Mexico City: Restaurant Review - Pujol

When I was in Mexico City earlier this year I was on an organised trip which took us to some great restaurants but one of the best restaurants in Mexico City was not on the list.  I kept thinking how much I would have loved to visit and have a meal at Pujol, one of the top 20 restaurants in the world and probably the best and most well known in Mexico City.

Anita, one of the other ladies on the trip and I got talking how much we would have loved to eat at Pujol the food theatre by head chef Enrique Olivera so we gave them a telephone call.  They tend to be booked up for three-four months in advance, and even though we were  not expecting to get a reservation,  Anita still made the phone call.  Surprisingly they could fit us in for lunch on the Monday, our free day before we took off for home that evening!!  We were ecstatic with anticipation!

We arrived by taxi to a very understated premises. A tiny plaque on the wall was all the indication that we had arrived at the right place.

Pujol offer a wine experience to accompany the meal however with a flight in the evening I really didn’t want loads of wine and neither did Anita so we just ordered one large glass each to go with our meal.  The wine list was international with wines from all over the world however as we were in Mexico and I have tasted Mexican wine before which is very nice, I went for a white 2013 Fluxus, Valle de Guadalupe, Baja california, Mexicoand Anita settled on a red which was also Mexican.

There is only one menu for the lunch time and each party had the same pre-starters and puddings.  There was choice in the other courses with three items and you picked one from each section.  Anita and I tried to have different choices to see as much of the menu as possible.

Our menus were presented in a sealed envelope, adding to the mystery of the occasion and the place.  Once opened there was still some surprises since the descriptions sometimes didn’t give much away.  The dessert course for instance was called ‘Happy Endings’!

The first course, a sort of pre-starter called ‘Street Snacks’ was five little portions of exquisite tapas containing much of the Mexican cuisine we had grown used to but with a slight variation on ingredients and presentation.

The hollowed out gourd arrived smoking and intriguing capturing our attention and those of the diners around us who had not yet been served. There is an element of theatre as well as taking you away from the traditional ways of serving Mexican food whilst the flavours and names of some of the dishes remained true to tradition. 'Baby corn, powdered chicatana ant, coffee, costeno chile mayonnaise'.

The little brown flecks on the baby sweet corn are in fact the powdered ants!  That I could handle but if they had bodies and antennae looking at me I would have abstained!

'Escamol sheath'

'Bocol Huasteco (corn dough with cheese, lard)'

'Corcurbita'

I think this was my favourite bit of the whole meal, the sesame crunch and taste was just exquisite, so delicate and fine. 'Chia tostada'.

Next course we had three items to pick from and I chose the 'Green Mole'.  The other two were 'Tongue with broth' or 'Cuitlacoche, molleja, chicken liver'.

 

Again we had three to pick from and I went for the 'Suckling lamb taco, avocado leaf adobo with avocado puree'.

 

For the fourth course I wanted the 'Chicken, green sauce chicarron, broad bean and pea'

 

Anita picked the Egg infladita, chapulin sauce, bean with hierbe de conejo. 

 

She didn't really like this dish and the waiter insisted on bringing the 'Candied catch of the day, red jalapeno, ginger, hoja santa, pumpkin seed.  We both tried this one and agreed it was the best so far!!

 

At this point we had a palate cleansing lemon filled with frozen lemon sorbet.  So fresh and citrusy it sort of revived us ready for course no. five!

Our fifth course was 'Mole madre, mole nuevo (738 days)'.  This dish consisted of a 'mole', dark and rich sauce that had been started 738 days before and was smoky and chocolaty to which new ingredients are added each morning. By now this would be called mole 788 days!  You roll up the soft taco and drag it through both of the mole at the same time. A truly unique taste experience.

 

Finally the last course was called 'Happy Ending'! We were waiting in anticipation to see what would be fitting for such an enticing name.

 

And here is each item in detail:-

A pair of thinly sliced apple slices sandwiched with a cinnamon cream.

A home made ice cream.

A mouthful of chocolate mousse with a coffee jelly.

Churros and chocolate dip.

and finally a slice of green 'tuna' (cactus fruit) and a slice of red 'tuna', both locally used in many restaurants and homes.  I would never have thought I would be eating the fruit from a cactus but they were refreshing and I had them most mornings for breakfast as well!

Following a coffee we made our way back to our hotel having spent a really enjoyable couple of hours in lovely, pleasant and stress free surroundings ready to collect our bags from the hotel and make our way home.

We were both grateful we had the opportunity to spend the afternoon at Pujol, in the Polanco district of Mexico City.  The meal cost £1,450 pesos - the wine, coffee and tip were extra.

Our total bill about £62.00 each.

I would highly recommend you try to eat here if you ever visit Mexico City but be sure to make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

Address: Calle Francisco Petrarca 254, Miguel Hidalgo, Polanco, 11570 Ciudad de México, D.F., Mexico

Phone:+52 55 5545 3507