Mercado de San Juan, or San Juan Market, is one of the most famous markets in Mexico City. For both it’s gourmet and more…shall we say…exotic offerings.

In Mexico City alone, there are over 300 markets, and Mercado de San Juan — which we’ll give you an up-close look at in this post — is one of the most famous and a favorite of food enthusiasts across the city.

It’s not hard to see why. Entering the market rewards you with aisle upon aisle of beautiful produce, fresh seafood, meats, international ingredients, and…scorpions?⁠
⁠
Yup! You read that right.

While Mercado de San Juan is first and foremost a gourmet food destination, it is also notorious for its more…shall we say…exotic offerings.

Venture deeper into the market, past the innocent fruits and vegetables, and you’ll find an assortment of edible creepy crawlies and unusual meats — think lion, ostrich, bear, and crocodile. And the butcher section may well be a vegetarian’s worst nightmare.

Read on for our full experience at the market, which involves a food tour that started with pure intentions yet ends with a Bizarre-Foods-style twist.

If you’d like to take an interactive tour of Mercado de San Juan check out our video below! (& don’t forget to subscribe!)

A Market for Chefs & Foodies

Built in 1955 on the former space of the Buen Tono cigarette warehouse and officially titled Mercado de San Juan Ernesto Pugibet after the land’s former owner, the building is one of the oldest municipal markets in Mexico City, and its common name comes from the nearby San Juan Plaza, where food vendors sold their wares beginning in the early 1900s.

Mexico News Daily

Mercado de San Juan is known as a chef’s market. Towers of colorful fruits and vegetables (from Mexico and imported from all around the world), European cured meats and cheeses, a scary but gourmet selection of fresh meat, seafood from Mexico and beyond, and more unique finds like ostrich eggs and edible flowers.

The goods here are more expensive than you’ll find elsewhere, but you get what you pay for. Lucky for those of us from the States, things are still affordable. The same quality of products in San Francisco, where we live, would be 4-5x the price.

We went home with an exquisite leg of lamb to cook for Thanksgiving for around $15 USD. If you’re feeling extra, you can even pick up a whole baby pig for $25 USD.

What You’ll Find at Mercado de San Juan

Creepy Crawlies

Would you eat a scorpion? How about a cockroach? These are the existential questions you may find yourself asking when walking through Mercado de San Juan.

In the weeds of the market, you’ll find vendors selling scorpions, tarantulas, cockroaches, ants, and other edible creepy crawlies. I may or may not have been roped into trying a fried scorpion doused in chili powder, followed by a shot of mezcal.

Baby was also peer pressured into trying her very first Madagascar cockroach, and she is still super traumatized from the experience! (Eating a cockroach would make you talk in the third-person too )⁠

Lions and Tigers and Bears — Oh My!

Mercado de San Juan is known as a place to get exotic meats. Many vendors advertise iguana, wild boar, armadillo, and crocodile on their menus. If you’re feeling brave, you can opt for a lion burger or tiger steak.

Vendors have been selling these scarce meats in the market for some time, and they are apparently raised legally on farms in Puebla and Guerrero.

International Ingredients

At Mercado de San Juan, you’ll find European cured meats and cheeses, produce from around the world, and international food products on top of standard market fare. It’s one of the few places in Mexico City where you’ll find Asian food products, for example, and vegetables like bok choy and Chinese cabbage.

Fresh Meat

The butcher section of Mercado de San Juan is pretty metal. In the back of the market, under fluorescent lights, you’ll walk past whole baby goats, pigs, and hares lined in rows, stacked in towers, or packed into crates. I even found a bag of goat heads…mmm.

Though it’s a lot to take in visually, the meats are incredibly high-quality and much of it is farm-raised. There are more conventional cuts too, of course. Really exciting stuff for cooks.

Fresh & Dry Produce

The produce in Mercado de San Juan is a dream. Vendors preside over their colorful towers of fruits and vegetables taller than you, occasionally offering you samples as you walk by.

If you’re American, forget about what you think fruit tastes like. The fruit here is incredibly ripe and sweet — anything but bland and absolutely delicious.

Gorgeous Seafood

Mercado de San Juan is the place to get fresh seafood of the highest quality. From giant prawns and shellfish to octopus and tuna cut right from the source, the selection is just ridiculous.

Much of the seafood sold in the market is from Veracruz, but you can also find catch from around Central and South America.

What & Where to Eat

For a sit-down meal in the market, we kept finding ourselves at Las Tapas de San Juan, a stall specializing in meat-and-cheese stuffed paninis. Though the food is mostly European-inspired, there are a medley of homemade Mexican house sauces that you can slop on your food for an extra sweet or spicy kick.

The best part? Order one panini and you get a glass of wine, a meat and cheese plate, and dessert for free. We went back three times during our two-week trip in Mexico City.

But you really should eat everything!

Sample all the fresh fruit, go to the seafood vendors and ask for fresh tuna sashimi. Try European cured meats and cheeses. If you’re feeling brave, order an exotic meat taco or burger. Hell, eat a scorpion or cockroach.

Whatever you do, you can’t really go wrong.

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If you are love to eat and are curious about food, there are few places better than Mexico City. Read on for observations about Mexico City food culture and a list of the best restaurants, street food, and places to eat that you can find in town.

You can explore Mexico City your whole life and not see it all.

The city oozes history and culture. Simultaneously modern and metropolitan and brimming with Mexican tradition, you can eat tacos to your heart’s content at humble street stalls by day and dance with the well-dressed, crème de la crème of Mexico City by night. Spanish colonial architecture stands side-by-side with Aztec ruins and contemporary skyscrapers. There are parts of town that feel and look like you’ve landed in Europe, and parts where there is absolutely no doubt that you are in Mexico.

In this food-forward guide to Mexico City, you’ll get an inside look at the delights and quirks of Mexico City’s food scene along with our recommendations for the best restaurants, street food stalls, and other places to eat in town.

Table of Contents

• An Inside Look at Mexico City Food Culture
• Where to Eat in Mexico City: Restaurants & Street Food

Take a Video Food Tour of Mexico City!

Tips for Eating in Mexico City: An Inside Look at Mexico City Food Culture

If you love to eat and are curious about food culture and history, there are few places in the world better than Mexico City. Here’s why.

There’s Something for Every Budget

For you bougie foodies — Mexico City is no stranger to fine dining. Two of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants — Pujol and Quintonil — are in Mexico City. If you’re looking at the World’s 100 Best Restaurants, the list expands to include Sud777.

If you instead seek authentic Mexican food that locals eat day-to-day, Mexico City delivers with its myriad markets and street food stalls around every corner.

And, of course, there’s everything else in-between.

The Best Eats in Town Are Found in Markets

Where there are supermarkets in the United States, there are traditional food markets in Mexico. Even in ultra-metropolitan Mexico City, it’s more convenient to shop for groceries at your neighborhood market than at a grocery store. I’m actually convinced that Mexico City (and all of Mexico really) is just one giant market (and neighborhoods like Tepito literally are). Inside, you can find some of the best food anywhere in the city.

Read: 6 Best Markets in Mexico City to Shop & Eat

You Can Find Unique Dishes From All Over Mexico

Cooks come from all over Mexico to open restaurants in Mexico City and bring the diverse flavors of their hometown with them. Craving a taste of spicy Sinoloan aguachile, authentic Hidalgan barbacoa cooked the way it has been for hundreds of years, the acidic savoriness of Yucatanian cochinita pibil, the rustic texture of a Oaxacan tortilla, or the fatty, melt-in-your-mouth goodness of Michoacan carnitas? You’ll most certainly find it all and more in Mexico City.

The Street Food is Incredible, Cheap, and All Over the Place

You don’t have to go far in Mexico City to find delicious street food. There are stalls quite literally everywhere, and they are usually up to something delicious. From meat-stuffed quesadillas and Mexican soups to more tacos than your mind can wrap itself around, you’ll eat to your heart’s content for cheap.

There are even some unexpected options, like stalls specializing in vegan tacos served by hipsters behind the counter. I’ve rarely seen young people behind the scenes at street food stalls in my travels, and it’s cool to see different faces getting involved in Mexico City.

