A guide by PaoloT
If the spangled trousers don’t get you, the trumpets and the aye aye aye aying surely will. There is nothing quite like a plaza-full of 10-piece mariachi bands competing to make the most noise - at a bar called the Tenampa, there is a more relaxed place to drink in this pure popular culture experience. Just watch out for pick pockets and drug addicts, and make sure you have a safe ride home if you stay late.
Nearest metro: Garibaldi
Simple, straightforward and very Mexican. A place for the classic dishes without pretentions and tacky decor. Approx 130 pesos per person with no alcohol.
Av Cuitlahuac No 2709, Col. Axcapotzalco; Tel: 5234 3763; Mon-Sat; Nearest metro: Cuitlahuac (not very near)
Cafe Popular and Cafe Tacuba are both intsitutions and deliver the authentic DF experience. Cafe Popular is great for good value breakfasts with tons of food and coffee. Can get very busy as it's (as the name suggests) very popular with the locals. Cafe de Tacuba is a bit more expensive but a real experience with waiting staff in pinnies and 50's style head-dresses. Very colourful decor and delicious food. I recommend the hot chocolate and sweet breads. Great to people watch, especially on a Sunday when clans of "chilangos" head out for food.
Cafe Popular - 5 de Mayo Street; Cafe de Tacuba - Tacuba Street nr Allende Metro.
A sprawling Latin American market, where you can buy antiques, handicrafts, fossils, clothes and crystals. Everything in fact at the cheapest prices in the city.
You can have a retrato painted (a picture of a life event that you want a to dedicate to a particular saint). Frida Kahlo collected them. You can see shrines to the Santa Muerte, a pre-Columbian god disguised as a catholic saint dressed as the grim reaper. Sundays are best.
Take a micro bus on Avenue Reforma in the historic centre or Zona Rosa and ask to be put off at the Tianuis (street market) del Tepito
It is amazing. And FREE. Three pandas, wonderful birds especially in the walk-through aviary, as well as the whole range of creatures from around the world. The place is packed on Sundays....
Chapultepec park
El Jarocho is a cafe that sprawls out onto pavement benches just behind the two main squares. It is teeming with the life of Mexico City where you will find all strands of society. Grubby children pick their way through business types and the oldest of women wrinkle through the cosmopolitans.
A place to
Sit, drink,
Write and think.
Coyoacan, nearest metro: Coyoacan
Judging from all the fading photographs in the lobby, this is the Wembley of jai-alai. No need to be an expert to appreciate the speed and excitement of the game or enjoy the compelling atmosphere. Betting is continuous, and wagers are placed in colourful and ingenious fashion; money and betting slips fly from punter to bookmaker in a slit tennis ball. The art deco building is worth a visit in itself.
Plaza de la Republica
To me the best restaurant in town, the food is very, very good, Mexican with a European accent, the wine list is varied with good Pomerol and Mexican choices, the martinis are excellent and the service, formal, attentive and detached. I recommend the shrimp and fried persil tacos, the snail soup "al Pernod", the Ortega duckling and the chateaubriand with Irish whiskey.
Alejandro Dumas, Polanco 50 meters from the W Hotel.
If you want to eat some of the best tacos in Mexico, and to avoid stomach aches or even infections, this is the place to go.
Be warned, it’s a lot more expensive than the average taco stand, it may be as expensive as a meal in an average restaurant (£5-£8 p/p without drinks); but the quality and service are worth it.
Several locations across the city: Insurgentes Sur, near "El reloj" (Insurgentes Sur) and Lomas are some of the oldest ones
Capitilanos I made friends with urged me to try a novel drink at this square - Mexican women set up small stalls serving a dark lager, with plenty of lime juice, in plastic glasses; the rim of which was coated in salt AND hot chilli powder. Much better than it sounds, though it doesn't travel so well - friends at home were not so keen (I put this down to the wrong sort of chilli powder - they have hundreds, you know)
On the Square, small stalls
This restaurant is in the heart of the historic centre of the city. It's no bargain but the food is interesting and good. Most memorable is the rooftop terrace overlooking the Zocalo. Try going there at night.
