Howdy everybody! Reporting back from Mexico City. Many, many thanks to @doublestuffedpierogi , @mzonelli , and @ShadrackToussaint , amongst others. Also, learned my wife was pregnant (after three plus years of trying, IVF, etc 
) days before this trip, so our whole itinerary drastically changed. Basically avoided all the bars and street food we’d planned on going to and effectively only went to high-end restaurants!
This was our first time back since 2022, and, safe to say, this city has changed a ton, especially in Roma Norte, which feels like a more sterile Silver Lake right now. It is not a good vibe! Condesa was a bit better, but it certainly does feel like many parts of the city are now catering more to tourists than locals. Anyways, tldr, but if you’re eating at a Masala y Maiz, it’s gonna be majority tourists. Okay, let me tell you about some restaurants. I took very few photos, and this report is two months delayed, so I’ll give general thoughts but you won’t get much expansion.
Gaba:
This was our meal of the trip (and one of our favorite meals of the year!) Outskirts of Condesa, a cute, dark little space. All was fantastic, but my fav app was a beef tartare with chicatana ants and serranos (smoky, punchy, earthy, now tied with Mon Lapin for fav tartare out there.) Also, they absolutely nailed the two mains. The pork tomahawk in an al pastor style was wonderful (smoky, charred, tangy, a little bit sweet) and the whole snapper in a jalapeño beurre blanc was so good that I stole this dish and served it as the main dish in my NYE party. Anyways, go here, it’s tremendous! Many thanks to @mzonelli for this one.
Voraz:
Came here for a gorgeous, lazy lunch. This is a fun restaurant, a tad indulgent, in that sort of 2010s chefs cooking what they wanna eat food. With that being said, I really liked the aguachile verde. Punchy and very citrusy. They did a fun mix of fried octopus and raw fish that worked well. Side note: portions here are huge, so order accordingly.
Maizajo Upstairs:
I think I liked Maizajo, though I wouldn’t prioritize it. The good: I was really enamored by a deep fried, head on prawn in a taquito type situation. Clever and delicious. I also liked a duck tetela and a mushroom tamal. A lot of dishes were very mole forward, fwiw. Not necessarily my favorite profile, but if it’s yours, rush here. (Though Comal Oculto is probably objectively better while serving similar food.) The bad: we ordered a big old hunk of pork (I’ve been on a pork kick) for like 60-70 USD and it was absolutely, positively nuked. Perhaps the worst piece of meat I’ve had in the last ten years. Had to text my chef buddy and be like dude what do I do. Anyways, we sent it back, and they were fine with that, though the replacement dish wasn’t much better. I’m guessing they just don’t have much heat control on the massive grill they have downstairs. Also, given that the entire kitchen is downstairs but the restaurant is upstairs, we got a lot of lukewarm dishes.
Masala y Maiz
Really solid, well-priced, and conveniently (I mean this truly) located in Centro, so it’s really easy to tack a visit on to a day of sightseeing in that general direction. Sidenote: I really like the Museo de Arte populare. There was an amazing piñata exhibit this last time. Anyways, on to the food. Imagine Indian Mexican fusion done at a high level and that’s what you get! I for one am back to embracing fusion food. Life’s short, let’s have fun. Nothing really mind-blowing here, and the crowd is bad, bad. Diner next to me had never heard of Oaxacan Cheese, or Oaxaca for that matter. Cocktails were wonderful and clever. I’d go back.
Comal Oculto
Shoutout to all of you recommended this spot. We basically ordered the entire menu, which is super corn focused. Lots of mole here and various other deep, heady sauces. There’s a lightness to the cooking that you wouldn’t really expect, given the masa-dependence. Come here and bring a jacket. Doors were open and it was freezing.
Okay, that’s where we ate.
Here are thoughts on two other restaurants in the Punta Mita/Sayulita area.
Rubra is the new Daniela Soto-Innes (the old Cosme cdc) spot at the W Hotel. As per any Daniela Soto-Innes spot, she will certainly not be in the kitchen because she’s gallivanting around the world doing her thing. (I say this with little resentment and mostly envy, ha.) Anyways, the space is spectacular and the food is a better version of Cosme or Damian. It’s very coded in the Enrique Olvera universe. Also, it was more expensive than any restaurant in Mexico City. These are US prices with maybe small breaks on cocktail prices? Highly recommend though.
Ikan in San Pancho was very, very good. The chef cooked at Relae, among other places and he brings some of that technique to this little outdoor spot on a side street in San Pancho. Highlights were tempura mushrooms atop a sunchoke puree and the best carnitas taco of my life! Cannot recommend highly enough.
anyways sorry there’s so few photos and actual dish descriptions
!