Tired of Mexican Food? Dip Your Toes in the International Food Scene

Like any metropolis, Mexico City offers many international eats and fusion cuisines. During our two-and-a-half weeks in town, we tried Indian-Mexican at Masala y Maiz, traditional Argentinian barbecue, Korean seafood noodles and bulgogi, Russian fish soup, and even Taiwanese food at Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery.

If you find yourself thinking that you can’t possibly eat another taco, Mexico City has you covered.

Where to Eat in Mexico City: Best Restaurants, Street Food & Places to Eat

Everywhere On My “Best Carnitas Tacos in Mexico City” List

Ah…carnitas. Arguably the most decadent taco meat in existence, made by frying every part of the pig you can imagine in its own lard for 2-4 hours. Nom nom nom nom.

Mexico City is a carnitas paradise, and there are numerous vendors to choose from across the city. Check out my blog post for the low-down, though the winner is hands-down Carnitas “El Charro” in the Coyoacan Market on the weekends.

Las Tapas de San Juan

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $$

Las Tapas de San Juan specializes in meat-and-cheese stuffed paninis in Mercado de San Juan. Though the food is mostly European-inspired, there are a medley of homemade Mexican house sauces that you can slop on your food for an extra sweet or spicy kick.

The best part? Order one panini and you get a glass of wine, a meat and cheese plate, and dessert for free. Eating at this stall is such a fun experience that we went three times.

Rico Caldos de Gallina “Luis”

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Norte
Price $

Love chicken soup? Hit up Rico Caldos de Gallina “Luis,” a small restaurant in Roma Norte specializing in just that. You can see the huge pot of chicken broth boiling right in front of you and it tastes like exactly what you want on a cold, rainy day.

And though we didn’t try the restaurant’s other specialty — enchiladas topped with rich brown mole enhanced with chicken fat — it also looks incredible.

Tacos Los Güeros

Location
Neighborhood: Aeronáutica Militar
Price $

We beelined it to Tacos Los Güeros after watching the mouthwatering al pastor episode of Netflix’s Tacos Chronicles. The al pastor is indeed good, but so is the longaniza (sausage), suadero, and numerous other meats they have on their menu.

Taqueria Los Ahumados

Location: To the right of the Chedraui parking lot.
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $

A tiny hole-in-the-wall located next to Chedraui (think of it as Mexico’s Costco) at the Salto del Agua metro station. Tacos Los Ahumados sells tacos al carbon, or tacos with a variety of grilled meats, at around 20 pesos ($1) a pop. Try the picanha and chorizo Argentina, my two favorites.

Now the tacos are divine on their own, but the owner takes things to the next level with his selection of homemade sauces. The classic habanero, passion fruit habanero, pineapple habanero, and peanut with chile de arbol sauces were to die for

El Moro Churreria

Location: Everywhere
Price $

A local favorite, El Moro Churreria has been making churros for Mexico City since 1935. If you like churros (if you’re sane), you should definitely make a pit stop at one of their many locations across the city. Our default order is four churros with chocolate dip and the especial hot chocolate. I’m salivating now just thinking about it.

The original shop in the historic center almost always requires a wait, but you’ll be able to get service fast in any other location.

Taqueria Los Cocuyos

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $

An infamous 24-hour taco joint in Mexico City’s historic center that finds its way onto every “best food in Mexico City” list for good reason…because the tacos are damn good and cheap. You’ll find head, tongue, and all sorts of fun beef parts on their menu. My personal favorites are the longaniza and campeche (mixed meats).

Masala y Maiz

Location
Neighborhood: Juarez
Price $$-$$$

Masala y Maiz is the brainchild of Norma Listman, a Mexico native, and Saqib Keval, who is of Indian and East African descent. The couple met cooking in the Bay Area and opened Masala y Maiz in Mexico City in 2017. The restaurant’s menu — which changes weekly depending on the availability of local ingredients — reflects a mixing and matching of Norma and Saqib’s diverse backgrounds.

In our visit to Masala y Maiz, we sampled dishes like suadero samosas, Mexican shrimp cocktail, and dosas with chili and tamarind chutney, shishito peppers, potato salad, and coriander. Each of the dishes were a thoughtful combination of flavors and textures — an absolute joy to eat.

El Hidalguense

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Sur
Price $$

I learned on this trip that barbacoa is actually an ancient style of cooking meat, not a specific type of meat like I always thought. Pioneered by the Mayans, barbacoa is made by wrapping meat in agave leaves and slow-cooking it in a pib, or underground oven. The Mayans used to cook wild boar, deer, and other game in this way, and the technique was picked up by other indigenous groups once the Mayans faded out of power in 900 A.D. In the 1500s, when Spanish conquistadors brought goats, sheep, cattle, and other farm animals to Mexico for the first time, the dish adapted.

Today, barbacoa is considered the specialty of Hidalgo, and El Hidalguense cooks and serves the dish in the traditional way.

Comedor de Los Milagros

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Sur
Price $$

Comedor de Los Milagros is a trendy food hall in the La Roma neighborhood that is home to a number of vendors serving New Latin cuisine. Though we didn’t eat here personally, we did pop in after a jaunt at Mercado Medellin to admire the hip decor and take a look around.

Though all the eateries are likely high-quality, the Brazilian restaurant and ceviche stall are what I would personally try!

Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery

Location
Neighborhood: Roma Norte
Price $$

Bao Bao Taiwanese Eatery was founded in 2020 by Panamian-Taiwanese owner Kathy Fong. The menu features Taiwanese staples like beef noodle soup, popcorn chicken, scallion pancakes, and, of course, bao.

We chatted with Kathy during our meal and she told us about her commitment to serving dishes that are as authentic as possible. She even brought in a chef from Taiwan to help perfect the menu.

As you may or may not know, Taiwanese beef noodle soup is my favorite food in the entire world and it was a pleasure to enjoy a wonderful version of it in Mexico City.

“La Portenita” Parilla Argentina

Location
Neighborhood: Historic Center
Price $$

If you love meat, this place is a must. They do Argentian-style barbecue to perfection, and it is incredibly affordable. Order the parrillada, which includes one juicy t-bone steak, skirt steak, a quarter chicken, and a chorizo for only $20.

You can thank me later.

Want More Reads About Food in Mexico?

• A Brief History of Carnitas (& Where to Find the Best Carnitas in Mexico City)
• 13 Traditional Oaxacan Foods You’ll Find at Tlacolula Market
• Where to Eat in Tulum: A Restaurant & Street Food Guide

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Hot pot 火鍋 (huo guo), literally translating as fire pot, is a dining experience universally loved by Chinese people. The idea is simple: assemble a selection of raw vegetables, meats, seafood, and starches — anything you want, really — then cook them in a boiling pot of flavored broth. Across China and Taiwan, bustling all-you-can-eat hot pot restaurants are a fixture of everyday life. At home, families gather around the dining table to enjoy their own array of ingredients.

Hot pot is a deeply communal method of eating — ingredients are meant to be leisurely cooked and enjoyed as a group over several hours, preferably accompanied by Chinese bai jiu, beer, sake, or other spirits. Many use it as a delicious excuse to gather with friends and loved ones. There ain’t no party like a hot pot party.

Hot pot styles vary drastically region by region. In Beijing, mutton hot pot with a light broth or water is most common, and ingredients are dipped in sesame paste and sesame oil for flavor. Yunnan, home to over 600 species of wild edible mushrooms, is famous for — you guessed it — mushroom hot pot. The Northeast of China favors a hot pot made of sour, preserved vegetables. The most notorious hot pot in China and abroad hails from Sichuan Province. A blood-red blend of chili, flowery Sichuan pepper, aromatic spices, and bars of beef tallow, the broth of Sichuan hot pot is 麻辣 (ma la), numbing, spicy, and not for the faint for heart. A can of sesame oil is used as a dipping sauce to, theoretically, balance the heat (spoiler alert: it doesn’t work very well).

And that’s just scratching the surface. The list goes on and on. In this post, we’ll dive into how you can make Chinese hot pot at home,

How to Make Chinese Hot Pot at Home

Though hot pot may seem intimidating to recreate at home, it is actually quite easy (and significantly cheaper than eating out at a restaurant):

1. Start by equipping yourself with essential hot pot tools. I use a metal hot pot with an accompanying electric burner very similar to this one (Lenza gifted it to me a few years ago and we use it at least once a week). Other helpful tools include hot pot ladles, Chinese-style bowls, small bowls for dipping sauce, and chopsticks.
2. Make your soup base.
3. Wash and chop vegetables, meats, and other hot pot ingredients.
4. Assemble dipping sauces.
5. Wait until your soup boils then start adding in your hot pot ingredients.

