Mexican Food - the REAL Thing

Anyone whose only experience with Mexican cuisine is the food served in "Mexican" restaurants up in the States, probably doesn't know what real Mexican cooking is all about.

On Saturday, after visiting the art exhibit at the Palace of Fine Arts, Alejandro and I walked a couple blocks to one of our favorite restaurants in Mexico City... "El Cardenal".

To begin, we ordered this appetizer of avocado slices, cheese (home-made at the restaurant owner's ranch) and green sauce along with tortillas freshly made from scratch.  Our beverage was an "agua fresca" of pineapple and mint.

Alejandro ordered the black bean soup...

... and I had a "sopa seca" (a "dry soup" which is a rice or pasta dish).  This is my favorite "dry soup", noodles flavored with chipotle chiles.

As a main course Alejandro had a salmon fillet covered with mango sauce.  (Yes, the waiter put bibs on us.)

I had pork in "mole negro de Oaxaca" (black mole of Oaxaca).  It was the best "mole negro" that I have had outside of Oaxaca.  In fact it was better than some of the moles that I have had there!

Finally, for dessert, we had crepes filled with a cream cheese, and covered with mango and blackberry sauces.

If anyone knows of a restaurant in the United States that serves anything comparable in terms of taste and authenticity, I would like to know.