Very pleasant cafe, bookshop, and CD store in the heart of Condesa. I spotted Carlos Monsivais sipping coffee on a table opposite and felt very much the intellectual about town. Good selection of fiction, history, art books (in Spanish).

Nuevo León 115, in Condesa.

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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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It’s a Mexican institution, a department store with cafe, the flagship is in the historic Casa de los Azulejos. Its courtyard restaurant is a good place for coffee and a cake and quite cheap.

Near the Latin American tower on Calle Madero

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A thick dark sauce made with dried chiles, nuts, seeds, spices, chocolate and many other ingredients, usually served as a sauce for chicken or turkey. I don’t particularly like it, but it should be tried.

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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

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'Pan dulce' (sweet bread) is the Mexican equivalent of what scones are for British people and Danish pastries for the Danes (???). They are sold in any "panaderia". From mantecadas (cup cakes) to conchas (lightly sweet bun with a crumbly outer coating -vanilla or chocolate), they are baked daily early in the morning (5:00) and around 18:00. Definitely worth trying. Do not be shy and mingle with the locals in one of these panaderias.

Anywhere in the city.

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White maize (called elotes) is one of the best steet foods you can buy in Mexico City.
The ears are boiled, then impaled on a wooden stick, and smeared with salt, lime juice, mayonnaise, a parmesan-like cheese and chili powder. It's unbelievably tasty, and a boon for vegetarians who may be feeling a little overwhelmed by the volume of meat on display. a good elote shouldn't set you back more than six or seven pesos.

The same corn, but in kernel form, is cooked into pozole, an amazing everything-soup that you eat with shredded lettuce leaves and raw chopped onion.

On just about any street corner, often from vendors who push steaming urns of corn and call 'elooootes'.

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The Voladores (Totonaca men from Papantla on the Gulf Coast who perfom ancient flying acts) are also your best bet for buying real vanilla pods and vanilla extract in Mexico City.

Just wait for their daily shows outside the Museo Nacional to finish, and ask them 'Tienes vanilla?' For a fraction of the price you'd pay at the tourist shops, you'll get real vanilla, not the essence, straight from the Gulf Coast source.

Los Voladores perform on a platform outside the Museo Nacional, Paseo de la Reforma, Polanco, Mexico City

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A 900g sandwich composed of: chicken, avocado, tomato, swiss cheese, goat cheese, pineapple, ham, beef, two large slices of bread and your choice of chilli or chipotle. You can buy a torta at any of the millions of puestos on the street corners of Mexico City. One thing to know though, only buy your torta at a popular puesto, it will avoid you many a stomachache.

Any puesto (street vendor) selling tortas

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Cactus leaves prepared in many different ways, for example with tomatoes and onions in a salad or with cheese in a tortilla. Interesting, nice tasting and reputedly very good for you.

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