Pro tip: Do not put everything in the hot pot at once! Cook specific morsels of food at a time and eat as you go. Some ingredients, like root vegetables, take a little longer to cook. Others, like thinly sliced meat or mushrooms, take under a minute. Keep an eye on everything you put in the pot so it doesn’t overcook.

Soup Base

Chinese hot pot at home can be as simple or complicated as you want it to be. Sure, you can make a complex and nuanced broth by slow-cooking bones and mix-and-matching spices, but reasonably tasty variations can be made with bouillon cubes or even just water.

These days, there are a variety of packaged broth bases in every flavor imaginable that you simply combine with boiling water. Voila—authentic Chinese hot pot ready for enjoyment in minutes! Here are my favorite brands:

• Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. Little Sheep is a famous Chinese hot pot chain. I like their Sichuan soup base best, though the plain flavor is also tasty.
• Hai Di Lao. Hai Di Lao is another famous Chinese hot pot chain that offers manicures as you wait in the inevitable line. I like their mushroom and shrimp flavor soup bases.
• Lao Gan Ma is a Chinese chili sauce brand with a cult following. They carry a soup base that tastes very close to their flagship sauce.

For those up for a more involved broth, you can easily adapt a variety of Asian soups into a hot pot. I like the following recipes:

• Lady and Pups’ “Golden Foundation.” The stuff dreams are made of. A rich chicken- and pork-based stock that is delicious on its own or as a starting point for additional seasonings.
• Lady and Pups Sichuan ma la hot pot. This involves a riot of spices and two days of prep. I’ve made this recipe for Christmas dinner.
• Seonkyoung Longest’s galbitang is a clear Korean short rib soup that would do wonders as a hot pot base.
• If you are a fan of miso soup, try this shiitake and miso broth from Tyler Florence.

Chinese Hot Pot Ingredients List

The at-home Chinese hot pot experience is infinitely customizable — it can be as every day or as exotic as you want it to be. Ingredients fall into a few key categories: veggies, meat and seafood, tofu products, noodles and dumplings, and the “weird.” I dive into each category in detail below. View this section as a shopping list for your own hot pot party.

Hot Pot Vegetables

Cabbage, leafy greens, and starchy vegetables — you’ve gotta have them all. Here’s where to start:

• Cabbage: Napa cabbage, green cabbage, bok choy
• Leafy greens: Tong ho (also known as edible chrysanthemum), Taiwanese spinach, water spinach
• Starchy vegetables: Taro root, lotus root, potato slices, sweet potatoes, Japanese yam, corn
• Other: Bamboo shoots, daikon radish

Mushrooms

Enoki are the quintessential mushrooms for hot pot. If you only buy one mushroom, let this be it. Other tasty contenders include king oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and crunchy wood ear mushrooms.

Meat & Seafood

At Asian grocery stores like Ranch 99 and H Mart, you can buy lamb, beef, pork, and chicken that is sliced thinly for hot pot. If you can’t find these near you, it’s totally ok to buy meat and cut it into bite-sized pieces yourself.

For seafood, I like scallops, frozen shrimp, mini squid, mussels, clams, and bite-sized pieces of a white fish like tilapia. Again, there are no hard and fast rules. Hot pot is about you and what you like to eat! For frozen or particularly pungent seafood, I recommend giving it a quick blanch (a fancy way to say boil for a few minutes) before serving.

Tofu & Beancurd

In the minds of most Westerners, tofu stops at the standard, basic b*tch white blocks carried at grocery stores, with soft/silken, medium, or firm textures providing the only semblance of variety. Accompanied by a lack of knowledge on how to properly cook tofu, many dismiss this protein-packed staple with an “I just don’t like it,” a frustrating bias for Chinese food enthusiasts to overcome (not speaking from personal experience here or anything).

In reality, tofu comes in all shapes, sizes, textures, and flavors that you can cook in many delicious ways. Next time you find yourself at your local Asian market, take some time to check out all the different varieties of tofu and experiment with a few. Live a little.

Here are a few hot pot favorites:

• Frozen tofu
• Fried tofu and tofu puffs
• Dried tofu “skin,” or bean curd sheets
• Bean curd knots
• Soybean “noodles”

火鍋料 (huo guo liao)

Huo guo liao, directly translated to “hot pot ingredients,” encompasses the different categories of processed items made specifically for cooking in Chinese hot pot. Some of them contain crab, shrimp, or squid, like the many varieties of fish balls and dumplings you’ll find in the frozen food sections of Asian markets. Others are taro or egg-based, like my favorite 蛋餃(dan jiao), an egg dumpling with a pork filling. Many are made with processed meat.

If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, cuttlefish balls, lobster balls, and fish balls with roe are a safe bet. I also really like beef tendon balls, which are similar to the meatballs you find in Vietnamese pho.

The “Weird”

While Westerners tend to stick to the tamer ingredients of hot pot, the Chinese embrace more exotic offerings: the chewy skin and cartilage of chicken feet, pudding-like pig brains, crunchy tripe, silky cubes of duck blood, and really any type of offal you can think of. If you are an adventurous eater, or simply feel like trolling your guests (think Anthony Bourdain torturing Eric Ripert in the Sichuan episode of Parts Unknown), your local Asian market should have a few fun options to choose from.

Make sure to include a mandatory toast of bai jiu (rancid—I mean delicious—Chinese liquor distilled from sorghum) along with each bite if your goal is the latter.

Noodles & Dumplings

Though all noodles are good noodles, I’ve recently started using mostly rice or bean-based varieties because they don’t cloud the broth with starch or stick to the bottom of the pot (a pain during post-meal cleaning). My favorites include mung bean glass noodles, vermicelli, pho noodles, and egg noodles. However, flour-based noodles like knife-cut, dan dan, soba, and udon are delicious too. And at the end of the day, you should do you.

For dumplings, I usually pick out my favorite brand from the frozen food aisle and am good to go.

Fun, Miscellaneous Ingredients

• Quail eggs (boil briefly and peel them before cooking)
• Chinese cruller/savory doughnut, or you tiao (break into bite-sized pieces and add to hot pot broth for melt-in-your-mouth goodness)
• Fried gluten balls
• Stinky tofu (fermented tofu commonly served as street food in China and Taiwan)

Dipping Sauce

As hot pot styles vary by region, so do accompanying dipping sauces. A simple approach for a hot pot party is to acquire a small inventory of oils, spices, and sauces that you and your guests can mix and match. Hot pot restaurants around the world do just this with a designated sauce station for patrons.

Here are some ideas for stocking your own sauce station:

• Finely chopped garlic
• Scallions
• Chili oil
• Sesame oil
• Crushed chili sauce (Lao Gan Ma brand is my go-to)
• Sesame paste
• Leek flower sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Shacha sauce, or Chinese BBQ sauce
• Chinkiang vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Soy sauce

My go-to sauce combination is finely chopped garlic + scallions + Chinese BBQ sauce + a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. What’s yours?

Save This Hot Pot Shopping List!

You now have all the information to throw a Chinese hot pot party at home. Here are a few key things to keep in mind before you go off alone into the big world.

First, remember to cook small amounts of food as you go and learn by trial and error. A taro root, for example, will need 5-10 minutes to cook, while leafy green vegetables, mushrooms, and thinly sliced meat need less than a minute. Keep a close eye on what you put in the pot for the best results.

Second, always sanitize your chopsticks in the boiling broth, especially when handling meat. Just hold your chopsticks in for a few extra seconds in the boiling broth if they come in contact with raw meat.

And last but not least, to fully experience the culture of Chinese businessmen entertaining at a banquet, troll your friends with repeated, mandatory toasts of bai jiu.

Enjoy! Leave me a comment below if you have any questions!

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Carnitas — arguably the most decadent taco meat in existence — is made by frying every part of the pig you can imagine in its own lard for two-four hours. Read on for a brief history of this indulgent dish and a roundup of the best carnitas tacos we ate in Mexico City.