Casa de Las Sirenas, Guatemala 32, Zocalo.
Tel + 52 5 704 3225
The observatory at the top of Mexico City’s tallest building provides a sense of just how huge this city is, and on relatively smog-free days of just how beautiful the mountains that ring it are too.
Paseo de la Reforma No 505; Mon-Sun 9 am to 11pm; admission 40 pesos.
This is my favourite place to take visitors for a taste of nouvelle Mexican cuisine. The dishes are sometimes rather odd, but usually interesting and fun.
Durango 186, Colonia Roma; Tel: 5525 4920; Mon-Sat lunch and dinner, Sun lunch only; Approx 250 pesos per person with no alcohol.
On the southern edge of Mexico City and already half way up the mountains which surround it. Magdalena C has an unspoilt, village feel and the park Los Dinamos is positively Alpine in character with steep paths through pine forests along the banks of a fast-flowing river.
Named after now-disused hydroelectric power stations, it is a popular local weekend picnic destination with pony rides on lower slopes, but the higher you climb, the further you leave the crowds behind.
A great place to clear your lungs of the city's urban soup.
Take bus or taxi south from Taxquenia or San Angel.
Mexican masked wrestling. Where else can you see an evil monk wrestle a good nazi??
Matches are packed with more thrills, laughs and more fake punches than a bollywood film, and can include midget wresting and 3-on-3 girl action.
Lucha is a great afternoon/evening out for kids and adults and has a huge Mexican fanbase. Just be prepred to leave your political correctness at the door and to lose your voice a-whooping and a-hollering.
Arena Coliseo, Mexico City (nr metro Bellas Artes & Allende) every Sunday afternoon. Lots more locations and dates - pick up Lucha magazines from the street stalls for a few pesos or ask at your hotel - there are bound to be a few fans working there!
La Habana's reputation is intriguing: it is said to have a rich history of being a hotbed for illicit meetings between journalists and politicians. The clientele, however, is pretty diverse: you are as likely to find yourself seated next to an old woman in floral dress and outrageous hair as you are to be near a scheming anarchist hack.
Guaranteed is one of the best breakfasts you're ever likely to experience. The spicy sausage omelette, for one example, is quite unbelievable. And the coffee is sensational. (You can also choose from a huge range of beans from an adjacent booth to take home). The 50s decor - a wide open space and high ceiling - provides a perfect setting to read the newspaper or plan your day.
Morelos #62 (On the corner of Avenida Cuauhtemoc and Morelos, at the eastern edge of the Reforma district)
Open 24 hours a day, this is the perfect place for an early or late breakfast - so long as you like churros! This is a cafe that sticks resolutely to what it does well. El Morro serves up excellent hot chocolate and coffee, and mountains of churros - hot, sugary, deep fried extruded doughnuts. Go on, give your arteries a rush.
42 Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico City - on the edge of the historic centre.
This hotel has a good restaurant and bar and is centrally located. The hotel is spotless and the service excellent. We used to stay at Hotel Catedral, but it was often booked up. This is a better alternative, same price, better deal and better situated.
It is a couple of blocks from Parque Alameda, Bellas Artes, Paseo Reforma and all that area contains in Centro Historico. $40 to $60 for a suite! Recommended. Free internet.
Guerrero No. 12, and Puente Alvarado, opposite a small park. Tel. 55668333
www.hotel-monaco.com.mx
A very cool rooftop bar with open-air pool at this design hotel, great views of the city skyline. Good DJs (look out for resident DJ Sacha) and great drinks. They even project stylish films onto a neighbouring tower block. Go after dark, and enjoy.
Habita, Avenida Presidente Masaryk 201 Colonia Polanco 11560 México, DF; tel: +52 (55) 5282-3100
This restaurant is near the Zona Rosa and has very good Mexican food, including traditional quesadillas with squash blossoms (delicious), and a wonderfully unique cocktail called a torito. The torito with mamey (a tropical fruit) is unforgettable. Unless you have too many.
Bahía de las Palmas 37.
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