Mexico City | Part 2
So much to see and do in Mexico City! We’re continuing on with part two of our holiday trip to CDMX. Jumping right in with a walk around the neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma Norte.
There’s apparently a small Japantown of sorts budding in Mexico City. We happened upon a Japanese grocery store, where we walked around as we were waiting for seats to open up at a restaurant down the street.
We also saw this little musubi shop, just a small storefront with a couple seats out front, where we got a small snack for our wait.
After nearly an hour, we finally got in to the main event — Expendio de Maiz! They are a casual but extremely delicious and popular spot with an interesting concept, almost like omakase but around corn/maize. You get one set of tacos at a time, and you keep asking for another round until you don’t want any more. Since there were two of us, each round comprised one veggie and one meat taco that we shared, and they were all very very delicious.
Highly recommend! I only wish we had the appetite to try ten more!
Then we headed into the thick of things as we went straight to Centro, the historic center of the city. This is where you really get a sense of Mexico City’s notorious traffic. People everywhere, and cars deadlocked on every block.
Zocalo, the main plaza.
They had a little holiday fair on the plaza too. We picked up this simple corn husk poinsettia ornament to take home.
Many of the buildings look like they are leaning over, because they are.
As mentioned previously, the historic capital of the Aztec Empire was Tenochtitlan, which is now Centro Historico, the ruins of which are still right here in this exact spot, hundreds of years later.
Not very much is left standing from those pre-Hispanic days, but there are some ruins of temples still visible, and scale models showing what it once looked like.
We were unable to visit the National Palace, which contains a famous Diego Rivera mural, since it was closed to the public that day. But we visited a nearby college instead, the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, that was filled with murals from Mexican artists.
After quite the struggle of getting back out of the streets of Centro in an Uber (probably should’ve taken the subway), we were back in the neighborhood of Juarez for a very cute speakeasy. Behind this refrigerator of beers in a taqueria is Hanky Panky!
Top notch drinks too.
A very nicely curated shop full of local goods, Utilitario Mexicano.
Then we finally circled back to Bao Bao Taiwanese Restaurant! I was very excited to see all of these friends’ cookbooks on their shelf.
The drinks were incredible! I need more of these Taiwanese-inspired cocktails in my life. We got the Taichung: mezcal, almond milk, black sesame and sugar rim; and the Yilan: Kavalan whisky, ginger, and lychee. We also loved the Quesadilla Taiwanesa, which was a green onion pancake filled with Oaxacan cheese and pork floss. Genius. We’ve made our own version for breakfast back home many times since.
Also good: the house fried rice and a Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup.
We loved this Taiwanese restaurant experience so much we bought their sweet chili sauce and their sweatshirt to take home.
Follow it up with a Japanese hifi bar!
Tokyo Record Bar.
Last full day in Mexico City! We began by visiting a carriage house designed by Luis Barragan that has since been converted into a multipurpose space including restaurant, shops, and a yoga studio. We tried a Rosca de Reyes bun from their bread cart, only realizing afterwards that it is a special bread made for Three King’s Day, or the twelfth day after Christmas (January 6). Tis the season!
Tetetlan Restaurant. Such an interesting space.
Next it was off to the Saturday Market in San Angel, my favorite market of the trip. It’s a weekly artisan market featuring all sorts of arts and crafts, and there are a variety of shops surrounding the plaza as well.
Tiny tlacoyos!
I ended up with these two different tortilleros. Love the idea of tortilla baskets. I should really eat more tacos.
Next we were on to Coyoacan, stopping by the bakery Ruta de la Seda, which claims to have pioneered the matcha concha.
Wanderings around Coyoacan.
A quick lunch before our reservation…
.. at the Frida Kahlo House!
Of course Frida is an icon, but it was very special to see these spaces that were her own and where she not only created her works but also lived her life.
The little figurine that made it into this painting… the repetition of fruits and many other motifs in her works…
There actually aren’t that many of her paintings in the museum, but there are a lot of other interesting objects and of course spaces.
The gardens are also beautiful. This was the family compound where Frida grew up, her father being a photographer. The family actually lost the compound but Diego Rivera purchased it back for Frida.
One of the highlights of the visit, a museum exhibit on Frida’s style. Endless variations on an iconic theme.
To finish it all off, we had drinks at Baltra, another standout cocktail bar in a city with many great bars.
Dinner at Pasillo de Humo, which was honestly only ok. Would not do again.
And one last grocery store visit before flying home!
What an incredible visit to an incredible city. I hope to do it again soon.
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.