Ahhh, carnitas. Pork in its most perfect form. Every part of the pig you can imagine braised or simmered in oil — ideally its own lard — for anywhere from two to four hours. The fat between the meat dissolves during the cooking process so when you eat it, it melts in your mouth in a burst of savory goodness.

You can really play with texture when assembling a carnitas taco, and a good carnitas joint should provide you with options. At Carnitas El Charro in the Coyoacan market, we salivated over the creaminess of pig mouth balanced by chewy-yet-tender pieces of rib meat. Skin from the pig’s forearm rewards you with a fatty, sticky sweetness. A small handful of chicharron adds a satisfying crunch.

Mix and match these textures, add some raw onion, cilantro, salsa, and a pickled vegetable or two and you may just find yourself with the perfect taco. I’m finally starting to understand Anthony Bourdain’s obsession with the

Carnitas Origin, History & Folklore

Fun fact: Pigs are not native to the Americas. Between 1492-1504, Christopher Columbus brought pigs and other farm animals from Spain to the islands of the West Indies. They eventually make their way to Mexico via Hernan Cortes, who transports them from the West Indies to the “New World”.

As folklore goes, in 1521, Hernan Cortes hosts a banquet at his palace in Coyoacan to celebrate the fall of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire. He butchers a pig and cooks it with what’s available — its own lard — then serves it to guests with Tlaxcalan cornbread.

And so carnitas was said to be born. (One more fun fact: Frying as a cooking technique was also unknown in Mexico prior to the arrival of the pinche conquistadors.)

Though this origin story is greeted with skepticism by some historians, it’s undeniable that introducing pork to traditional Mexican corn culture led to some delicious synergies. This theme of Mexican cuisine evolving with the rise and fall of empires — and with the introduction of new ingredients and techniques — is one that we see repeatedly throughout Mexican food history.

Fat as a cooking medium was not known amongst pre-Hispanic groups. Lard from pigs, followed by tallow and butter from bovine and ovine herds, and vegetable oils (such as olive), were introduced to the New World, and that is when the mestizaje of the Spanish and Mexican cuisines embraced frying with a passion.

— MySliceofMexico.ca

Modern Carnitas & Its Michoacan Roots

If we are to believe that carnitas was invented by Hernan Cortes in Mexico City, then it was certainly perfected in the Mexican state of Michoacan. Michoacan is famous across Mexico for its carnitas, and people there have been preparing the dish in their traditional way for generations. When traveling across Mexico, it’s common to see restaurants and street stalls advertising their carnitas with large Michoacan signage. It’s a stamp of authenticity that ensures that “the carnitas here are the real deal.”

The Michoacan technique for cooking carnitas starts with a copper pot, said to better conduct heat for even cooking, ultimately giving the carnitas a more intense flavor. There are ongoing arguments amongst chefs over the merits of cooking carnitas in a copper pot vs. a steel pot. Copper pots represent tradition, while steel represents modernity.

The ingredients to Michoacan carnitas are surprisingly simple — all you need is fresh pork, lard, salt, and water. The complexity of the dish comes from the chefs’ mastery of heat and the order in which pig parts are cooked. Different temperatures are used at different stages of cooking, and leaner, tougher parts of the meat are cooked first to ensure the perfect consistency.

The final product is golden-brown chunks of pork that are crispy on the outside and moist and tender inside.

“For those of us who live in Michoacan, eating a carnitas taco means indulging in a sinful pleasure. And it’s comforting. That sweet flavor of carnitas, the pork’s juicy texture, is something we really like.”

— Owner of Carnitas Cortes in Michoacan for Netflix series Taco Chronicles

The Best Carnitas Tacos We Ate in Mexico City

If you can’t make it to Michoacan on your trip to Mexico, these Mexico City carnitas joints will help curb your cravings.

Carnitas “El Charro” in Coyoacan Market

Location
Neighborhood: Coyoacan

Carnitas El Charro is a family-run business that has been serving carnitas since 1956. During the week, you can eat delicious carnitas tacos at their humble stall within Coyoacán Market. On the weekends, the operation expands into a full-on carnitas fiesta involving the whole family.

If you can, check out Carnitas “El Charro” on a Saturday or Sunday. We had one of our most fun (and tasty!) meals there during our two weeks in Mexico City.

Carnitas Meche y Rafael in Mercado Medellin

Location
Neighborhood: La Roma

Carnitas Meche y Rafael serves up scrumptious carnitas in Mercado Medellin. Not only is the meat tender and flavorful, the stall uses a mix of onion and epazote (an herb native to Latin America that tastes like a slightly bitter mint) in their fluffy tortillas. A unique combination I have not seen anywhere else.

Rincon Tarasco

Location
Neighborhood: Escandón

Rincon Tarasco is a popular, no-frills joint serving traditional carnitas in the Escandón neighborhood. Make sure to get here early! We tried going at 3 PM and they were all sold out.

Carnitas Quiroga

Location
Neighborhood: La Condesa

Carnitas Quiroga is the definition of a delicious hole-in-the-wall. The tacos here — at 20 pesos ($1) apiece — are extremely generous and filling. I tried a costilla (rib meat) taco and it was stuffed to the brim. An affordable gem in the otherwise pricey Condesa neighborhood.

Carnitas Garcia

Location
City: Tlalnepantla de Baz, 30 minutes north of Mexico City’s historic center

Carnitas Garcia is a recommendation from our friend Luis, a Mexico City native, who has never led us astray when it comes to delicious food. It is not a restaurant, but a street stall near his mother’s house that has been there for 50 years at least. It is only open on the weekends, and the best time to go is at noon. Otherwise, it’s likely that the carnitas will already be finished.

Carnitas Luna Park

Location
Neighborhood: Juarez

Carnitas Luna Park is another recommendation from our friend Miguel who has been living in Mexico City for 13 years. Carnitas Luna Park has been in the Juarez neighborhood since 1938, and the restaurant is always crowded with locals looking for rich, fried pork bits. They also have a tasty selection of salsa and sauces.

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For more food recommendations in Mexico City, check out my Mexico City food guide.

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If you happen to be in Oaxaca on a Sunday, making a trip to the traditional Tlacolula Market and eating everything in sight is a must.

The heart and soul of Oaxaca’s food culture can be found in the hustle and bustle of local markets. We spent much of our two weeks in Oaxaca, a place some call the “food capital of Mexico,” market-hopping and eating everything in sight.

Tlacolula Market, a traditional Sunday market located 45 minutes away from Oaxaca’s city center, was hands-down the best that we visited in the region. If you find yourself in Oaxaca on a Sunday, do yourself a favor and check it out — you will not regret it.

Table of Contents

• What to Expect at Tlacolula Market
• What to Eat at Tlacolula Market
• How to Get to Tlacolula Market
• Other Fun Food Markets In & Around Oaxaca City

What to Expect At Tlacolula Market

Tlacolula Market is one of the oldest continuous markets in Oaxaca and across Mesoamerica. Taking place every Sunday in Tlacolula de Matamoros, a city 45 minutes away from Oaxaca’s city center, thousands of vendors, shoppers, and tourists flood in from neighboring cities and villages to engage in the bustling commerce.

Check out our video below for a comprehensive tour of Tlacolula Market!

Tlacolula Market is largely organized by offering and sells everything you’d expect from a traditional Mexican market. There are sections for fruits and vegetables, baked goods, meats, chicharron, textiles, and crafts. And, because you’re in Oaxaca, edible crickets and critters.

At the market, you’ll see villagers dressed in colorful indigenous clothing—bright headscarves, skirts, and these days, masks. The overall experience is chaotic in the best way and a real treat for the senses.

What to Eat at Tlacolula Market

Barbacoa

Barbacoa is a stewed meat dish traditionally eaten on Sundays in Mexico, and there is a whole section of Tlacolula Market that is dedicated to the delicacy. It is a real highlight of the market, and you absolutely must try it.

We ate at Barbacoa Juanita, a stall that has been in the market for over 80 years, passed down in the same family generation after generation — four so far!

Barbacoa Juanita specializes in borrego and chivo (lamb and goat) barbacoa. The goat is cooked until tender in a deep red broth, seasoned with chilis, garlic, onion, and a vaguely cinnamon-like seasoning (maybe hojas de aguacate, avocado leaves, which is said to taste like a mix of anise and licorice). It is served with consomé—the broth drippings of the goat that I dream about at night . The lamb is more simple, relying on the flavors of the tender meat and subtly enhanced with salt, garlic, and onion.

