I’m spending this week exploring Mexico City. After several years of not visiting any new foreign places, I decided to change that. I’m doing some of the standard tourist activities (I’ll be touring the National Museum of Anthropology when this newsletter goes out), but I’m leaning hard into the food scene of the city. Americanized Mexican food is not my first or second or third or fourth choice, so that may come as a surprise to those who know me well, but there are different options here and I’ve been able to avoid excessive spiciness and cilantro thus far.

I have not yet booked any cooking classes for this trip. Part of me now thinks I should as I gained a much deeper appreciation for empanadas after cooking them in Buenos Aires and I could use the same for tacos. I’ve already been on one food tour and have another scheduled in a different neighborhood tomorrow. That first food tour was a bit avant garde for me (though it was in the Roma neighborhood famous for being just that) and the simplest dishes were my favorites.

I’ve breakfasted in my hotel almost every morning for convenience and there’s not much to say about that. Lunch has been a mix of things. Yesterday’s lunch was my most adventurous experience yet as I ate at a place inside one of the large open air markets. I was disappointed in what I actually ordered, but that was due to a faulty memory from the day before more than the rustiness in my Spanish.

I’ve eaten at a nice restaurant every night. I’ve largely abstained from alcohol and have opted for an appetizer instead. This means I’ve had a ceviche or a crudo at every place. These are foods I cannot get at home and that the rest of my immediate family don’t like, but I enjoy fish and I love citrus. There is also a magic to the way each bite of a well-constructed crudo hits your mouth with several flavors all at once. Just don’t expect a tremendous quantity of food should you order one the next time you see it on a menu.

The most glaring “problem” about these restaurants is the amount of English spoken by the other diners. Perhaps this is because I’ve largely kept to my normal eating schedule and so eat earlier than most of the locals, but it seems like the restaurants largely exist to serve American tourists and ex-pats. That takes away some of the fun even if the quirkiness of some of the buildings means these restaurants don’t suffer from the sameness that infects restaurants back home. Take nothing away from the food, though. The food has been great.