#5 Pujol

According to the current standings in Latin America's 50 Best, Pujol ranked the highest of restaurants in Mexico City. I've done the tasting menu and omakase taco menu each one time before, but came back for a refresher for this blog.

Pujol has been my long-time favorite dining experience. Situated in the posh neighborhood of Polanco, I first fell in love with this restaurant as I entered into the foyer. A tree stretched upwards towards a skylight that broke the dimly lit setting while an FKJ track resonated jazzy vibes; harbingers of the same the message "You're gonna have a good time".

During my most recent visit, the novelty of the setting and Chef Enrique Olvera's tasteful song choice seemed less important than I had romanticized. Its still a nice setting I would bring a date for a special occasion. From start to finish, lunch took about 2 hours.

Surprisingly, the botanas hadn't changed since my last visits. Regardless of the menu you are there for, you start with the same three "snacks".

First a corn tofu with a pesto of serrano chili and chives. Very much like a soft rich tamale with a hint of oniony spice.

The second a corn puff filled with a parsnip puree and topped with escamoles. Just a savory parsnip puff with buttery, nutty beans of ant larva on top.

Last, a elote made with baby corn you might get in a chinese stir fry. It's dressed in mayo and covered in a powder of chili and cheese. The flavor profile was slight spicy tang similar to the sauce on the stuffed chicken wing from Máximo Bistrot.

The third time around, these bites are a little less interesting. This is somewhat crucial as they aren't particularly delicious or something you want to keep eating.

First, a kampachi taco on a blue corn tortilla with avocado and seaweed. The fish was marinaded in traditional Japanese style: in sake with tomato seeds for 12 hours. Great tortilla and the fish was super velvety and rich, but not necessarily fatty. Fat came clean from the avocado and had a little bite of fresh wasabi.

Next, a tostada of thinly slices scallop on avocado mayonnaise; covered in flowers, herbs and seaweed powder. There was a sweetness from the scallops with a touch of citrus, and fattiness from the dollop of mayo it sat on. A light medley of flavors, clean and refreshing; not fishy at all.

I had some reservations about the cauliflower taco that followed. It looked very much like the "broccoli asada" taco I had at Pitiona in Oaxaca, which was actually quite terrible. To my surprise I really enjoyed this course. Super savory grilled white, yellow, purple and green cauliflower on mussel encacahuatado, a buttery sauce of peanut puree and mussels. Had a little kick from the xnipec salsa and tartness from the pickled onion to cut through the richness.

Huitlacoche is a corn fungus that is found during the rainy season. It sat on a slice of avocado and an eggplant, butter puree; topped with summer truffle shavings I would liken to bonito flakes. The taco had a super earthy-umami flavor profile, but not salty as you would expect from msg. The eggplant puree was reminiscent of light soy sauce.

The final taco was a grilled octopus arm accompanied by a black bean, squid ink puree; pico de gallo with sancho peppers; and a tomatillo, serrano chile salsa. The octopus was so tender it could be broken apart with a spoon and the puree was so velvety smooth. The blue corn tortilla was topped with hoja santo leaf, giving it an herby, licorice bitter notes and the pico a bit of citrus.

The "main event" at Pujol for either tasting is the mole, served with more hoja santo leaf blue corn tortillas. The moles contain ingredients like chocolate, carmelized apples, fermented plantains guajillo chilies and other spices. The mole nuevo in the center is slightly sweet, earthy and fruity; the mole madre less sweet and more earthy and umami. Combined you have a complex, slightly sweet, savory and tart flavor profile. So much going on, it's hard to describe. I'd say it was better than any mole I had in Oaxaca. Truly the main event.

The last course before dessert was a mushroom broth with tomatoes, wakame and miso. There cooked kernels of corn at the base and drizzles of oils. The broth had just a hint of miso and the essence of umami from a heirloom tomato. The wild mushrooms were meaty and tender.

The palate cleanser the preceded dessert was a simple lemon sorbet on top of royal jelly and aloe vera. Its just as you would imagine it, super light sorbet with a subtle sweet tartness accompanied by gems of aloe jelly.

The dessert main was nice. The nicoatole had a soft consistency I'd place somewhere between tofu and a cooked tamale. Drowned in a light strawberry sauce with some fresh raspberries adjacent, the additional sake kazu sorbet added additional creamy fruitiness.

Unfortunately, the churro was not as good as I had remembered. It was super light and flakey, falling away from itself; however, this time it was a bit cold and could have had a heavier coating of cinnamon sugar.

I started with the prickly pear margarita. The tartness of the prickly pear and the coolness of the celery work together well, but the drink was a bit strong. Definitely needed to let the ice melt a bit.

The paplo martini was quite strong as well and not very flavor forward. There was a bitterness from the papalo herb and a touch of sweetness from the cherry that was used in lieu of an olive.

The only drink I enjoyed was probably the fermented guava and strawberry drink I ordered prior to dessert. It was almost like a sweet fruit kombucha.

Overall, I was less impressed by Pujol than my initial two visits. I had another reservation for the regular tasting menu scheduled that I ultimately cancelled as my second omakase taco experience left me largely underwhelmed.