Mexico City Food Guide

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@zmkd
My first choice was Medellin, Colombia. I’m assuming you’ve lived there based on your response; can you tell me about your experience? Do you like it better than living in the states?
I have a couple of very close friends from Colombia. It has changed dramatically since "Narcos" era. The only city I am hearing a mixed bag about it Bucaramanga. Lots of Venezuelan refugees and some problems related including crime, unemployment, etc. Bogota is on my list of great cities to visit some day.
 
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frant26

frant26

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Update about LIGHT in Mexico City:

- There is sun (at least a 3+ hours a day) I would guesstimate for ~300 days a year. If sun is out at noon (which is the most likely, around 12-2pm) it is very pleasant to bask – no matter which month. Obviously in winter, temps go down pretty quickly when the sun starts to go down
- There are a few spas around the city (Roma, Condesa, Polanco) with this "collagen bodywave" machine which emits 633nm red light and is marketed as collagen enhancer, anti-age and slimming effects
- Incandescent bulbs are easy to find
 
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frant26

frant26

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I have a couple of very close friends from Colombia. It has changed dramatically since "Narcos" era. The only city I am hearing a mixed bag about it Bucaramanga. Lots of Venezuelan refugees and some problems related including crime, unemployment, etc. Bogota is on my list of great cities to visit some day.

Oh man. Traffic in Bogota is hell, even worse than here. Also, I felt cold there many times as it's really high up (altitude 2640m, ideal for fans of CO2). But just like here when the sun is out at noon it can be pleasant. A lot of people prefer Medellín. I visited several times and I love Colombia. I agree that it is generally quite safe now.
 
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frant26

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What about getting a blood test with choice of whats tested?

I just got a quote in pesos from a random lab here in the city:

TSH: $269
Total cholesterol: $136
Prolactin: $289
Vitamin D: $499
PTH: $598
Free T: $454
Total T: $299
Transferrin saturation: $304

I have no insurance or subsidy. 1 USD ~ 20 MXN
 
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frant26

frant26

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Today, walking around one of the nicest spots in the city I had street food:
- 2 sweetbread (thyroid) tacos + 2 mixed tacos (brain, tongue, cheek, eyeball) + a mexican coke, for 70 pesos ($3.50 USD)
- 1 pound of fruit in a container: ripe papaya, watermelon and sweet mango with farmers honey, for 30 pesos ($1.50 USD)
- Chilling and tanning in a park in December, sunny and warm (priceless)
 

Regina

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Today, walking around one of the nicest spots in the city I had street food:
- 2 sweetbread (thyroid) tacos + 2 mixed tacos (brain, tongue, cheek, eyeball) + a mexican coke, for 70 pesos ($3.50 USD)
- 1 pound of fruit in a container: ripe papaya, watermelon and sweet mango with farmers honey, for 30 pesos ($1.50 USD)
- Chilling and tanning in a park in December, sunny and warm (priceless)
:wideyed: I am green with envy. :sour:
 

yerrag

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@frant26 Are you eating nixtamalized corn much? Is it made from non-GMO corn? That you don't so much as mention must mean you take it for granted you have access to it. I have a hard time finding non-GMO corn here in Manila. Can only find it in poultry supplies, which I can readily assume to be GMO.

I also have the same observation with Coke. Because we copy-cat the US in so many ways, since early this year there is a sugar tax. This has driven Coke to resort to sugar substitutes in its regular (non-diet, non-zero) product. Coke Regular still uses cane sugar for its canned, 500mL, and 2 liter versions, but its 1.5 liter version uses sucralose.

Are plazas common there or are they slowly fading away and giving way to malls where people congregate? I find that the plazas from the Spanish colonial era are pretty much gone, and malls predominate here. I wonder if Mexico City retains the charms of Europe.
 

Shizuka

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I've been lurking here for quite a while, but since I'm Mexican I think I can make some comments:
2 sweetbread (thyroid) tacos
I think you've got it wrong. Sweetbread is the thymus gland, and that's not very common here unless you go to an Argentinian restaurant. They'll usually give you tortillas, since it seems Mexicans can't eat anything without them. "Molleja" reffers both to cow sweetbreads and chicken gizzards. More often than not, when people hear the word "molleja" they think of chicken.

@frant26 Are you eating nixtamalized corn much? Is it made from non-GMO corn? That you don't so much as mention must mean you take it for granted you have access to it. I have a hard time finding non-GMO corn here in Manila. Can only find it in poultry supplies, which I can readily assume to be GMO.
Frant26 shouldn't worry. When talking about tortillas and garnachas, there's no such thing as non nixtamalized corn here. You can't simply make true corn tortillas or tamales without it. The downside is that most of it is enriched. That includes the ones you buy in the tortillerías you find in every corner. You can buy unenriched masa in "molinos" (the places where people mill their corn) or in some hipster places. The Green Corner sells non-GMO tortillas.

I would be worry about those tacos, though. Meat is usually fried in vegetable oil and tortillas drenched in it. I can't remember the last time I ate an enchilada in a restaurant or in the street.

Are plazas common there or are they slowly fading away and giving way to malls where people congregate? I find that the plazas from the Spanish colonial era are pretty much gone, and malls predominate here. I wonder if Mexico City retains the charms of Europe.
Super common. I don't think they will ever go away, even in the context of an ever growing monolithic and global architecture. No matter if the oficial narrative tells us to resent Europe for whatever bad stuff they did 500 hundred years ago, the truth of the matter is that Mexico is very attached to its colonial routs.
 

yerrag

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Frant26 shouldn't worry. When talking about tortillas and garnachas, there's no such thing as non nixtamalized corn here. You can't simply make true corn tortillas or tamales without it. The downside is that most of it is enriched. That includes the ones you buy in the tortillerías you find in every corner. You can buy unenriched masa in "molinos" (the places where people mill their corn) or in some hipster places. The Green Corner sells non-GMO tortillas.

I would be worry about those tacos, though. Meat is usually fried in vegetable oil and tortillas drenched in it. I can't remember the last time I ate an enchilada in a restaurant or in the street.
So, if it's enriched, would there be plenty of iron in them? If so, definitely better to go to the molinos and make your own tortilla or tamales. But then, there's still the problem of GMO. And so, to really be safe you'd have to buy tortillas from the Green Corner, or buy non-GMO masa.

I imagine it would be next to impossible to find any restaurant that cook using only saturated fats. What are the chances we'd find restos that advertise "Cooked Only with Saturated Fat." If we do find them, they won't last long. They would be sabotaged the same way Chipotle was when it attempted to go organic. If Chipotle did bend, how much more would independent Ray Peat-inspired restos fare?
 
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frant26

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@frant26 Are you eating nixtamalized corn much? Is it made from non-GMO corn? That you don't so much as mention must mean you take it for granted you have access to it. I have a hard time finding non-GMO corn here in Manila. Can only find it in poultry supplies, which I can readily assume to be GMO.

I also have the same observation with Coke. Because we copy-cat the US in so many ways, since early this year there is a sugar tax. This has driven Coke to resort to sugar substitutes in its regular (non-diet, non-zero) product. Coke Regular still uses cane sugar for its canned, 500mL, and 2 liter versions, but its 1.5 liter version uses sucralose.

Are plazas common there or are they slowly fading away and giving way to malls where people congregate? I find that the plazas from the Spanish colonial era are pretty much gone, and malls predominate here. I wonder if Mexico City retains the charms of Europe.

This is very interesting @yerrag . I spent some time in the Philippines (I love it) and I think there are a lot of commonalities with Mexico! (Did you know that Mexico City used to be the capital of the Philippines in colonial times?). Plazas are more common in smaller towns in Mexico, but anyway there are tons of stands in sidewalks all over. There are malls but nowhere as popular as in the Philippines.

Corn: Yes, all of it is nixtamalized. I would prefer non-GMO corn, but finding it is too much of an inconvenience that would result in orthorexia. I don't spend a lot of time at home due to my lifestyle, and I don't eat corn or bread at home. I am not trading "moving around" for the perfect corn.

Coke: Very similar situation in Mexico. The "mexican coke" in glass bottles (my go-to) I'm pretty sure is still made with cane sugar. Cans and possibly plastic bottles have a mix of sugar and sucralose. This is so silly, why don't they keep the fake stuff with their Zero or Diet branding?
 
