The best restaurants in Mexico City

What is it? El Tigre came to dominate the ground floor of the cultural space Casa Basalta (also home to Umai, Amy, Pato Manila, Milk Pizzería and Crisopeia) in an elegant renovated 1914 mansion.

Why we love it? This place lends itself to a date as several of the dishes are perfect appetizers for two to share in the center, and since there are few, you can surely find your favorites in a few visits.

What to eat? The pork and shiitake. They are slices of mushrooms and pork belly on a powerful and creamy sauce that is eaten on pieces of toast.

What is it? One of the most visited by hardcore foodies this year has been Lucho Martínez's new restaurant, who debuted his seafood concept in Roma. You can expect that the product entering this kitchen (clams, lobster, fish, shrimp) is the best of our coasts.

Why we love it? The menu includes classic Mexican and international dishes with certain touches of Asian ingredients. Here, there's everything from zarandeado to salt-crusted fish, passing through the Sicilian-style raw section, all with the chef's meticulous hand.

What to eat? The kampachi crudo and the lobster roll. 

What is it? The magic of not going to the office and focusing the days on good food and good drinks—that's what we call vacation, and that's exactly what we find in this new trattoria in San Rafael.

Why we love it? A peaceful and sunny corner, where they avoid the stiffness of fine dining. Here, creativity begins with handmade pastas and all their accompaniments made from scratch and ends in the selection of wines and vermouths. Short menu, great music, a few spritzes, and who misses the beach?

What to eat? The burrata ravioli with pea shell sauce. For dessert, the chocolate nemesis. 

What is it? The successes start with something as simple as the potato tortilla. Without a doubt, one of the most faithful to those in Madrid that you'll find in CDMX. Normally they overcook it, but this one has a super tender center, chopped potato and, as it should be, a great olive oil that doesn't hide.

Why we love it? If you're looking for those super intense flavors of Spanish cuisine, you have to order one of the creamy rice dishes: beef cheek and butifarra, mushrooms, duck and foie, or mussels.

The portion is for two or three people and it's rightly a must for the first visit, as is —drum roll, please— the Basque cheesecake, a true gem, fresh from the oven, with a soft center and a burnt crust.

Time Out tip: There are also Spanish products to take home, such as charcuterie and canned goods.

What is it? The guarantee in this place in front of the Chinese clock in Bucareli is Pastificio, who are behind this trattoria in Juárez.

Why we love it? The menu offers jewels inspired by casual Roman cuisine, such as their risotto croquettes (supplì in Italian), or suppli al telefono that are filled with melted mozzarella. In the pasta section, the mezze meniche all amatriciana is served with tomato sauce and just the right amount of spice from the peperoncino, and pecorino cheese. Their carbonara, creamy with its pieces of guanciale (Italian sausage), is so rich that it hurts to share it.

What to eat? Carbonara or raviolli and finish with the turamisu. 

What is it? When Arabic and Mexican cuisines come together, things as precious as the taco al pastor can emerge. Alfil is a new restaurant that takes this union to its entire menu.

What we love it? Arabic dishes with a Mexican twist, especially close to the Yucatan peninsula. Only here will you find a chickpea and hoja santa falafel, or an arrachera kebab that is marinated in recado blanco and sour orange. Our favorite dish was the beef tartare with wheat, garlic aioli and sumac, a condiment widely used in Arab cuisine present in zaatar.

What to eat? A pumpkin seed dip with a touch of habanero, or a hummus with salsa macha. Neither is too spicy and if you want to try them all, a good idea would be to go in a group and order the Mezze Alfil for the center.

What is it? Maleza's kitchen is committed to product sustainability. The first thing they explain to us is that all the ingredients, including the entire wine list, are organic and from small Mexican producers.

Why we love it? The menu was created by chef Christina Lecki, who combines these beautiful products with European techniques to create delicate dishes where the freshness of the vegetables shines.

What to eat? Sea bass with hoja santa. The dish arrives wrapped at your table, open the little package and you'll find the steaming white fish bathed in beurre blanc sauce, with hoja santa and corn chochoyotas.

What is it? Siembra is a tribute to the pre-Hispanic tradition in all its details: the lampshades are made of corn husks, there are ears of corn of all colors decorating the walls and clay cups that resemble the grains of a tender cacahuazintle.

Why we love it? They may not be reinventing the wheel, but finding a well-crafted antojito that blows your mind is no easy feat.

Warning: that can happen to you with the escamoles sope or the tuna tostada, which more than tuna looks like butter because it melts in your mouth, which, to reach the absolute ten out of ten, I recommend sprinkling with the chiltepín sauce they prepare there.

