Indeed, it is difficult not to make Los Cocuyos a perennial part of one’s visits to Mexico City.
Have you ever had the tacos arabes at El Hayito?
How about the magical torta del chilaquil from la esquina del chilaquil? It’s rather remarkably famous, but if you’ve never braved the line for the Howlin’ Rays equivalent of Mexico City for one of those beautiful little sandwiches, you might find it quite enjoyable!
Nope havent been to either of those but I have them bookmarked.
From what I’ve read the line can be pretty long for the lady who sells tortas chilaquiles, will definitely have to try it out though! Would rather wait in that line than the line for the kahlo house.
The lines are consistently pretty long, yes. But if you show up early it’s manageable. Also, if you go on a weekday instead of the weekend.
I’ll be sure to do both those things!
Great recs - looks like you are well covered, def make it to El Hidal.
Only wanted to add re: food tour. Go. GF and I went last Sept. with company called Eat Mexico, mezcal and late night tacos. I believe it is the same CiaBob may have taken. Our guide was Anais and she has a website, Curious Mexican. In short, we were debating whether to do it as it’s not cheap. We were both so happy we did. It was a highlight of the trip (granted got lucky with guide), four of us plus Anais and driver. Stopped at 5 or so places, each unique, street corn cart, quesadilla place, torta, two diff taco spots. Add in some great mezcal/mex craft beer and quite the evening. With tip I believe it was around $105/pp.
I didn’t see when you are leaving but website (EatMex) says tours are postponed until Dec. 1, though I know Anais does private tours. Have a great time!
My goodness…that seems abnormally high-priced doesn’t it? Dinner at a place like Quintonil or Pujol is only about $98 (for the tasting menu; not including wine pairings, of course).
I am sure it is an enjoyable tour, and I wouldn’t deny anyone money for their expertise, but my…
How does Leo’s/Tamix compare to Al Pastor in Mexico City?
I’ve been to El Huequito and a bunch of al pastor stands in mexico city. Generally, their spits tend to be much larger like stacked with meat kinda reminiscent of the huge pork gyro stands you find in greek mediterranean areas.
At el huequito the pastor was very good and the flavors were very similar to the ones at Leo/Tamix (I prefer Leo) but I would say Leos had a better crisp char to them, both had strong achiote paste flavor with some herb and maybe clovey flavor mixed in. Additionally, at el huequito they were served al hambre style with a huge pile of pork and cheese melted on top. One thing I definitely did enjoy I felt that the salsas in mexico city were much more flavorful.
For me personally the difference between al pastor in LA and DF were not that different. I found the other meats and foods to have a wider variance in flavor, taste, and texture.
@palmdoc1 thanks for the recommendation! I generally prefer to explore on my own, last time we went to DF, I bookmarked a lot of popular places on yelp/four square and we used the ecobici system/uber to go to different places. Got to check out many places that werent marked especially while biking I always stopped at places that were super busy with the locals or that looked interesting.
I quite concur. I hardly eat al pastor in Mexico City. The best of LA is just as good. Although I would very much enjoy it is Leos did a gringa like El Huequito.
There is a place in Roma called Los Parados, a bit of a small chain I believe, which does a sort of beef al pastor which is essentially shaved skirt steak off of the spits, which may be worth trying out. They will melt some rather bracing cheese over the tacos if you like, too.
Yes, that’s true but it includes all food at each location (guessing $20), several mezcals and beers (at least $20), van, driver, and guide. Lasted about 4 hrs. Coincidentally, we ate lunch at Quintonil the same day and thought the tour well worth the cost fwiw.
Ah, well that does even it out a bit, I thought it was $105 JUST for the tour then add on food + alcohol, etc…
Did you go a la carte at Quintonil for lunch or the entire tasting menu?
Tasting menu which we preferred over the tasting at Pujol.
I agree, I much prefer Quintonil to Pujol.
I’ve been wondering what an a la carte meal would be like at Quintonil, even though it’s hard to resist their tasting menus.
Last time we went to quintonil, I ordered the tasting menu and my gf ordered the ala carte menu. It was the best of both worlds because we got a variety of dishes that we wouldn’t have been able to eat had we both chosen only ala carte or tasting. However, IIRC there is some overlap between the ala carte and the tasting menu.
Had an insane meal at Quntonil when I was there, haven’t done Pujol…might try to swing by for a lunch walk in next week
I didn’t realize you could do one tasting, and the other a la carte…most excellent information!
There is some overlap, but not that much overlap surprisingly between the a la carte and the tasting it seems like when you look at it online. Did you simply order every dish on the a la carte menu?
I think we ordered about 4 or 5 dishes (maybe 2 apps and 3 mains) from the ala carte menu but my memory is hazy because I had a little bit too much to drink earlier in the evening.
It’s very easy to drink too much in Mexico City, haha. The elevation is higher after all, but also the fact that there is always something extraordinary to drink nearly everywhere!
Did you take food to go having ordered 3 mains, or were they manageable portions?
Yup definitely had too much mezcal! Very manageable portions we ate everything although I would say that I’m a big eater and the old lady can definitely put down food also. But with that being said nothing we ordered was overly large.