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frant26

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I've been lurking here for quite a while, but since I'm Mexican I think I can make some comments:

I think you've got it wrong. Sweetbread is the thymus gland, and that's not very common here unless you go to an Argentinian restaurant. They'll usually give you tortillas, since it seems Mexicans can't eat anything without them. "Molleja" reffers both to cow sweetbreads and chicken gizzards. More often than not, when people hear the word "molleja" they think of chicken.


Frant26 shouldn't worry. When talking about tortillas and garnachas, there's no such thing as non nixtamalized corn here. You can't simply make true corn tortillas or tamales without it. The downside is that most of it is enriched. That includes the ones you buy in the tortillerías you find in every corner. You can buy unenriched masa in "molinos" (the places where people mill their corn) or in some hipster places. The Green Corner sells non-GMO tortillas.

I would be worry about those tacos, though. Meat is usually fried in vegetable oil and tortillas drenched in it. I can't remember the last time I ate an enchilada in a restaurant or in the street.


Super common. I don't think they will ever go away, even in the context of an ever growing monolithic and global architecture. No matter if the oficial narrative tells us to resent Europe for whatever bad stuff they did 500 hundred years ago, the truth of the matter is that Mexico is very attached to its colonial routs.

Thanks for the info on non-enriched tortillas! The only issue for me is that many times I eat on the go.

Maybe I got the "sweetbread" translation wrong, but it was indeed the thyroid gland. This particular stand gets just cow heads and serve that (brain, eyeballs, cheeks, tongue, etc). I asked and they confirmed it's the thyroid not the thymus gland, and that makes sense.

What they also do is cook and heat up all that meat (and tortillas) with STEAM, like barbacoas. I know several stands (my favorites) that cook this way. They don't even have an oil bottle with them. (It's excellent btw, if you wanna visit them, they are in Roma Norte – Morelia y Colima)

Another great option is going to grill style taquerías like El Farolito. Grill – no oil.

But yeah you are right about the vegetable oil in hotplates. In those particular cases I request "por favor sin aceite" (o con mantequilla) so at least mine shouldn't be drenched in PUFA (maybe just have a little that I can offset with vitamin E). For this reason I never order enchiladas or flautas.
 
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frant26

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So, if it's enriched, would there be plenty of iron in them? If so, definitely better to go to the molinos and make your own tortilla or tamales. But then, there's still the problem of GMO. And so, to really be safe you'd have to buy tortillas from the Green Corner, or buy non-GMO masa.

I imagine it would be next to impossible to find any restaurant that cook using only saturated fats. What are the chances we'd find restos that advertise "Cooked Only with Saturated Fat." If we do find them, they won't last long. They would be sabotaged the same way Chipotle was when it attempted to go organic. If Chipotle did bend, how much more would independent Ray Peat-inspired restos fare?

I don't mind GMO tortillas for now. Otherwise it would make my life more painful.

I'd love "Cooked only with Sat Fat" restaurants! Probably wiser for now to find foods that are cooked in a way that doesn't require oil (grilled, steamed, boiled).
 

Herbie

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@frant26

How much us dollars would you need to pay rent in a modest apartment and eat and live a modest life for one year?
 
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frant26

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@frant26

How much us dollars would you need to pay rent in a modest apartment and eat and live a modest life for one year?

Cost of Living in Mexico City

"A single person monthly costs: 433.93$ (8,788.30MXN) without rent."

However, take that with a grain of salt. A modest life let's say in a neighborhood with lots of expats like Roma or Condesa, I think you can definitely live well with 30000 MXN (= $1500 USD) per month – of course being careful as it's easy to spend much more.

I love going on short trips to pueblos mágicos and beaches, so I can easily spend more than that – it also helps counter the pollution and EMF a little bit :)
 

Regina

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Cost of Living in Mexico City

"A single person monthly costs: 433.93$ (8,788.30MXN) without rent."

However, take that with a grain of salt. A modest life let's say in a neighborhood with lots of expats like Roma or Condesa, I think you can definitely live well with 30000 MXN (= $1500 USD) per month – of course being careful as it's easy to spend much more.

