Travel bites: The world’s best – and most expensive – Mexican food

On the streets of Mexico City, you can find a taco on just about any street corner for around $1. And even at that price, it’s likely to be one of the best tacos you’ve ever had.

So, in a city with such an abundance of cheap, delicious fare – anyone serving up anything in a tortilla for much more than that has to have a pretty good reason.

And, if you’re serving a meal for $200 you better have a really good reason. Luckily, Pujol has found one.

The flagship of internationally renowned chef Enrique Olvera, Mexico City’s Pujol has taken the humble taco – and a host of other traditional Mexican fare -- and made it haute cuisine.

The price tag is enough to make a street vendor balk – the tasting menu will set you back MX2985 (NZ$205) – but there’s a reason for that.

After steadily climbing the ranks for years, Pujol was ranked number five in last year’s list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. It is the awards’ best restaurant in North America, with the top four spots claimed by restaurants in Denmark, Peru and two in Spain. In a country without a single Michelin star, that’s no mean feat.

There’s also no shortage of people willing to shell out a small fortune for a fancy taco. With a months-long waitlist, some say it’s best to book your table before booking your flight.

During a recent trip to Mexico’s capital, we manage to secure a booking at Pujol for a 9pm seating on a Wednesday, albeit sceptically. Between the birria I ate in a market hall, the Puebla-style mole enchiladas in a downtown hole-in-the-wall and the sea bass tacos I had on a rooftop patio, I’ve eaten the best Mexican of my life in this city. How can Pujol justify its price tag?

When we arrive, the leafy, yet unassuming, street of the upscale Polanco district where Pujol is nestled is abuzz with well-heeled Mexicans and international tourists posing beside the backlit sign on the gate. Inside, the partially covered, terrazzo-floor patio and sleek interior is bustling with a sea of waitstaff ferrying morsel-sized portions to eager patrons.

There are two dining options at Pujol: a multi-course tasting menu in the formal dining room and a "taco omakase" (MX3495) meal at the low-slung bar. We’ve opted for the latter, featuring a nine-course menu of tacos, antojitos, and botanas.

Here, a busy team of waitstaff, helmed by the enigmatic Christian, manage to seamlessly serve drinks, explain dishes in detail and deliver slick, Michelin-star level service to a discerning crowd. In the kitchen, each chef has their own dedicated role. One is in charge of garnishes alone.

The dishes of the night are Mexican by name but far from the cheese-stuffed quesadillas and overstuffed tacos my dining companion and I are used to. There’s a smokey cured tuna taco served with salsa campechana from the southern state of Oaxaca, a mussel al pastor tostada with pineapple puree and a Japanese-inspired flauta made from rockot, shiso and nori, as well as a string of other elevated Mexican dishes that, with each course, challenge what Mexican fare can be.

But if you’re dining of Pujol, you’re here for the pièce de résistance: Olvera’s famed mole, aged for 3101​ days and slathered over a tiny tortilla. