Revisiting a Yucatecan Restaurant

When I was downtown last Wednesday, I decided to eat at a restaurant I had not visited for many years... a place serving food from the Yucatan Peninsula.  It's called "Coox Hanal", which in the Mayan language means "Let's eat".

Yucatecan cuisine is quite distinct from the dishes typical of central Mexico.  There are a couple of very good, and quite upscale, Yucatecan restaurants on Insurgentes Avenue.  "Coox Hanal", on the other hand, is anything but fancy.  It is located in the Historic Center of the city, several blocks south of the area frequented by tourists.  The place is on the top floor of an older building.  You have to climb two flights of stairs to get to it, but that doesn't keep it from always being crowded with locals.

 

After climbing the steps, I found the restaurant very busy for a weekday.  (This was late afternoon, after the peak "comida" hour.)  But the hostess led me to one of the few unoccupied tables.  I sat down and perused the menu.

I decided to start with a Yucatecan standard... "sopa de lima" (lime soup).  It's a chicken soup flavored with lime and garnished with tortilla strips.  When I got the soup, it did not look like any "sopa de lima" that I had ever had before.

It did not taste very good either; it was much too salty.  I started to wonder if the restaurant had gone downhill in the years since I had been there last.

My next dish was "papadzules", which in the Mayan language means "food of the lords".  They are a bit like enchiladas, but they are filled with hard boiled egg and covered with a sauce made from pumpkin seeds.  When it's made correctly, it is one of my favorite Yucatecan dishes.

These were made correctly.  They were very good.  My faith in the restaurant was returning, so I ordered some tacos of "cochinita pibil", the Yucatecan version of pulled pork, marinated in citrus juices, spices and "achiote" paste, a Yucatecan condiment.

These were also very good.

For dessert I ordered a "marquesita".  A "marquesita" is a popular treat in Yucatán that is sold from street carts.  A dough of egg, butter, milk and flour is cooked on a grill like a crepe.  It is filled with cheese and sweet ingredients such as Nutella or jam and rolled up before it hardens into a shell similar to an ice cream cone.

Most of my meal was very good.  If I return, I just won't order the lime soup.