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.
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