A New Favorite

Last weekend (yes, I know I am behind in my reporting) Alejandro and I were downtown.  We were actually passing through Mexico City's small Chinatown, when we noticed what appeared to be a rather upscale restaurant called Testal.

We may have been in Chinatown, but this restaurant served traditional Mexican cuisine.  We looked at the menu at the entrance, and there were plenty of choices that sounded good.  And although the prices were not inexpensive, they were not outrageous either.

We went inside and were shown to a table.  At that point the restaurant was not too crowded, although by the time we left most of the tables were occupied.  

We started off with an appetizer which we shared.  "Corundas" are little pyramid-shaped tamales that are typical of the state of Michoacán.  They were served in a tomato sauce with strips of poblano peppers, "crema" and cotija cheese.

They were delicious.  I could have eaten a whole plate of them as a main course.  Alejandro's mom came from the state of Michoacán and used to make "corundas".  He said that these were excellent.

We next had soup.  I had potato leek soup which was good.  But I had a taste of the soup that Alejandro ordered, and it was excellent.  Half of the bowl was filled with cream of corn soup and the other half with cream of "huitlacoche", the corn fungus that is a delicacy that is compared to truffles.

As a main course, Alejandro ordered a poblano pepper stuffed with "cecina", cured beef.   It was served with "crema" and bean sauce. 

I had a taste, and it was delicious.  Sometimes "cecina" is too salty, but this had a wonderful flavor.  I would definitely order it on another visit.

I ordered chicken breast in blackberry mole.  The mole was superb.  The blackberry flavor came through without overpowering the other ingredients of the mole.

Alejandro is a connoisseur of mole, and when he had a taste, he agreed that it was excellent.  They had several different kinds of mole on the menu, including a banana mole which sounds very interesting.

We ordered a dessert that was not Mexican.  We shared a piece of Black Forest cake.  Like everything else, it was delicious.

The service was as great as the food.  The manager frequently stopped at our table to chat.  He said that they will soon be serving our favorite dish, "chile en nogada", well before the traditional season of August and September.  We look forward to coming back to try it.

We definitely have a new restaurant to add to our list of favorites!