I love going on short trips to pueblos mágicos and beaches, so I can easily spend more than that – it also helps counter the pollution and EMF a little bit :)
For giggles, I downloaded a guide to moving to San Miguel de Allende. They suggest really disinfecting (soaking in bleach or some solution w colloidal silver) fruit from stands. Are you doing anything like this or choosing particular kinds of fruit sources that are less iffy?
 

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frant26

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For giggles, I downloaded a guide to moving to San Miguel de Allende. They suggest really disinfecting (soaking in bleach or some solution w colloidal silver) fruit from stands. Are you doing anything like this or choosing particular kinds of fruit sources that are less iffy?

Never heard of that before! All the fruit I eat is peeled. I don't know, I don't see myself carrying bleach in my pocket just in case I want to eat some fruit :D I never had any issues with street food or fruit. I never got la venganza de Moctezuma.

Danny Roddy is the absolute expert on San Miguel de Allende.
 

Regina

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Never heard of that before! All the fruit I eat is peeled. I don't know, I don't see myself carrying bleach in my pocket just in case I want to eat some fruit :D I never had any issues with street food or fruit. I never got la venganza de Moctezuma.

Danny Roddy is the absolute expert on San Miguel de Allende.
Fantastic. It sure sounded like buzz-kill to me too. The guy (I think he is a realtor) said he got typhoid 3 x from fruit stand fruit.
 

yerrag

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This is very interesting @yerrag . I spent some time in the Philippines (I love it) and I think there are a lot of commonalities with Mexico! (Did you know that Mexico City used to be the capital of the Philippines in colonial times?). Plazas are more common in smaller towns in Mexico, but anyway there are tons of stands in sidewalks all over. There are malls but nowhere as popular as in the Philippines.

Corn: Yes, all of it is nixtamalized. I would prefer non-GMO corn, but finding it is too much of an inconvenience that would result in orthorexia. I don't spend a lot of time at home due to my lifestyle, and I don't eat corn or bread at home. I am not trading "moving around" for the perfect corn.

Coke: Very similar situation in Mexico. The "mexican coke" in glass bottles (my go-to) I'm pretty sure is still made with cane sugar. Cans and possibly plastic bottles have a mix of sugar and sucralose. This is so silly, why don't they keep the fake stuff with their Zero or Diet branding?
I had forgotten about that tidbit of Mexico being the capital. While the situation with Coke may be similar, with corn it's not often that it's nixtamalized unless it's a Mexican restaurant, which isn't common at all here. So, we really didn't get the benefit of calcium eating corn here. And corn isn't used everywhere as staple. Rice is preferred, and when corn is used, it's because some areas are drier and corn is a better crop than rice. Corn is considered poor man's rice here.

As for why the fake stuff didn't just stay with Zero or Diet, I think the sugar taxes forced Coke's hand. Coke was pretty good at first, trying not to mix the fake stuff, which Pepsi had already begun. I guess Coke still was a bit of a purist, being that it was the original cola. But when the government aped the US government in imposing sugar taxes, it made it hard for Coke to keep prices at a level where demand wouldn't go away, being that the market is price-sensitive. So, it had to rebrand from "Original Taste" to "Original Taste Less Sugar" for the 1.5Liter size for now, waiting to see how the market reacts to it. I hope it doesn't work because I can still get the "Original Taste" for the 330ml can, the 500mL bottle, and the 2liter bottle. These are all sugar, and the fake one has sugar and sucralose (fake, billing itself as "made from real sugar").
 

yerrag

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I don't mind GMO tortillas for now. Otherwise it would make my life more painful.

I'd love "Cooked only with Sat Fat" restaurants! Probably wiser for now to find foods that are cooked in a way that doesn't require oil (grilled, steamed, boiled).
I hear you with the GMO thing. You're in Mexico. Tortillas, nachos, masa etc - they're in your face everyday.

There's just one resto that advertises "Cooked in Coconut Oil" here. It serves chicken wings and it's called Sunrise Buckets. I wish there were more restos like it.
 

Waynish

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I'm in Mexico City for a bit... Seems difficult to avoid PUFAs here. Also everyone seems more hypothyroid than I've seen almost anywhere. It's kinda crazy. Nearly every single person looks sick.
 

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