Yucatán in Mexico City

Saturday afternoon, Alejandro and I went to a restaurant that he had heard serves excellent Yucatecan food. The restaurant is called "Círculo del Sureste" (Circle of the Southeast), and it is located at Lucerna 12.  It's not a neighborhood frequented by tourists, although it is within walking distance of the Paseo de la Reforma (one of the city's main boulevards) and the Zona Rosa (one of the city's main tourist areas).  

The place was quite crowded, but I was the only "gringo" in the place.  The clientele is made up of upper-middle class Mexican families.  The decor is pleasant with paintings of Mayan ruins, but it is not super elegant.  (No white tablecloths, but there are cloth napkins.)  The service was impeccable.

Those of you who have read about my travels in the Yucatán know that the food there is quite unique from what is found in central Mexico... in fact, it could be considered a separate cuisine unto itself.  The menu featured a variety of Yucatecan specialities.  To drink we ordered a pitcher of "agua de jamaica", a refreshing beverage made from hibiscus flowers. We began with "sopa de lima" (lime soup), a traditional soup made with a chicken broth base flavored with lime juice.  The soup was excellent.  The lime taste shined through, without giving the soup a bitter taste.  For the main course Alejandro ordered "cochinita pibil" which could be described as Yucatán's version of pulled pork.  I had a taste, and we agreed that it was very good.  

I had a traditional dish which surprisingly I had never had before...  "frijol con puerco" (black beans and rice with pork).  It too was very tasty. 

 

The waiters kept us well supplied with piping hot tortillas so that we could make tacos with our "cochinita" and "frijol con puerco".

For desert Alejandro had "pastel de elote" (corn cake), a sweeter and moister version of our cornbread.  I had flan with "cajeta" (caramel made from goat's milk). As an after-dinner drink I also had  X'tabentún, a Yucatecan honey liqueur that is difficult to find outside of the Yucatán.

Our bill was rather high by Mexican standards, but we also ordered a lot of food and drink.  I would highly recommend "Círculo del Sureste" to any visitor to Mexico City who would like to sample the wonderful cuisine of another region of Mexico.