Mexico City Part 1

​México City Day 1: Taco’d off ma tits!

After a pretty shocking nights sleep, I start the day with a coffee on my balcony. It’s a pretty wet and miserable day, so it’s not the end of the world that I don’t have my suitcase full of summer clothes!

I’d booked a street food tour in the city centre at 1130 so I kill some time by visiting the Palacio de Bellas Artes and the cathedral. I light a candle and pray for the speedy return of my suitcase (as well as for the health and happiness of my family and friends, obvs). 

At 1130 I’m met by my food tour guide, Ricardo. I’m the only one booked on the tour today, which is always a good thing and a bad thing. Good in that it’s a private tour for cheap, bad in that part of the experience is to meet other travellers. But Ricardo and I hit it off, and what is supposed to be a 2-3 hour tour takes us 4. 

What I liked about this tour is that it took me to stalls I’d never have gone to by myself. Apparently street food stalls here are like Russian roulette. It’s always a gamble whether you end up shitting your pants. Luckily for me, someone’s done the road testing! 

Our first stop has us weaving through a busy market to a stall serving quesadillas. Ricardo orders me a blue corn quesadilla with chicharrón y queso (fried pork and cheese). It’s my first taste of Mexican food and it’s every bit as delicious as expected. Next up it’s another road side stall serving tacos de birria (slow cooked lamb) which is served with a consommé which you typically dip the taco into. Messy business. I’m kicking myself for buying a white tshirt at the airport. 

Third stop is Taqueria Los Paisas, which is a stall very popular with the locals. Here the speciality is tacos campechano, which is a mix of different meats. They have a self serve topping station which includes, rather bizarrely, mashed potato. 

I’m getting pretty full at this point, but we’re only half way through! The fourth stop is tamales. I have to be honest, it’s not a dish I’ve ever really loved. I find it stodgy and bland. But I’m British and therefore too polite for my own good, so I eat it and make all the right noises.

We make a quick, and unnecessary, stop for some chicharrón (pork scratchings) before continuing onto our final stop which is in the Mercado San Juan. We order a plate of ceviche and some beers, but I’m so full that I can only manage a couple of mouthfuls. At this point it’s 15:30, and I have a taco tour starting at 19:00. No way in hell I’m going to be ready to eat again that soon! 

In an attempt to digest my food and work up another appetite, I take a walk around the historic centre. It’s chaotic and stressful, pretty much as you’d expect any city centre of a Latin American capital city! 

I feel physically sick at the prospect of eating more food. But I’m a fucking trooper, so off I trot to my next tour. I’m joined by a group of 6 Dutch men, who turn out to be a great laugh and we have a cracking night. I won’t bore you with the details of all the stops, there’s only so many ways you can describe a taco (check out my food insta if you’re interested). But they were delicious! I did find the tour a little rushed. We left beers half full in every taqueria because we were ushered from joint to joint. We ended the night with a mezcal tasting and a mezcal cocktail. The night was supposed to end with another taco joint, but we all mutually decide to bail cause we felt like we may actually die. It was even too much food for 6”5 Dutch men!

The evening ends perfectly with a call from BA Mexico to say my case is in a taxi on its way to my apartment. I rush home and sit eagerly watching for its arrival on my balcony. I cannot tell you how relieved I am knowing that I don’t have to do another 3 week holiday where I’m washing my pants in the sink every few days.

Mexico City Day 2: Coyocan, San Angel, Condesa

After another shitty 5 hours sleep, I brave the metro and head south to the Coyoacan area. They actually have parts of the platform and trains exclusively for women. It’s sad that it’s even necessary, but it’s nice not to have the inappropriate stares and comments. Especially now that I’m world famous after appearing in the Daily Record. 

I instantly like the Coyoacan neighbourhood. It’s the oldest colonial area of Mexico City, so it’s full of pretty buildings, and a much slower and less stressful pace of life! I head to Madre Cocina Mexicana in the Mercado de Coyoacan. It’s a popular food stall serving traditional Mexican breakfasts, including Chilaquiles, which are basically little fried corn tortillas stuffed with your choice of meat (I went for cochinita) and a choice of salsas. It’s a heavy dish for breakfast, but I don’t plan on eating again until dinner! I learnt my lesson yesterday. The meal, which I had with a cinnamon spiced coffee, cost me £4.

Like everywhere else in the city, the neighbourhood is gearing up for Día de los Muertos, so there’s decorations everywhere which gets me really excited for the upcoming festivities! I check out the local church where I thank the good lord for delivering my suitcase as asked. I light another candle and ask him to deliver me a man. Worth a shot. 

I grab a stuffed churro (I choose dulce de leche) for my 30 minute walk to the next neighbourhood, San Angel. Another cute area with cobbled streets and colourful buildings. My feet are throbbing at this point so I stop at a courtyard restaurant/bar where I order my first (but certainly not my last) margarita of the holiday. 

I jump in an Uber and head to the La Condesa/Roma area. Its a popular area for tourists to stay, so it’s very bohemian and hipster. Reminds me a lots of Medellín in Colombia with lots of greenery and boujee cafes and restaurants on every corner. It has a nice feel to it. I’m exhausted at this point to head back to my apartment for a couple of hours to rest. 

For dinner I’d booked a restaurant called Meroma. As much as I love tacos, you can have too much of a good thing, so I thought I’d have a little break and a proper sit down meal. I’m sat beside a large group of American douchebags who talk incessantly about working out and protein targets. I order a mezcal mule and the lamb and aubergine dish which is tasty, but don’t think it warranted the £40 bill at the end. 

After dinner I check out Limantour cocktail bar, which has just been voted in the worlds top 50 bars of the world for 2023. Because of this, there’s a celebration and all cocktails are free (and unlimited). Finally, my luck is turning! I ordered the margarita al pastor, which is quite possibly one of the best I’ve had anywhere. The bar itself is a little wanky though, so I only have the two before heading home to sleep as I’m up at 6am for a tour tomorrow.