Solo to Mexico City, Day Three

Originally published on onlyonewaytofindout.travel

Another early morning. Today the only plans were to go to the food tour, booked last night, at 11:00. I decided it would be best to catch an Uber to the meet up spot which gave me some time to spend checking out a nearby cafe I saw yesterday. I knew the food tour would take 3-4 hours so I didn’t want to over plan the day, but I knew I wanted to put my newly found street taco acquiring skills to good use for dinner as well.

I got a lazy start but eventually made it out the door and off to the cafe. Keeping it simple I grabbed a latte and some sort of chocolate pastry. Breakfast in hand I sat on the nearby street corner and dug in. It was the perfect start to a day filled with food adventures.

The 25 minute Uber ride ended up costing about $4. The meeting point of the food tour was an Oaxacan restaurant just north of the anthropology museum. At the restaurant I met two of the four other participants. At 11:00 on the dot our guide, Luis, arrived and we were seated at a table near the back.

Here Luis introduced himself, gave some background and we waited for the other couple to arrive. With the full group here our waiter made some fresh salsa, brought three different types of mole, and an almost quesadilla type plate. The mole was incredible – the flavors were so well combined, none overpowering and certainly not overly spicy. Two of them were chocolate based and utilized a type of pepper only grown in Oaxaca. The pepper was nearly extinct however due to its popularity among chefs it was brought back and is now sold for many thousands times that of other typical peppers.

The next stop on the tour was a local tamales chain. Apparently they make an average of 1800 tamales a day for distribution to their 5 locations. Luis also introduced us to atoles – a mixture of milk, corn starch and corn meal, often flavored with chocolate and cinnamon. It was way better than it sounds. The tamales were the tried and true shredded chicken with a green sauce and were also excellent.

We ate our way through several more restaurants, including a typical cantina with chorizo tacos which also had a speakeasy behind a walk-in freezer door, a seafood restaurant serving marlin tostadas, and an old locals place that had some of the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had. The tour ended at a very cool dessert/wine bar where we had hot chocolate and some cookies.

All in all, it was a great experience however in hindsight I wish I had picked a tour that included more street food. Luis did provide some much needed information about the surrounding area and its history. We all went our separate ways and I headed in the direction of home, about an hour and a half walk.

After resting for a bit I grew hungry again and ventured back out – this time into the crowds celebrating, what I believe to be, the Chinese New Year. In search of some tacos I wandered back to where I originally explored when I first got here, out past some of the touristy shopping areas and up a few streets. There were thousands of people out celebrating and enjoying their weekend.

I found a few good looking stands but they were really hustling and bustling with a big crowd. My confidence levels weren’t that high yet, and I was pretty intimidated so I moved on. Ultimately I settled on a place advertising three tacos for 30 Pesos. One place I walked by was selling five tacos for 25 pesos, or about 25 cents per taco!

I topped them off with some salsa and lime juice and stood on the street corner taking it all in. After I returned my plate I started back towards home. The nearby park was even more busy tonight. People everywhere, the smell of roasting corn in the air, and the sound of fireworks going off somewhere off in the near distance. The atmosphere was great.

Tomorrow’s goals are set. I plan on utilizing my previously purchased subway tickets to head down to Coyoacan. It’s about a 20 minute subway ride and the neighborhood itself is famous for its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture and its numerous artists.

Day Three. Complete.