While I was researching where to eat in Mexico City, Contramar came up time and again. I was warned by my friend Bill and our Club Tengo Hambre guide that the beloved urban seafood shack was overrated, but I couldn’t resist stopping in for a taste of their signature offering: Tuna Tostada ($199 pesos).
Dining at Chef Enrique Olvera’s award-winning Pujol was an absolute must on our Mexico City weekender. As The Astronomer was booking our airline flights a few months back, I was concurrently reserving a table for dinner on Open Table. I have my priorities straight.
The restaurant moved from its original space on Calle Francisco Petrarca to brand new digs in Polanco earlier this year. While I can’t speak to the original location, the new building, complete with an herb garden and mid-century furnishings, is absolutely splendid. We strolled around the grounds in between courses when we were feeling overly stuffed.
For $1835 pesos per person (approximately $100 USD), The Astronomer and I were treated to a six-course tasting menu of the Chef’s greatest hits and latest modern Mexican riffs. To start, a duo of “Street Snacks” that landed with a smoky flourish on the table.
The reasonable thing to do after our “Mexico City Street Food Essentials” tour with Club Tengo Hambre would have been to head back to the hotel for a nap. But with time dwindling down and practicality not on the agenda, The Astronomer and I walked to La Churrería El Moro in Centro Histórico for an afternoon snack of churros and hot chocolate instead.
Founded in 1935 by a Spaniard named Francisco Iriarte, El Moro is a Mexico City institution cranking out sweets 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The speciality here is churros and hot chocolate, but there are also milkshakes and consuelos, ice-cream sandwiches made with coiled churros in place of cookies.
The Astronomer and I grabbed a seat in the dated but swingin’ dining room, and soon after a blue-aproned server came by to take our order. We selected one of the paquetes (“packages”)—a mug of Chocolate Español and 4 churros ($72).