Top Restaurants in Mexico

Gabe Weisert January 29, 2007

 

Where the travel elite dine.

“Americans are finally discovering the true beauty of Mexican cuisine,” said chef Richard Sandoval, proprietor of the rapidly growing Modern Mexican Restaurant Group. “It’s one of the most complex and flavorful cuisines, rivaling classical European cooking.”

While Sandoval and his business partners like Placido Domingo are currently impressing American audiences with their refined Mexican fare in places like Maya in New York and Isla in Las Vegas, his colleagues to the south are also exploring uncharted culinary terrain. Frequently dubbed “nueva cocina Mexicana,” this trendy cuisine is a splendid confluence of traditional pre-Hispanic ingredients — the moles of Puebla, the carnes of Sonora — and continental styles. Hence: mango-inflected ceviches, filet mignon tacos and chile rellenos with gouda.

So, to uncover great places to explore this exploding trend, as well as the best of more traditional Mexican fare, we asked a select group of high-end travel agents who specialize in Mexico for some inside restaurant tips – the kinds of places they would recommend to their clients. Many of these establishments are well-known to luxury travelers, while some are local favorites. All of them offer top-notch cuisine (though not necessarily local fare) in equally exceptional settings: seaside patios, historic haciendas lush verandas.

Not surprisingly, Mexico City had the most entries. The culinary heart of the country hosts legendary venues like La Hacienda de Los Morales, which is housed in a stately 16th-century mansion, as well as exciting new enterprises like cookbook celebrity Martha Ortiz Chapa’s Aguila y Sol.

“My clients are always looking for the latest thing, so I ask my people on the ground for the hippest restaurant,” said high-end travel agent Pallavi Shah. “Right now that’s Aguila y Sol.” Celebrities, foodies, and jet-setters are flocking to the latest incarnation of Chapa’s restaurant, located just off the Avenida Presidente Masayrk in the city’s swanky Polanco District.

Unlike most of the resort areas, Mexico City is also a great place to dine with the locals. You can sit elbow to elbow with the lunch-hour crowd at the boisterous seafood cantina Contramar, for example, or size up the city’s well-heeled gentry at the society institution Del Lago. Another option is to simply pick a neighborhood (or colonia) and stroll; the bourgeoning Condessa neighborhood is home to a string of hip new restaurants, while the gallery scene in nearby La Roma has also given rise to several boutique eateries.

Throughout the coastal resort areas, the cuisine veers naturally towards seafood, but over the past decade a number of world-renowned chefs have migrated to Mexico, resulting in an explosion of world-class international cuisine. Loire Valley native Jacques Chretien, one of only five designated Master Chefs in the country, brings his award-winning French fare (as well as a bakery full of baguettes and croissants) to Los Cabos at the French Riviera Restaurant. And at Thierry Blouet’s Café Des Artistes in Puerto Vallarta, you’ll find some the best bistro food outside Paris.

And while the food at these restaurants is excellent, it’s also served in highly pleasant contexts (usually involving an ocean view). At Coyuca 22 in Acapulco, patrons enjoy an eagle-eye view of the Santa Lucia Bay, while diners at the intimate Hotel Villa Maria Cristina in Guanajuato are invited to enjoy an aperitif in the restaurant’s cozy wine cellar before dinner. At Casa Rolandi in Isla Mujeres, the wood-fired Tuscan pizzas are served on a jetty overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

Here’s a list of 10 of the best restaurants in Mexico, as picked by the experts. In addition to these spots, we also highly recommend an afternoon of fish tacos and mechiladas (beer cocktails) on the beach. Salud.

See our slideshow of 10 Best Restaurants in Mexico.

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