Fine Mexican Dining

Yesterday when I was at the "222 Reforma" shopping mall I checked out the menu of one particular restaurant that I had read about.  Standing out among the numerous chain restaurants and fast food places located in the mall is an upscale restaurant, "El Bajío", which serves traditional Mexican food. 

Alejandro came to the apartment around 7:15 P.M. after work, and  I suggested that we go to "El Bajío" for supper.  And, I told him, since there is a Metrobus stop near the mall, you don't even have to drive.  We walked to the bus stop nearby, but every bus was crammed like a tin of sardines.  Alejandro said that we should go back to the apartment building, get his car, and drive to the mall.

It was after 8:00 P.M., and rush hour was still going strong.  The mall is less than 3 miles away, but it took us at least 40 minutes to get there.  I was worrying that the restaurant would be closed before we got there.  But the restaurant was open and busy.  We were seated, and began a dining experience that was to make up for the hassle of Mexico City traffic!

We began by ordering a pitcher of an "agua fresca" of lemon and chía seeds (yes, that's chía as in "chía pet"!)  It was very refreshing.  As an appetizer we ordered "chicharrones" (pork rinds) with guacamole.  I'm not a huge fan of pork rinds, but these were exceptionally good.  We also had a basket of toasted tortillas and a selection of three different salsas.

        Alejandro ordered tortilla soup.  I tasted it, and it was excellent.  (The waitress put bibs on us!)

     I had black beans in broth, and it was very tasty, especially with some crumbled "chicharrones".

               As a main course, Alejandro had chicken in "pipián", a sauce made of pumpkin seeds.
                                                          He said it was very good.

 

I had the Veracruz-style fish.  The fillet of fish was covered with a sauce of tomatoes, onions 

and green olives.  Excellent!

For dessert we shared a "flan", an egg custard.  It came with a glass of "rompope", a Mexican liqueur similar to eggnog, to pour over the "flan".  I had never had it served that way, but it was a wonderful combination.  We also had "café a la olla", Mexican coffee served with cinnamon and brown sugar.  I'm the sort of person who rarely drinks coffee, and when I do, I drown it in milk and sugar.  But I didn't need to add anything to the "café a la olla".

 
And all that wonderful food was not that expensive.  The bill  for both of us came to 700 pesos, which is less than $60 US.  It wasn't a cheap meal, but you would never be able to find anything comparable in an up-scale restaurant in the United States for that price.  The decor of the restaurant is very attractive with lots of Mexican handicrafts.  The service was flawless.  "El Bajío" is definitely on my list of favorite restaurants in Mexico City!!!