Stephanie Mueller

MARKETING + ADVERTISING + PRODUCTION

 

MY FAVORITE MEALS

 
 

HUSET

Situated on Calle Colima in Roma Norte is Huset Cocina de Campo. I ate here twice during my visit - once solo and once with my brother when he visited since I loved it so much. I ordered a cocktail that I knew had tequila but didn’t completely translate all the ingredients before I felt pressured to order and pulled the trigger. Turns out, the mystery ingredient was avocado, and it was amazing! I ordered a second. I also ordered the same meal on both visits - their “grilled chicken” which was a heaping serving of delicious, juicy roasted chicken, served in a steaming cast iron pan with jus, potatoes, tomatoes, olives, capers, and topped with chimichurri. 

I enjoyed this meal twice, in their outdoor-yet-covered space outfitted with vines, string lights and a gravel floor. 

http://www.huset.mx/

Maximo Bistrot

On multiple recommendations, I made a reservation for a weeknight dinner at Maximo Bistrot - opting for the a la carte menu instead of their tasting menu.

Inside their industrial-yet-cozy dining room with an arched metal ceiling and open viewing into their aged meat locker, I ordered an off-menu hibiscus margarita that gleamed a gorgeous shade of purple.

For my main, I ordered the Waygu Flat Iron Steak. I don’t eat Waygu much (because it’s expensive) but I’m glad I ordered it here. The meat was buttery smooth, perfectly medium rare and drizzled with a flavorful brown sauce. Served with a gratin potato and shallots, it also came with a surprise side of mashed potatoes.

This meat-and-potatoes loving girl was in heaven with this wagyu-and-mash combination and left the restaurant overstuffed - because I didn’t want to leave a single morsel on that plate. 

https://www.maximobistrot.com.mx/

Licoreria Limantour

I went to Licoreria Limantour three times. The first time, the Roma location was too busy and could not accommodate little ol’ me, but it was the 17th ranked bar in the world and as an employee of a cocktail and spirits publication, I needed to go there.

I tried again for an after-dinner cocktail a couple nights later and got a small table outside facing Avenida Obregon. The string lights and active, engaging clientele made this a wonderful place to sit outside and enjoy my Mr.Pink - a pink mountain of crushed ice, gin, grapefruit, and other deliciousness. 

A few weeks later, my brother came to visit. And after our Pujol experience I wanted to take him for a nice cocktail. So we sauntered over to the Polanco location of Limantour, and sat inside at the bar enjoying a basket of fries and our cocktails. We saw more people come in after us that we recognized from the Pujol dining room, so this must be THE PLACE to keep the evening going after enjoying a 10-course piece of art. 

https://limantour.tv/

Pujol

I have an unpopular opinion: Pujol was not the best meal of my life. People devote entire articles to one meal here, at Enrique Olvera’s modern Mexican masterpiece. I made a reservation in May for a tasting meal in August - and while I didn’t love (nor finish) every one of our 10 courses, Pujol is still an incredible experience everyone visiting Mexico City should aim to have.  

What was the 12th best restaurant in the world (now #9) was incredibly hyped for me, but sadly left me wanting more. I don’t eat seafood and this menu has no meat, so my brother who does enjoy fish ordered the “mar” menu and I asked for the “maiz” menu - an option I read about but wasn’t presented to me until I asked about it. Our dishes in each course were similar (or the same) - the only difference being my meal was completely vegetarian and his was pescatarian. 

For my untrained palette, some dishes were better than others -- I could have done without the heart of palm ceviche which tasted like pure cilantro, but the leek gordita was amazing. 

When my brother and I got to the mole course, we were a little confused - it was a (very pretty) plate of mole. How do we eat this? They only gave us 3 tortillas and there was much more mole than 1.5 tortillas a person could sop up. We asked for more tortillas two more times before we both looked around and saw other people scraping their mole off their plates with spoons. We looked at each other and thought to ourselves, we don’t like this enough to scoop with a spoon. 

That’s when we realized we must not like mole, because if you don’t like Pujol’s, there’s nothing else better. 

