Weekend Adventure: Eating our way through Mexico City

After borrowing his time off from this year to take our winter break trip to Panama, my husband Joey didn’t have much time off to travel with me this year.  But, we definitely made it work.  As a teacher, I get a nice long weekend about every month or so.  Joey works in the private sector so…not so much.  However, Easter weekend provides both of us with a four day weekend at the same time.  How could we pass up that opportunity to make our escape together?

Our destination: Mexico City.

 

Why Mexico City, you ask?  The idea for a Mexico City trip began three years ago with our trip to Nicaragua.  We found a great flight deal out of Houston to Managua for only $330 round-trip.  How could you pass that up?  It included an over-night layover in Mexico City.

This ended up being the best decision ever.

We fell in love with Mexico City in that one night.

Of course, we had to go back!

Flash forward two years… and we did.

The Biggest Highlight…. 

The Food!

Foodie friends, you have got to go! We spent our 4 nights and 3 days eating our way through the Roma Norte and Condesa neighborhoods.  It was amazing!

These were my top three favorite spots to eat and drink:

 

Mercado Roma Norte

Calle Querétaro 225, Roma Norte

If you love the Spanish style of eating tapas…. you will love this place!  We had to come back a few times just because our belly was telling us we cannot force any more food upon it in one sitting.

This is a one-stop shop food-lovers dream! Empanadas, Spanish wine and charcuterie, tuna tostadas, and a traditional Mexican soup: pozole… It’s really hard to come up with one favorite that we ate there.  It was all so good!

Upstairs, there was an artisanal mescal stand with tastings. There are so many different varieties!

The seating is communal style with long tables.  You can walk around to the different food stalls and place an order.  Find yourself a seat and they’ll come find you.

If you’ve got room for dessert, get yourself a gelato!

 

Mole at Azul Condesa

Azul Condesa

Av Nuevo León 68, Hipódromo Condesa

We were recommended to this restaurant by a local we met in the Mercado Roma (benefit to those communal style tables!) and I am so glad he told us about this place!

You definitely need a reservation.  We called on Saturday afternoon to make a dinner reservation and they were all full.  We were able to get a spot for lunch on Sunday.

The food is traditional Mexican dishes from different regions throughout Mexico. For our appetizer, we got a little adventurous and ordered the Cazuelita de escamoles… which were ant eggs! It comes with little tortillas and you eat it like tacos. It was one of the most interesting and delicious things I have ever eaten.

I was adventurous and got a chicken mole dish with huitlacoche, which is actually a fungus that grows on corn.  It was delicious! I’ve never tried anything like it before.  It had a very earthy flavor that I loved.

Joey got a dish from the Yucatan region, Cochinita Pibil, which is a marinated slow cooked pork dish.  If you love pulled-pork, this is for you!

We also sampled some mescal and I tried a Mexican wine.  Did you know Mexico produces wine?

Cazuelita de escamoles at Azul Condesa

 

El Palenquito

Av. Álvaro Obregón 39, Roma Nte.

We didn’t stop in here for food exactly, but it was by far one of my favorite places. This gem of a spot was right by our hotel in the Roma Norte neighborhood.  We stopped in on the original layover in Mexico City and we made sure to return again on this trip.  The atmosphere is so cozy and natural.  It almost feels like you’ve found a secluded little cave.  With stone and natural wood tables… soft candlelight… it was the perfect date night experience.

It’s a little mescal bar, a mescaleria, that serves artisanal mescals.  There are so many different ones, I was a little overwhelmed looking at the menu, but the staff will be sure to point you in the right direction and find one that matches your tastes.

In the spirit of adventure… we also sampled some salamontes … fried grasshoppers.  If you’re eating paleo, it’s the perfect high-protein bar snack. Salty and just the right amount of crispy… I love them!

Salamontes at el Palenquito

Those three days eating our way through Mexico City flew by so fast… I wish I had a bigger stomach!  I’ve got a feeling, this will be a go-to weekend getaway for sure.

Mexico City, I’ll be back!