Both are delicious. 10/10 recommend.

Chicharrón

At Tlacolula, vendors sell chicharrón in massive, tasty sheets. The piece we purchased was from the head of the pig, and included ear, nose, and cheek. Yum! #VegetariansLoveMe

Nieves

Nieves, a water-based ice cream, is a favorite dessert of Oaxacans. Here I’m trying tuna nieves — but not the kind of tuna you think! Tuna is actually the flower of the cactus. If you like sorbet, you’ll like nieves.

Tejate

Tejate is a Oaxacan drink from pre-Hispanic times made from cornflower and cacao. It is served with sugar syrup and tastes like lightly sweet, watered-down chocolate milk.

Pan de Cazuela

Pan de cazuela, or casserole bread, is baked in a wood oven with chocolate and raisins. It tastes like a lightly sweet wheat bread with a hint of cinnamon.

There is an entire section dedicated to baked goods in Tlacolula Market that you can eat your way through.

Carne Asada

In Tlacolula, you’ll find an entire area dedicated to carne asada vendors. Pick your favorite meats from the selection along with chilis, cactus, and more, and they will grill everything on the spot for you.

How to Get to Tlacolula Market

There are a few ways to get to Tlacolula Market depending on your budget.

By Taxi

Taxis are the easiest way to get to the market, though not the cheapest. A ride to Tlacolula Market will run you 200-300 pesos one way depending on your bargaining skills.

By Colectivo

From Tripadvisor:

“You can get a colectivo for Tlacolula by walking up to Niños Heroes de Chapultapec and over to the baseball stadium (Estadio Eduardo Vasconcelos). At the east end of the stadium there’s a northbound street which ends at Niños Heroes, and taxis, colectivos and buses to Tlacolula come by often.”

A colectivo should cost around 25 pesos per person.

Other Markets In & Around Oaxaca City

Tlacolula is by no means the only market you can visit in Oaxaca.

Mercado 20 Noviembre and Mercado Benito Juarez are located right next to each other in Oaxaca’s center.

Mercado 20 Noviembre boasts a variety of restaurants and is a great place to sample Oaxacan mole. We tried mole coloradito at Comedor Típico La Abuelita and really enjoyed it. There is also a grilled meat hall, the pasillo de carne asada, where you can experience the best of Oaxacan barbecue.

Take of video food tour of Mercado 20 Noviembre

Mercado Benito Juarez is the perfect stop to pick up fresh groceries, local Oaxacan crafts, and Oaxacan specialties like chocolate, coffee, and mezcal.

Mercado de Abastos is a massive market that sells everything you can possibly imagine. A word of warning—petty crime has been reported in the market, and the sheer size of it can be intimidating if you are on your own. Anthony Bourdain went to Mercado de Abastos with a local guide in the Mexico episode of Parts Unknown—a very good idea. I’ve been twice at this point and have not been able to enjoy the market simply because it is hard to know where to start.

The Friday market at Ocotlán de Morelos, a town one hour away from Oaxaca, is another traditional Mexican market that is worth checking out in Oaxaca. Ocotlán is known for its black pottery, and the market sells farming tools, leatherwork, and metalwork on top of its standard market fare.

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Shenkeng Old Street has all the characteristics of a classic tourist trap except for one minor difference: most storefronts sell stinky tofu, and stinky tofu only. Its outskirts offer a looking glass into traditional Taiwanese folklore and culture.

It’s an overcast day in Taipei, and our group is on the hunt for one of the pride and joys of Taiwanese cuisine: stinky tofu, or 臭豆腐 chou dou fu. The dish, made by fermenting tofu in brine and spices, is notorious for its pungent aroma and the mixed emotions it inspires. I, for one, genuinely think stinky tofu smells and tastes good. Lenza, on the other hand, has a very different opinion. “It tastes like it’s rotten,” he sputtered after his first time trying it, looking confused and distressed as I cackled maniacally.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you talk to), much of Taiwan shares my opinion. There are stinky tofu street stalls on every corner in most Taiwanese cities. To find one, all you have to do is visit a Taiwanese night market and follow your nose. The smell is hard to miss — that at least everyone can agree on.

Like many iconic foods in Taiwan and China, there are differing opinions on how stinky tofu came to be. Some are stories of accidental discovery, like food vendors forgetting about their tofu inventory for a while then resurfacing it to much fanfare. Others are more colorful, like a Shaoxing myth that details one imprisoned king of Yue, one royal stool of the enemy Wu king, and an unthinkable act necessary to earn one’s freedom. (For all the gory details, click here.) With a history that many believe traces back to the Qing dynasty, established in 1636, it’s understandable why details surrounding stinky tofu’s origins are murky.

In Taipei’s Shenkeng district, otherwise known as the “Tofu Capital of Taiwan,” we didn’t just find gold at the end of the rainbow, we discovered the entire mine. Located on the eastern edges of Taipei, Shenkeng Old Street, the district’s historic center, has all the characteristics of a classic tourist trap except for one minor difference: most storefronts sell stinky tofu, and stinky tofu only.

According to local vendors, the tofu served on Shenkeng Old Street is “the best in the world,” a truth made possible by the area’s sweet, natural mountain water, perfect for grinding soybeans with. And it seems that Taiwanese people agree. People flock in from all over the country specifically for this fragrant delicacy. I like to call it “stinky tofu tourism.”

Stinky tofu is cooked in many ways. Most frequently, it is fried and served on skewers with a lovely accompaniment of pickled cabbage. Sometimes it is boiled in a deep pot of fragrant broth or featured as the star attraction of an individual-sized hot pot. It can be braised, stir-fried, or even eaten raw. This last trip to Taiwan, I discovered a new reincarnation of the familiar dish: stinky tofu french fries served with a variety of dipping sauces. (They are really good, by the way).

The version we settle into at a small restaurant on Shenkeng Old Street is ma la stinky tofu and duck blood soup 麻辣鸭血臭豆腐, an ingredient pairing far more common than you may think.

The porous pieces of tofu act as a sponge, releasing a flood of savory broth into your mouth with each bite. The cubes of duck blood are the texture of soft jello, silky-smooth and melt in your mouth good. A garnish of chopped cilantro adds a crisp freshness that balances the numbing spice of chili oil. The stinky tofu barely packs a punch in this context — it merely provides a light, fermented flavor that adds a pleasant acidity to the soup.

Our friends Sonia and Elliot considered it the best thing they ate over their 5-day trip in Taiwan.

After finishing our meal, we decide to wander outside Shenkeng’s main touristic area for a glimpse of local life beyond tofu. Unlike its bustling old street, the rest of Shenkeng looks more like a humble Taiwanese town, with multi-story cement and brick buildings that appear much older than they are, worn by the unyielding tropical humidity.

The name Shenkeng, which literally translates to “deep pit,” is inspired by local geography. Shenkeng is fully surrounded by mountain ranges, and they encircle the town so it resembles the shape of a…deep pit (it sounds more poetic in Chinese, I promise).

Way past Shenkeng Old Street, up a lush green hill, we end up stumbling upon a beautiful temple overlooking views of the city below.

The predominant religions in Taiwan are Taoism and Buddhism, and colorful, ornate temples of all sizes seem to be everywhere. They add a pop of color between grey concrete buildings in Taiwanese cities, stand alone in the middle of green rice fields, or balance precariously on the edge of a cliff high in the mountains. As a kid, I would go to the small temple behind my grandparent’s house to burn incense and watch live performances of Taiwanese opera — they are very much part of everyday Taiwanese life.

This particular temple, we find out, is dedicated to Mazu, a Taoist and Chinese Buddhist sea goddess widely worshipped in Taiwan, southern China, and parts of Southeast Asia. If you are to believe local Shenkeng legend, you may come to the conclusion that this patron saint of sailors and fishermen is a highly sensitive woman, or at the very least has a cruel sense of humor.

