Monday, May 6, 2013

Coox Hanal

Folkloric Dancers at Coox Hanal

At 83 Avenida Isabel la Catolica, just a few blocks from the Zocalo, is one of my favorite restaurants in DF- Coox Hanal. What makes it a bit special is that it specializes in dishes from the Yucatan. From the street, one hardly notices the restaurant sign directing customers to its second floor location. However, once you're at the top of the stairs, you realize what a gem this eatery is. In addition to great Yucatec food, we were treated to an afternoon of traditional folkloric dancing. This isn't a tourist spot! When we were there, the restaurant was packed with local Chilangos.

Panuchos & Salbutes

As colorful and entertaining as the ambiance is, go there for the food! As I hadn't been there before, I asked our waitress to pick out four of their specialities that we all could share. Her recommendations were spot on! We started off with a plate of papadzules (tortillas rolled up with chopped egg, covered in a green pumpkin seed or pipian sauce). Delicious! I could easily have eaten a whole serving of these. We also tried the panuchos (tortillas with black beans and cochinita pibil).Our third starter were the salbutes, another Yucatec tostada covered with shreaded turkey, pickled onions and avocado. Finally, our large order of cochinita pibil came. The shreaded pork with tortillas was enough to feed two tables of people. All this was washed down with ice cold beer.