What to eat? You could go for the fava bean soup or anything on the menu that includes artisanal ranchero cheese, or better yet, don't wait and from the start secure your cheese to go.

What is it? From your seat in this beautiful restaurant you'll see a very focused Mariana Villegas behind the bar.

Why we love it? This is the chef's first restaurant, after working in great kitchens around the world and in CDMX (Fulgurances, Union Square Café, Pujol, Cosme). And seeing her work makes the dedication she's putting into her project palpable, as well as how attentive she is to everything that happens with her team and with each ingredient.

What to eat? The Bok choy with turmeric and macadamia curry and parsnip puree and the Wagyu arrachera over charro beans.

What is it? Its name comes from a word used in Singapore to ask if you've already eaten or to invite you to eat something.

Why we love it? Its culinary proposal has a little bit of both worlds, leaning more towards Singaporean cuisine but with some nods to Mexican tradition. Its new location is located in front of the Chinese clock in Bucareli, where chef Maryann continues to amaze with her chili crab, noodles and desserts with tropical fruits.

What to eat? a Laksa (noodle soup) or the roasted duck.

What is it? Only thirteen seats make up this new sushi bar. To get to this hidden little place you must enter through a discreet door and go down to a basement with dark walls where the light points to what is important: the art of the masters behind the bar.

Why we love it? In addition to the à la carte menu with rolls, sashimi and donburis, there is an omakase-style menu, which you can choose with or without pairing. In our case it was 12 courses, in which more than 90 percent of the fish went through the maturation chamber (in view of the diners), a process that dehydrates the meat at a controlled temperature, enhancing its natural flavors.

What to eat? Rocot, kampachi, black cod marinated in sweet miso and finished over charcoal, all paired with a Mexican wine and a very balanced Japanese junmai sake.

What is it? Chef Fernando Torres love for cycling sparked the beginning of this place. On one side you'll find Aúna Café and on the other Aúna restaurant.

Why we love it? Both with a casual vibe and under a farm-to-table concept. Here, the portions of the main dishes are designed for the center of the table, an ideal place to share.

What to eat? The roasted chicken, whose textures are a beauty: the thin and crispy outer crust, the juicy interior, the wholesome taste of the ranch chickens. As an appetizer, fried squash blossoms. 

What is it? Cuisine that moves away from the auteur to be inspired by its cantina roots, French techniques and a fusion of Mexican flavors, oh yes, it's also an art gallery with a perfectly curated wine selection.

Why we love it?  Chef Raúl Valencia (Pehüa, Ostreria 109) invites, with his cuisine and the accompanying bar, to enjoy at the table what you see on the walls: art. The chef's intention is for you to live a whole experience of flavors, although inspired by fine dining, from the moment you try the tasting menu you know that the place is about having a good time, of course, with its eclectic surprises.

What to eat? We tried fresh oysters with lemon mignonette, duck carnitas sopes with mole ashes, a ravioli filled with artichoke in cheese sauce with dominico plantain, and the most daring in presentation; catch of the day bathed in seaweed with spirulina that gives the mole a blue color.

What is it? The Italian restaurant that's spreading by word of mouth and for all the right reasons. Thumbs up because they pay special attention to sound quality and music selection ーcome to their Fresh Fridays, where DJs take over the turntables from 9pmー.

Why we love it? Once you're settled into its comfortable, dimly lit atmosphere, here you can try homemade pastas and pizzas that will make you come back again and again.

What to eat? Sicilian tagliatelle or Italian sausage pizza.

What is it? Chef Santiago Muñoz opened a tortillería in 2016 using heirloom corn and refining nixtamalization processes.

Why we love it? Seven years later, it was time to give his business a fresh look, so now, in addition to selling tortillas and tamales made from native corns without preservatives, you'll find a taco bar on the first floor and a restaurant on the second.

Why to eat? Among the antojitos they offer, there are carnivorous options like the rib eye taco with longaniza or vegetarian ones like the mushroom quesabirria.

What is it? Clavería is a six-decade-old restaurant dedicated to traditional Mexican food. Chef Gerardo Vázquez Lugo offers a menu of dishes with history while caring about the origin of the ingredients.

Why we love it? At Nicos, ancient recipes are kept alive and executed with passion and refinement. The careful and sophisticated presentation of the dishes reminds us that traditional food also leads haute cuisine and exalts the principles of the slow food movement.

What to eat? For years, classics such as crispy beef jerky, dry cream soup (a 19th century recipe) and Nicolasa steak served in an ancho chile crust, accompanied by tequila caramelized apples with hibiscus sauce have appeared on the menu.