According to a local worshipper, a hundred years ago, a local boy felt an urge to pee while watching cattle and decided to do so on a nearby rock. Shortly after, he lost the ability to move his legs, becoming paralyzed from the waist down. The rock, it turns out, was a naturally formed statue of Mazu, and she was immensely angered by his carelessness. The boy was rushed back to the rock by his parents to beg for forgiveness, and they constructed a straw hut around it to honor Mazu, promising to build a proper structure once they had the money to do so.

And so the majestic temple that exists today came to be. The stone the unfortunate boy relieved himself on has since been carved in the shape of Mazu and is displayed prominently in the main shrine.

We walk back towards Shenkeng Old Street feeling amused by this imaginative piece of folklore. Taiwan, a country that I spent my youth in and thought I knew so much about, continues to surprise me with its quirky layers and pique my curiosity even deeper.

And to think that stinky tofu was the catalyst of all this adventure!

How to Get to Shenkeng Old Street

There are several ways to get to Shenkeng Old Street in Taipei:

• By MRT: Take the MRT to Muzha Station (Brown Line), then transfer to the bus 0 (red 31) at the station exit. Get off at Shenkeng Old Street Stop.
• By Bus: You can take the bus from Taipei City Hall Bus Station or from Taipei Zoo Bus Station. Take the 236, 237, 282, 282 Shuttle, 306, 306 Shuttle, 666, or 795, then get off at Shenkeng Old Street Stop.
• By Taxi: You can take a taxi directly to Shenkeng Old Street. Make sure to tell the driver to take you to “Shenkeng Laojie” (深坑老街) or show them the Chinese characters.
• By Car or Scooter: If you are driving, you can take the National Freeway No. 3 or No. 5, then exit at Nangang or Xizhi Interchange. Follow the signs to Shenkeng Old Street.

Tips for Visiting Shenkeng Old Street

• Wear comfortable shoes: Shenkeng Old Street is a pedestrian street with uneven terrain, so comfortable shoes are essential for walking around.
• Bring cash: Most shops and food vendors on Shenkeng Old Street only accept cash, so it’s a good idea to bring some Taiwanese currency with you.
• Try the stinky tofu: This should go without saying. Just do it
• Watch out for crowds: Shenkeng Old Street can get very crowded, especially on weekends and holidays. Try to visit during weekdays or early in the morning.
• Explore the alleys and neighborhoods: While the main street is where most of the vendors are located, take the time to explore the alleys and side streets. You might discover interesting sights, like we did, and experience how locals live.
• Bring an umbrella or raincoat: Taiwan’s weather can be unpredictable, so it’s a good idea to bring an umbrella or raincoat just in case.

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“Things get mixed up in the state of Louisiana…most famously so in New Orleans. Families, bloodlines, food, music — it all went in the soup pot at one point or the other. Until nobody’s really sure who’s who or what’s what or where anybody really came from sometimes.”

Visiting New Orleans is always a pleasure for so many reasons. The city simply oozes culture and character — colorful historic homes, live music around every corner, and incredibly friendly people who are always down to offer a recommendation or have a conversation

And of course, the food, which is what we’re here to talk about today.

What happens when you mix local Louisiana ingredients with European, African, Caribbean, and Native American culinary traditions? An entirely new cuisine that can’t be found anywhere else — something uniquely Louisiana, something uniquely American.

If I had to describe New Orleans food in one word, it would be “decadent.” From crispy fried chicken and buttery grits to seafood pasta swimming in olive oil and overflowing po’ boy sandwiches, every meal out is like Thanksgiving dinner.

Loosen your belts a notch and read on for a round-up of the restaurants we visited in New Orleans — most recommended by long-time residents. We ate a lot during our week here, and we’re sharing it all with you today.

10 Best Restaurant in New Orleans

1. Parkway

Location

Mmm…po’boys. A massive sandwich on flaky French bread, New Orleans style. People get really creative, but the most popular are some variation of fried shrimp and oysters, topped with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

Parkway makes a mean po’boy. Try their selection of surf and turf combos smothered in gravy or a classic fried seafood po’boy. So good.

2. Verti Marte

Location

A legendary market and deli in the French Quarter that serves up New Orleans eats until wee hours of the morning, including a scrumptious fried shrimp and oyster po’boy. Anthony Bourdain has eaten here — a PSA for other enthusiasts of his shows like myself!

3. Gumbo Shop

Location

Gumbo, a thick stew with French and West African roots, is a dish that is as New Orleans as it gets. At Gumbo Shop in the French Quarter, you’ll find tasty variations made with chicken or seafood and friendly staff that are incredibly knowledgeable about New Orleans history and culture. The crawfish étouffée and shrimp creole aren’t half bad either.

4. Mandina’s

Location

Mandina’s has been a New Orleans staple since 1932. When we asked my friends about it, one told us that his grandpa used to eat there, and another told us that it’s her family’s go-to restaurant.

The menu is pure Southern Italian comfort, and you’ll find decadent platters of fried seafood, towering plates of pasta, New Orleans specialties like crawfish étouffée and shrimp creole, and classic Southern favorites.

We tried the catfish almandine with fries and grilled shrimp over pasta bordelaise. Both came in heaping plates — delicious and ridiculously rich. Like Thanksgiving dinner, seriously.

5. Willie Mae’s

Location

Willie Mae’s is one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans. Anthony Bourdain and many others have filmed here, and for good reason — the fried chicken is damn good. You’ll have to wait in line to get a table, but it’ll be worth it.

6. Clesi’s Seafood

Location

A family-owned seafood restaurant with outdoor seating and a great atmosphere. We came here twice for spicy boiled crawfish and the biggest oysters I’d ever eaten.

7. Elizabeth’s Restaurant

Location

A colorful, artsy spot in the funky Bywater neighborhood, Elizabeth’s serves an amazing brunch. What you see below on the plate that is significantly larger than my head is poached eggs and hollandaise on top of a bed of home-fried potatoes and giant fried oysters. Oh, and praline-coated millionaire’s bacon next to it.

8. Turkey and the Wolf

Location

Dubbed America’s best new restaurant of 2017 by Bon Appetit, Turkey and the Wolf does a ridiculous take on the classic bologna sandwich. Not my photo, but look at it. JUST LOOK AT IT. Trust me, you want a piece of this.

9. Mother’s Restaurant

Location

Mother’s has been serving classic New Orleans food since 1938. We love the gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and jambalaya — and there’s so much more on the menu we still have to try.

10. Mopho

Location

For some reason, I never realized that Asian-Southern fusion was a thing, but I’m so happy it is because it is brilliant and freakin’ good. Mopho’s menu blew my mind. Think shrimp and andouille gumbo made with fermented black bean paste, shrimp and grits with curry, and phos with a Southern twist. Rich and comforting like Southern food should be with interesting twists from Asian spices.

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In this post, we share some iconic dishes and ingredients characteristic of Oaxacan food. Use it as a culinary travel guide for your next foodie adventure in Oaxaca!

Mexico is one of the most exciting food destinations in the world, and as a self-proclaimed food and travel blog, Oaxaca was one place I knew we had to hit in our 6-week long travels across the country. People travel to Oaxaca from all over the country (and the world) specifically to eat — my type of place.

Restaurants and street stalls in Oaxaca are often family affairs, and many have been around for generations. Barbacoa Juanita, for example, has been serving barbacoa in Tlacolula Market for 80 years and counting. Comedor Típico La Abuelita in Mercado 20 Noviembre has been in business since 1893. Throughout our travels in Oaxaca, we kept coming across stories like these where restaurants and recipes get passed on in the same family from generation to generation. Food tradition clearly runs deep here.

Check out our YouTube channel for a food tour of Oaxaca’s city center!

The varied climates of Oaxaca lead to a huge diversity of ingredients, and a trip to any food market in the city will wow you with the dizzying array of fruits, vegetables, chilis, spices, meats, and dried goods that are available. In our short two weeks in Oaxaca State, we went from cool, high-altitude mountain air to the humid tropical heat of Oaxaca’s Pacific coast. As Anthony Bourdain put it in his Mexico episode of Parts Unknown, “this is where the good shit grows.”

Indigenous culinary tradition is another major influence in Oaxacan food. The Zapotecs and Mixtecs are the dominant indigenous groups in Oaxaca, but there are at least seventeen identified groups across the state.

