Our first night in Mexico City took us to a very beautiful if extremely
noisy, high end "meat joint" in Polanco that was recommended by the hotel. We
were seated in a very nice, but quite dark large room in large comfy leather
chairs at a huge table that seemed built to hold the monstrous trays of meats
being delivered to them. There were odd chandeliers that looked like they were
wrapped in plastic red cellophane as well. We noticed video screens portraying
what Sam said was a kid's play area, and sure enough we were told that on
weekends they have this for the kids to run off and play; a novel idea, and I
guess the parents can watch. Wrong, the video changed shortly thereafter and
often had loud music videos put on by a nearby DJ, which just is not what I want
when I am trying to relax and enjoy my food.
We ordered some of the fun frozen drinks called Josephina de Limon. Will
had limon made with Mezcal 400, Controy (Mexican Cointreau), lemon juice, and
soda while my Josphina di Pepino featured the same ingredients with cucumber
instead and both had Chile Trajin lined glasses for a dash of spice, and chili
flakes were also brought if we wanted to shake them on; I did. We saw fun carts
going around the place which were delivering corn on the cob and we later saw it
was smothered with what seemed to be mayo and then crunchy flakes and served on
a raised to mouth level apparatus that allowed you to turn the corn and eat
it--brilliant and fun. We even saw one dish being delivered with a smoking train
to a table of some kids.
Our first server Luis spoke English, but then they switched as larger
groups arrived and we got Abraham, who was nice, but his English wasn't so
great. We let Samuel do the translating and he has been so superb, there are
words we just cant seem to get translated as they are the same on both menus.
Last night it was "esquites" which Abraham said was something in a glass? It's
on the menu for tonight's dinner, so I will try and inquire yet again as it is
translated as "popcorn" and "esquites" in many places; that's a ton of
help!
We ordered away and Samuel explained that we wanted a rest of at least 20
minutes between the courses, as the food has been so filling and rich and we
wanted to enjoy and relax. We saw the monster portions arriving around us and
knew this was a smart move.
We had also received our wine, my favorite Mexican wine called Gabriel 2013
Adobe Guadalupe from Valle de Guadalupe which is 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet
Sauvignon and 15% Malbec yet has the most awesome chocolate flavor that makes it
work so well with not only mole, but so many other intensely flavored Mexican
foods. I hope it is on the menu many more times.
We had also received a pate of salsas (tomatillo, rojo(red) and mucho
rojo(super spicy red). There were amazing crispy chili dusted tortillas in a
stand as well as a bean dip with queso fresco and an amazing salsa made from the
nopal cactus that I am in love with. At this point someone came over to take our
order, yet we had done that ages ago; I felt the place was ruled by a low level
of confusion.
Sam started with El Tamal which was a magnificently presented chicken
tamale with salsa verde on top of an adorable wooden "bus," the kind that you
might know from Puerto Rico, but here turned into a raised plate...loads of fun.
Incidentally, once again many of the photos of these dishes from all week and
future meals can be seen on my FB page....
Will ordered the Degustacion de Ceviches which were three different ones of
fish, shrimp and octopus. I tasted the fish which was okay, but he said all
three were exactly the same preparation; so much for variation! I chose form the
daily special "Quesadillas" which had 5 or 6 different ingredients that you
choose and then come with a yummy thick sour cream dip and lettuce (not sure for
what), so I thought two were just the right size: Huitlacoche (a Mexican
mushroom, also called corn truffle that I adore) and Flor de Cabeza, the same
Squash Blossom that Will had the previous night, which was superb. Oddly, when
these arrived they were giant empanadas, not quesadillas; it seems that each
place uses these words as they please and it all makes no sense to me. Despite
the nomenclature, they were awesome and also huge portions and I was so thankful
we had asked for that break.
About 9 minutes after they cleared the starters, the main course arrived
and we tried to explain that we had asked for 20 minutes at minimum. We were all
stuffed from the dips, salsas and starters and needed time for sure, but Abraham
seemed to tell Samuel that he understood 20 minutes from when he took the order
to begin with...which was stupid. I had to talk to the manager, and it was all
eventually straightened out, but not without them all staring at us like we were
nuts; Samuel said that he overheard the staff calling us "the 20 minute
people..." That said we had another 20+ minutes, time to digest and also some
excellent wine on its own before the main courses did arrive all freshly redone.
The folks around us seemed to order platter after platter of whole pig, whole
cow, whole everything all cooked and looking amazing, but they all ate so fast.
We sat down at 745pm or so and finished our starters at 845pm and then got the
main courses about 925pm and headed out around 1015pm, yet the 5 folks next to
us had four various monster plates, dessert and more, all in under 90 minutes!
It seems Mexicans eat very fast.
Samuel ordered the Tacos de Suadero of steak, cilantro and onion and loved
them, while Will went with the Chile Relleno Picadillo, a stuffed Poblano with
ground beef, almond & tomato all in a rich thick chipotle sauce with crema.
It was delish, yet the sauce seemed to have some seeds that he got super-spiced
on. My Filete Tampiquena was a dream steak marinated simply and grilled to
perfection so that I could enjoy all of the superb salsas on it should I want a
kick (& I did). On the side was a bowl of beans which actually had potatoes
and frank slices in it as well, avocado and then three miniature, but
nonetheless rich and filing Chicken Mole Empanadas, which were NOT empanadas,
but really rolled and not fired tortillas, hence really
enchiladas...nomenclature yet again.
We split one dessert of Flan which was so beautiful when it arrived with a
giant ball of spun sugar. The flan here was more like a vertical torte than a
flat custard, but still delicious.
We had noticed that every table got this "tree" of flat colored discs after
dinner and we finally got our "house gift" called Pepitoria. I wondered why they
all came and nobody seemed to eat them, as they were the blandest floury discs
on earth, save for the little drizzle of honey in the middle of a couple of
them. They would save a ton of money if they eliminated them. On the way out we
grabbed the delicious little milk chocolate logs that were on the front desk;
they were yummy and should replace the Pepitoria!
Overall, a fun experience, a pretty good dinner, a price tag that would
freak out anyone from Puebla or Cholula as our meal here with 2 drinks and one
bottle of wine rang in at just over $200 (still a good deal compared to the US),
but remember that our lunch for 4 was under $20!
