert course - where they trick you and serve you a pre-dessert course before the "happy ending" (they really need to change the name of that course).  I can't remember much from dessert except for the fantastic churros and the perfectly ripe mangos served at the end. Seriously, I don't know how they do it but they were picked at the exact right time and were the best mangos I've ever had.

Shockingly I didn't get any wine or alcohol at dinner.  I was planning on getting a cocktail at some point but I was so fixated on the food that I forgot and that's ok but a lot of people around me were drinking some lovely looking wine and spirits.

I need to give a shout out to the service - Enrique Olvera trained these guys well because my water glass was never empty, every time I got up to go to the bathroom a waiter was there immediately to fold my napkin and pull my chair out, they explained all the dishes perfectly and yet were never too in your face or overly annoying.  This is how you run a top notch restaurant.

In the end, I can safely say it ranks as one of the best culinary experiences of my life from a fine dining perspective.  I can easily see why it's ranked on the World's Best list.  It is expensive? Yes, for Mexico City standards it's very expensive but a meal like this anywhere else would easily cost $200+. If you look at the menu at Cosme (Enrique's place in NYC) the duck carnitas itself is already $89. But here it was a unheard of $95 (tax included but no tip).  I can easily go out in NYC to a good but not 5 fork place and drop $80 for maybe 2 or 3 dishes.  The fact that you're getting about 15 courses total at this level of cooking for <$100 is really mind boggling.

I've read that the new version of this restaurant will be much brighter (thank god) and more casual which is great.  Sadly the menu is changing a bit but the mole will remain.  I can definitely see myself booking a trip back here and visiting the new place for 2nd review!  Mexico City amazed me in so many ways and I can't speak highly enough about it.