In this post, we share some iconic dishes and ingredients characteristic of Oaxacan food. From the rustic, hand-ground texture of Oaxacan tortillas and the rich smokiness of grilled meat to the cinnamon notes accenting a comforting cup of hot chocolate, there’s a little something to please everyone. Do use it as a culinary travel guide for your next foodie adventure in Oaxaca!

Watch our Tlacolula Market Food Tour in Oaxaca!

Traditional Oaxacan Food, Drinks, & Ingredients

1. Mole

You can’t talk about Oaxacan food without bringing up mole.

Mole is a highly complex sauce and marinade. Though recipes vary, all moles generally contain fruits, nuts, chili, and chocolate, and each ingredient is roasted or fried before being broken down and processed into a sauce. It can take a full day to prepare a proper mole!

Oaxaca is known for having seven distinct moles — negro, colorado, amarillo, verde, chichilo, coloradito, and mancha manteles — all of different colors and flavors, with some containing up to 30 ingredients! Mole negro, for example, a rich, sweet, dark-colored mole, is said to include six different types of chili and chocolate.

The most common way to eat mole in Oaxaca seems to be on top of chicken or enchiladas, or as the filling of a tamale oaxaqueño. You can find excellent mole in the mole corridor of Mercado 20 Noviembre.

2. Grasshoppers, or Chapulins

Grasshoppers are a popular snack in Oaxaca, and though some folk may have a hard time wrapping their heads around it, they are really quite delicious and non-offensive.

Grasshoppers soak up the spices they are cooked in — usually chili, garlic, and onion — and have a satisfying crunch, much like a potato chip. They are sold alone, served as bar snacks or as an accompaniment to mezcal, or used to add a little texture to common taco fillings.

You can find chapulins in one of the city’s many markets and street stalls.

3. Barbacoa

I learned on this trip that barbacoa is actually an ancient style of cooking meat, not a specific type of meat like I always thought.

Pioneered by the Mayans, barbacoa is made by wrapping meat in agave leaves and slow-cooking it in a pib, or underground oven. The Mayans used to cook wild boar, deer, and other game like this, and the technique was picked up by other indigenous groups once the Mayans faded out of power in 900 A.D. In the 1500s, when Spanish conquistadors brought goats, sheep, cattle, and other farm animals to Mexico for the first time, the dish adapted.

Though barbacoa is served all over the country, Oaxaca has its own take using local spices and chilis. The result is a deep, smokey chili-enhanced flavor and a rich brown consome broth.

There’s an entire section of Tlacolula Market — a traditional Mexican market that takes place every Sunday located 45 minutes away from Oaxaca’s city center — dedicated to barbacoa. We tried Barbacoa Juanita, a stall that has been in Tlacolula for over 80 years, passed down in the same family generation after generation — four so far! And it was gooood.

4. Tlayudas

Tlayudas, sometimes called a Oaxacan pizza, is a massive semi-dried corn tortilla topped with refried beans, Oaxacan cheese, and your choice of protein. It can be served open or folded in half like a quesadilla.

I don’t have a specific recommendation on where to try the best tlayudas in Oaxaca, but you can find tasty variations at street stalls around town and within Mercado 20 Noviembre in the city center.

5. Nieves

Nieves, a water-based ice cream, is a favorite dessert of Oaxacans. Classic flavors include tuna (not the fish — cactus flower!), walnut, horchata, and all sorts of fruit. If you like sorbet, you’ll like nieves.

6. Chicharrón

Chicharrón is fried pork rind, pork belly, and other parts of the pig. It can be eaten on its own as a snack, sprinkled on a taco for extra crunch, or seasoned and cooked as taco meat.

Cooked, seasoned chicharrón on top of a rustic Oaxacan tortilla and refried beans is the stuff dreams are made of. Try one at one of Oaxaca’s many humble street stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

7. Quesillo

Quesillo is traditional Oaxacan cheese. Commonly sold in balls that unravel in one long continuous ribbon, quesillo is moist, tender, and tastes similar to mozzarella, though a bit more savory. Quesillo is melted in tlayudas, tacos, quesadillas, and other classic Mexican eats.

8. Squash Blossoms

Squash blossoms are a popular ingredient in Oaxaca often cooked in quesadillas with quesillo cheese. Anthony Bourdain eats this exact dish at Mercado de Abastos with his local guide.

9. Carne Asada

Made-to-order grilled meats are all the rage in Oaxaca, and the carne asada hall at Mercado 20 Noviembre is an absolute must-do when you are in town! Head into the chaotic, smokey aisle, select the meat of your choice, and get it grilled on the spot. Popular cuts include thinly sliced pork and beef, chorizo, and tripe.

Add a corn tortilla, salsa, and some grilled onions and peppers to the mix, and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal.

10. Mezcal

Mezcal is a distilled, smokey spirit made from the agave plant. A lot of good mezcal is made in and around Oaxaca, and a popular tourist activity is to book a tasting tour to learn more about the origins of the drink as well as the production process.

There are an increasing number of nice mezcal bars in Oaxaca where you can enjoy a good night out. La Mezcalerita, Los Amantes Mezcalería, Mezcalería In Situ, and La Mezcaloteca are all good options in town. 

11. Traditional Oaxacan Bread

Oaxaca is home to many bakeries where loaves of bread are stacked in towers that reach the ceiling. Seriously, vendors carry so much bread at local markets that it seems impossible to sell it all.

Pan de cazuela — one of the many varieties of Oaxacan bread you can try — is baked in a wood oven with chocolate and raisins. It tastes like a lightly sweet wheat bread and a hint of cinnamon.

12. Chilis

Chilis are a fundamental flavor-building ingredient all over Mexico, and Oaxaca’s diverse climates and landscapes are certainly favorable to growing all different kinds. A trip to any market will wow you with the sheer volume of chilis available in all shapes, colors, and sizes — both fresh and dried.

I usually sneak home a bag or two of chilis to bring home with me so I can experiment with new salsas and other cooking. Shhh.

13. Coffee

Oaxaca is one of Mexico’s most important coffee-producing states, and there are numerous coffee shops all over the city that are worth a try. Do yourself a favor and bring a few bags home from your trip.

14. Chocolate

Chocolate has been essential to Oaxacan cuisine for thousands of years. However, it is more frequently used to make drinks like hot chocolate and tejate rather than consumed alone.

Try Oaxaca En Una Taza, a small cafe located right next to the Oaxaca’s Santo Domingo Church, for a yummy iced or hot chocolate. Another option is to buy chocolate bars at markets and warm them with water or milk to make your own beverage.

15. Tejate

Tejate is a Oaxacan drink from pre-Hispanic times made from roasted corn flour, fermented cocoa beans, mamey seeds, and cocoa flower. The foam at the top is slightly chalky but smooth, and the liquid tastes like a watered-down chocolate milk. It is served with sugar syrup to add sweetness.

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The best restaurants in Puerto Escondido for fresh seafood and classic Mexican eats.

Ahhh, Oaxaca’s Pacific coast. A world-class beach experience without the crowds and high price tags of Tulum, Playa del Carmen, and Cancun. We spent a very pleasant week in Puerto Escondido — the largest town in the region — working, beach hopping, and eating, eating, and eating some more.

Mexican cuisine is incredibly diverse, and each region has its own specialty dishes and ingredients. As you may guess, Puerto Escondido and the rest of Oaxaca’s Pacific coast beach towns specialize in freshly caught seafood at very affordable prices. From seafood soups and fresh ceviches to smoked fish tacos and grilled fare, there’s more than enough to satisfy even the most voracious seafood enthusiasts.

Puerto Escondido is where I discovered sopa de mariscos — an absolute treasure of Mexican cuisine that contains what feels like every creature in the sea cooked in a garlicky tomato soup base. At about 200 pesos a bowl (~$10 USD), you get a hearty portion of octopus, a whole crab, shrimp, shellfish galore, and, oftentimes, an entire fish.

Sopa de mariscos is said to originate from Veracruz, a city located on the Gulf of Mexico, but it can be found at every self-respecting seafood restaurant across Mexico. Each region has its own take on the dish, and the variations we found in Puerto Escondido blew me away.

Read on for all the deets on the best restaurants in Puerto Escondido for yummy sopa de mariscos and so, so much more!

The Best Restaurants in Puerto Escondido

1. Restaurant Junto Mar

Location

Restaurant Junto Mar, located on Bahia Principal, serves the most decadent sopa de mariscos I came across in my seven weeks in Mexico.