And if you’re wondering (because I hunted down blogs looking for this before eating here), the meal was $2,395 MXN each. All said and done, my brother and I each had 2 cocktails, the tasting menu, and I tipped 15% - the total was $360 USD. For a 10-course, top 10 in the world meal with cocktails and gratuity, I thought that was a reasonable price.

https://pujol.com.mx/en/

Bovine

Situated above a designer jewelry shop and a modern home decor store, and through a gallery of artwork and neon sits Bovine, a high end restaurant that celebrates everything about meat. The modern restaurant filled with octagon patterned floor tile, mirrored ceilings, velvet chairs and gold studded tables is packed with masculine glam, and the menu does not disappoint.

I started off with a Justino — a beautiful shade of purple, this mezcal cocktail also featured hibiscus, lemon, and pear. For my meal, I enjoyed the Short Rib Bourguignon - tender short rib served on a bed of creamy mashed potatoes and littered with actual CUBES of thick-cut bacon and roasted carrots -- I had never seen anything like it before in my life. 

I left the restaurant wanting dessert, but with no room to fit it. However, I did have room for a nighttime stroll by the parroquia and some more cocktails at Mezcaleria. 

https://www.bovinerestaurant.com.mx/

Cafe Niddo

This daytime-only cafe was not a possible dining spot during the week, so I went on a Saturday before venturing off to Bazaar Sabado. I arrived at Calle Dresde to find a lot of people dining, and a lot of people waiting. As a solo diner, I thought I would have an easier time of getting a table, which I believe was true. After entering my info into their automatic waitlist app and speaking to the host because my phone number was not a Mexican one, I was called after about 30 minutes and directed to my seat. 

Cafe Niddo occupies 4 different properties in a few block radius - different cafes and restaurants with separate dining areas and kitchens - all under Niddo and all available to be seated from the same wait list. I was directed to one down the block. As a solo diner, I was seated at the counter, watching the chefs on the other side vigorously craft brunch orders.

Feeling like some protein and not being too adventurous, I ordered the “Bacon & Eggs” and what I got was so much more. My meal consisted of scrambled eggs (solo claro para mi) drizzled with an amazing za’atar infused oil, bacon, roasted seasoned potatoes, a half of an avocado drizzled with the same za'atar oil, seeded thick sliced toast and hummus. I mean it when I say I could eat this breakfast every day. Not only was it brightly colored and beautiful, it was a unique Mediterranean spin on a traditional bacon and eggs breakfast, in the heart of Juarez, CDMX. 

https://niddo.mx/

Panaderia Rosetta

Also recommended to me was Panaderia Rosetta - the bakery offshoot of Rosetta Restaurante. I visited the fine Italian restaurant for lunch once during my visit, but I was less enthused by it than other places I ate, so it’s not making this list. 

Each time I stopped at Panaderia Rosetta (at least 4 trips), the outdoor dining space was packed, and when I asked about a table for 1, I was always hit with a wait of at least 45 minutes. 

I took my quick breakfast - a café and rollo de canela - para llevar and went to enjoy it in a nearby park. 

Roma is packed with cute coffee shops and bakeries and I tried a fair few of them, but I should have tried more. This one, however, was consistently the best when it came to the pastries.

https://www.instagram.com/panaderiarosetta/

Sartoria

I heard about Sartoria on the Instagram account of a contributor to The Spruce Eats, one of the sites I work on. When I learned it was near my apartment, I decided it must be my Roma send-off dinner. As my last meal in this fantastic neighborhood, and it definitely did not disappoint. I went early, without a reservation, and used my singledom to luck into an outside table. 

On recommendation from the server (who I spoke Spanish to, but still only understood about half of what he said), I ordered the Spaghetti alla Chitarra - more commonly known as Cacio e Pepe. It was FANTASTIC. I enjoyed my last cocktail in Roma while listening to live music outside the restaurant, and finished every last bite of the flavorful fresh pasta dish. It was quite a stamp to put on my time in Roma before moving uptown and across the park to Polanco for a couple days.

https://sartoria.mx/

OTHER SPOTS DEFINITELY WORTH VISITING

Mexico City

Puerto Escondido

San Miguel de Allende

stephanie.l.mueller@gmail.com     -     LinkedIn