To avoid an overly long post about our adventures yesterday, I’ve decided to combine our exploration / self-guided food tours through Roma Norte and La Condesa into one final post for our time here in Mexico. As quick orientation, both of these neighborhoods are slightly more local and residential, known for their beautiful tree-lined streets and excellent food scene. Yesterday after our Teotihuacán adventure, we decided to visit Roma Norte for a little mini-food tour of some of the best tacos in CDMX. The walk is lovely, passing a variety of nice shops and casual dining locales.

Despite the threat of rain, we made haste to our first location. Of course, we had to dodge the live electrical wires hanging into the sidewalks – not kidding, people have tapped into the live electricity overhead and some enterprising Mexicans have even adapted these wires to act as hanging phone chargers! I was also amused later in the evening to see some creative ‘parking attendants’, too.

Anyway, I digress. On to the tacos! First up was Taquería Orinoco, which is a famous chain throughout the Roma Norte area. We ordered the “trompo” (aka al pastor, cooked on a ‘spinning top’ kebab-style – more about this later!), res (beef), chicharrón (fried pork belly – Perry’s favorite!), and their signature Orinoco taco, which included caramelized onions, grilled cheese and a delicious house salsa picante. Of course, everything came with a delicious array of salsas.

From there, we continued on through Roma Norte to our next stop, Gonzalitos. Listed on the Michelin Guide for its barbacoa, we also tried the “piratina” (pirate-style) and the chile lampreado relleno taco (filled with incredible queso asadero). The chile relleno taco was probably the single best thing I’ve eaten in Mexico.

From there, we decided to try a couple of Roma Norte’s ‘fusion’ taco spots, which is where things got really interesting and creative. Unlike the traditional flavors, these taquerías mix Korean, Chinese, Thai and other cuisines to create a really unique bite.

First, we found ourselves at Tizne Tacomotora, which blends Mexican and Korean flavors. We tried the aguacate tatemado (essentially covered in tajín and then grilled), Kalbi Asada taco (think Korean kalbi in a delicious taco) and a pork belly taco. We also tried a delicious and incredibly refreshing lemonade that was served with mezcal and the fruit from the yerba buena plant.

Last up was Cariñito, which specializes in Thai-style fusion tacos. We ordered the Siu Yuk and Isan-Isan, as well as their delicious negronis.

From there, we backtracked slightly through Roma Norte’s beautiful streets to a Mexican-Peruvian fusion restaurant called Chicama.

From there, we decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night!

Today, on our final day in Mexico City, we decided to do a little additional sightseeing and finish out our food tour. We started our (somewhat ill-fated) touring at Palacio de Bellas Artes, which was quite literally just their Fine Arts theater and not a major art museum like we expected. Frankly, the Palacio is a gorgeous space, but only really worthwhile if you appreciate murals (they do have a couple by Diego Rivera, one of Mexico’s famed muralists). Amusingly, the best view we had all day was from the Sears across the street (which, bizarrely, is thriving here!).

Inside, the museum is a beautiful Art Deco style.

The murals are spaced throughout the floors and showcase some interesting painting styles.

There is also a very small (one room) museum dedicated to a couple pieces of art by local artists, which was a nice (if very short) exhibit.

From there, we continued our tour of the historic downtown Mexico City, hoping to pop into multiple other museums and the National Cathedral. Sadly, the downtown area was jam packed with people, hawkers, cheap stores and was frankly awful to explore. We ended up ducking into one church – the Convent of San Francisco, which was lovely.

We also briefly enjoyed the architecture of the buildings built in the early 18th century and passed the Cathedral (which was unfortunately closed and surrounded by a large group of people in Aztec costumes posing for photos with tourists).

Deciding to cut our losses, we headed out for lunch in La Condesa, starting with Merotoro. On the drive, we took in the beautiful murals (and an amusing cactus someone had dressed up).

It was lovely, although hilariously empty at 1pm (people seem to eat lunch here around 3pm).

From there, we proceeded to wander La Condesa’s tree-lined streets until we arrived at our next stop: El Greco. This restaurant specializes in “doneraky” which it’s original proprietor, Doña Esperanza (a Polish immigrant), began serving up in the mid-1950s. Apparently, Arab immigrants brought kebab-making with them to Puebla, Mexico (just south of CDMX) with them when they migrated here in the ~1930s, creating “Carne Arabe”; Doña Esperanza then mixed Carne Arabe with traditional Puebla flavors and the “doneraky” was born. Over time, the method of cooking on the “trompo” transitioned from lamb (Carne Arabe) to pork (“doneraky”) to chicken (“al pastor). This little storefront has been serving these amazing flavors since the mid-1970s. We also tried their chicken broth soup, and everything was fantastic.

Lastly, we made our way back to the area where our hotel is, heading for our final stop – churros!

The famed Churraría Moro has 56.5k 5-star reviews on Google, so we knew it would be good. The churros were warm, flavorful and accompanied by delicious chocolate and caramel sauces.

Before I conclude my Mexico series, I also want to capture some of the fun of this town – it has many lovely murals and an amusingly named “cow parade” that showcases at least 20 separate “cows” (each designed to highlight some part of the Mexican culture).

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time here and would absolutely come back to CDMX any time!