I know there’s a lot to unpack in this photo. Yes, what you see is a full crab and the majority of an octopus. That’s a filet of fish on the right side, and more than a few large shrimp and shellfish are hiding beneath the more ostentatious ingredients.

All this for just 200 pesos, or roughly $10 USD. It was a dish that never ended — and I mean that in the best way!

If you’re in the mood for something else (but why?), the grilled octopus with garlic and butter is generously-portioned and delicious as well.

2. El Curandero

Location

Our very first stop in Puerto Escondido, La Curandero is a bustling seafood joint specializing in ceviches, Mexican seafood cocktails, grilled and fried fish, and micheladas the size of your head. We tried the tiritas de pescado, strips of raw fish marinated in lime and a brown sauce commonly used in Mexican ceviches. (Is it Worcestershire? Does anyone know?) Delicious!

We also tried the mixed seafood coctele, which was fresh but too sweet for my taste. Lenza really enjoyed it though!

3. Taqueria Los Molcas

Location

Note: There’s a chance I got the name of this restaurant wrong, but the location is 100% correct!

The only non-seafood restaurant on this list, Taqueria Los Molcas is a late-night taco joint and the perfect place to end a night out on Playa Zicatela.

All their meat tacos are really tasty, but the dish you have to order is chicharrón de queso, pure cheese cooked until crispy on the grill then rolled into the shape of a tortilla. Crunchy, cheesy, and delicious with guacamole, this is a lesser-known Mexican dish that is a must-try.

4. Smoked Fish Taco El Viejo

Location

A casual joint for cheap, supersize fried shrimp tacos, fried fish tacos, and smoked fish tacos. El Viejo is a great place to kick off a beach day at nearby Playa Carrizalillo.

5. Costenito Cevicheria

Location

Costenito Cevicheria on Playa Zicatela wowed us with the best grilled octopus of our lives — no exaggeration — in a beautiful bohemian setting right on the beach. For a little over 400 pesos (around $20), you get this beauty along with fried potatoes and salad.

We’ve also heard wonderful things about the grilled fish, but unfortunately didn’t make it back to try it.

6. La Olita

Location

La Olita is a taco and seafood restaurant with serious new-age surfer vibes. We tried the aguachiles (it was ok) and grilled squid tacos, which came beautifully presented with colorful grilled vegetables and spinach tortillas — an unconventional twist.

To drink, the freshly made tropical fruit waters are worth a try!

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The post A Short & Sweet Puerto Escondido Restaurant Guide first appeared on dotsonamap.net.

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Markets are the beating heart of Mexico City. Whether you are interested in delicious eats or treasure hunting for Mexican artisanal goods, this guide has you covered.

Where there are supermarkets in the United States, there are traditional markets in Mexico.

Even in ultra-metropolitan Mexico City, it’s more convenient to shop for groceries at your neighborhood market than at a grocery store. I’m actually convinced that Mexico City is just one giant market (and neighborhoods like Tepito actually are).

Inside these markets, you can find some of the best food and shopping anywhere in the city.

Best Markets for Food in Mexico City

1. Mercado de San Juan

Neighborhood: Historic Center
What You’ll Find: Gourmet produce, edible flowers, high-quality butchery, and exotic fare.
What to Eat: Cheese & charcuterie at Las Tapas de San Juan, fresh tuna sashimi at the seafood stalls, scorpions (!)

Mercado de San Juan is a traditional food market in Mexico City’s historic center that has evolved into a gourmet food destination frequented by chefs and gourmands across the city. Entering the market rewards you with aisles and aisles of beautiful produce, fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, international ingredients, and…scorpions?

Yup! You read that right. Mercado de San Juan carries an assortment of edible creepie crawlies (think spiders, ants, crickets, and worms) and has several restaurants boasting the sale of lion, ostrich, armadillo, and more exotic meats.

Baby was peer pressured into trying her very first Madagascar cockroach on a food tour gone wrong, and she is still super traumatized from the experience! (Eating a cockroach would make you talk in the third-person too )

If vegetarians haven’t gathered already, this market will be hard for them to swallow. Creepie crawlies and exotic meats aside, the butchery section of the market is pretty intense. We came across a crate of skinned deer, mountains of baby pig carcasses—heads still attached, eyes closed—and lines of baby goat carcasses hanging on hooks. Maybe just stay towards the entrance of the store with the fruits, vegetables, and dried goods if you have a soft heart.

2. Mercado La Merced

Neighborhood: Historic Center
What You’ll Find: Baffling quantities of every food product you can imagine
What to Eat: Migas, caldo de gallinas, pancita, quesadillas

Mercado La Merced is one of the largest markets in Mexico City. Vendors sell baffling quantities of pretty much everything you can imagine, from fruits, vegetables, and meats to crafts and clothing. There’s even an entire section of the market dedicated exclusively to candy.

A word of warning: I’m a pretty seasoned market-goer and this one was intimidating. I have no regrets going and I’ve never been anywhere like it — it’s an experience you should have in Mexico City. Still, it’s best to take some precautions during your visit. Here’s what we learned:

• We were a bit tense in La Merced because we attracted a lot of attention with our high-quality camera. Learn from our mistakes, leave your fancy electronics at home, and try your best to blend in.
• Make an effort to orient yourself as you explore. La Merced gets very maze-like at times and is very, very crowded. Keep note of the nearest exit to avoid getting lost.
• Petty theft is not unheard of in this market. Be aware of your surroundings and don’t bring any valuables if you can avoid it.
• Don’t visit the market at night. La Merced is a prostitution hot spot with working girls lingering outside at all hours. While the energy feels normal during the day, it’s best to avoid the area at night as things can get seedy quickly.

Oh, and if you’ve seen the Mexico episode of Parts Unknown and are curious to try the migas Anthony Bourdain ate in Tepito, you can find it at La Merced.

3. Mercado de Coyoacán

Neighborhood: Coyoacan
What You’ll Find: Beautiful produce, meats, dried goods, crafts, textiles, food stalls.
What to Eat: Carnitas, tostadas.

A traditional Mexican market in Frida Kahlo’s old neighborhood that sells everything you might expect. If you end up here on the weekend, do yourself a favor and try Carnitas “El Charro,” a stall that has been in the market since 1956. It’s a fried pork fiesta involving all parts of the pig.

Fun fact: Folklore has it that Hernan Cortes invented the first variation of carnitas in the Coyoacan neighborhood, near where the market is located, during a banquet celebrating the fall of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec Empire.

True? Not true? What do you think?

Tostadas — crunchy deep-fried corn tortillas with various toppings — are another common dish at Coyoacan Market that are ubiquitous and worth a try. You’ll find numerous stalls inside that offer seafood, meat, and vegetarian variations.

4. Mercado Medellin

Neighborhood: Roma Sur
What You’ll Find: Fresh flowers & plants, pork products galore, beautiful produce, products from around Latin America, dried goods, traditional food stalls
What to Eat: Cuban ice cream at Helado Palmeiro, Carnitas Meche y Rafael

Located in the La Roma neighborhood, Mercado Medellin is known for being one of the only markets in the city that sells goods from other Latin countries. There are lots of good eats here, including a tasty Cuban ice cream shop called Helado Palmeiro and Carnitas Meche y Rafael (is my obsession with carnitas quickly becoming clear?).

If you can fight through your fullness, check out the restaurant section of the market serving moles, enchiladas, rice-bean-meat plates, and more traditional Mexican goodness.

Best Markets in Mexico City for Shopping

5. Mercado Artesanal Mexicano

Neighborhood: Coyoacan

Mercado Artesanal Mexicano is a two-story building that sells all the Mexican crafts, clothing, and jewelry your heart could desire. The leather goods, locally-made jewelry, and ceramics really stand out at this market — even more than the oft-recommended La Ciudadela — and you’ll definitely leave with a good haul.

6. La Ciudadela

Neighborhood: Historic Center

La Ciudadela is a massive artisanal good complex selling traditional Mexican crafts. You’ll find everything from Oaxacan textiles and Chiapan ceramics to leather goods and jewelry. I bought a beautiful pair of leather flats from here and could not be happier with them. A must for picking up souvenirs!

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