After making our way thru La Condesa we crossed super busy Avenida Chapultepec into the land of skyscrapers. I've heard Polanco described as the "Beverly Hills" of Mexico City. This is supposedly where the wealthy live and play. It's also where Pujol is located....hopefully we'll be able to get reservations next time.
We'd only be visiting the district. There were only two items on the Missus's itinerary for this short trip. ne of them was checking out the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Museum of Anthropology) located in the huge Bosque de Chapultepec, which is the second largest park in Latin America.
There's much to see in the area; from the somewhat maligned Estela de Luz, also known as the "Monument to Corruption" because of alleged corruption which inflated the cost to three times what was estimated.
Instead of heading up Paseo de la Reforma, we instead headed into the park, which is a wonderful green space.
Where the Missus could practice taking photos with Her brand new camera.
We headed up to Monumento a los Niños Héroes.
Where the Missus took a good amount of time with Her camera. Then turning right and walking down Calzada Mahamta Gandhi; yep, Mahatma Gandhi, in CDMX. Apparently Gandhi is very popular in Mexico; in fact one of the largest bookstore chains in Mexico is......you got it Gandhi.
And we got to see more squirrels doing their "tightrope act" along the way.
We got back onto Paseo de la Reforma and soon enough found ourselves at the Monolith of Tlaloc, which marks the street to the entrance of the museum.
This sculpture was found Coatlinchan which has quite a story behind it.
We got past security, bought our tickets....man, at 75 $MXN (under $4/US) this is a major bargain. We got a map at the information booth and the really nice women there marked off the "must see" places for us. The museum has 23 halls and is spread over 20 acres!
Once thru the entrance into the wide open courtyard area, you see a huge towering fountain, named "El Paragas" ("The Umbrella").
I don't want to create another monster 1500 word post; so I'll keep my verbiage to a minimum from here on. Let me just say that we loved the museum; there was so much to see. We found the history of pre-Colombian and modern day Mexico to be so interesting. It's one of our favorite museums and we'll definitely be back. The galleries are set-up wonderfully, things are spaced out well.
And it was interesting to see items from places we had been to before.
There are dramatic entrances to galleries.
This is "El Creador".
The Corazon de Tula.
Rings and a ball used for the Aztec ball game Ullamaliztli.
Kinda scary statue of the Goddess Cōātlīcue.
Xōchipilli, the "Prince of Flowers", god of art, beauty, dance, and flowers. According to Atlas Obscura, the base of the statue has symbols of hallucinogenic plants carved into it.
The Disk of Mictlāntēcutli, the god of the dead. This disk was found at the foot of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan.
And of course the Aztec Sun Stone.
Whew; at the end we needed a break.
Like I said earlier; there's so much to see. We only visited the ground floor. We'll definitely return.
Museo Nacional de Antropologia
Avenida Paseo de la Reforma y Calzada Gandhi s/n
Chapultepec, Mexico City 11560, Mexico
Of course by the time we finished things up, we were starting to get hungry. The Missus was still up for a walk and I'd heard so much about Mercado Roma; so we walked the over two miles back across La Condesa to Roma. The Missus though; wasn't impressed with the hipsterish set-up and available food. So, I decided to check out another place I had on my "list". Just a ten minute walk away was a place that is only open from Friday to Sunday. The place serves Barbacoa; the Missus (who loves Aqui es Texcoco) was instantly sold.
We were warmly welcomed when we arrived and in spite of the place being pretty busy, they found a table for us. The host/server, Juan was so amazingly warm and friendly.
We looked over the menu and decided on two items. After ordering, Juan noticed the Missus trying out Her camera. He asked Her if She'd like to "see the Barbacoa"....of course the answer was "yes". He quickly called over one of the "chefs" and the Missus got Her photo! Check out the barbacoa and the big smile on the chef's face! You gotta love CDMX!
The folks here are so nice.....
And the Missus loved the salsas.
The Blue Corn Tortillas were excellent, warm, full of corn flavor, pliable, but sturdy enough to handle "the goods".....
First up was the Plato Hidalguense (140 $MX - about $7.25/US).
I'd been wanting to have nopales and thought this would work out well. The Missus and I loved the papalo, something we don't see much of here in San Diego. The powerful peppery-citrusy-tannic flavor might not be for everyone, but it's definitely for us. The Missus absolutely adored the avocado, which looked quite firm and under-ripe; it was however, just perfect, super buttery, and really good.
And of course, the nopales.
Easily the best I've ever had. Look how bright and vibrant these cactus pads are! There was just a nice mild crunch to these; the clean green bean-asparagus like flavor came through so cleanly; and as a bonus the slices of tomatoes were perfectly ripe. Talk about delici-yoso!!!
I'd ordered the Mixiote (155 $MX - about $8/US)….though had I seen the barbacoa before ordering; I'd probably gone for that.
The meat was fairly tender, the seasoning was on the mild side, and the meat itself was mildly gamey. A nice dish. Which led us to believe that Aqui es Texcoco does a pretty darn good job with their mixiote.
It was quite a spread!
With a couple of Ciel this cost us less than twenty bucks without tip! And I did learn the phrase "agrega veinte por ciento por favor"...….which I used liberally during this trip.
Juan was an amazing host; the service excellent and welcoming, the food was delicious, the vibe relaxed and laid back. We can't wait to return.
El Hidalguense
Campeche 155
Roma Sur, 06760 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Hours:
Fri - Sun 7am - 6pm
We decided to take a Uber back to our hotel - Uber is so inexpensive in CDMX, we just used UberX. Our trip cost us 39.90 $MX (with 10% tip) - think two bucks...….sheesh
We decided to take a short break, then head on back out to explore Roma.
Stay tuned!
Awesome barbacoa!
Posted by: Soo | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 08:58 AM
And the nopales were amazing Soo!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 09:22 AM
I've never seen nopales that vibrant before. Most places here use the canned/bottled stuff.
Posted by: Junichi | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 09:41 AM
Man, those nopales were so good Junichi!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 10:08 AM
Thanks, planning on basically copying this itinerary! Great post!
Posted by: RedDevil | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 10:34 AM
Hi RD - I hope you have a blast. This was a bit of a walk; so hopefully you Uber or get ready for a nice walk!
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 12:39 PM
What a great trip and looks like some awesome food.
Posted by: koko | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 04:45 PM
the nopales looked really good!
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 18 July 2019 at 08:51 PM
It was a wonderful trip Koko! It's also nice to have you posting regularly again!
Loved those nopales Kat! Best we've ever had!
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 19 July 2019 at 06:43 AM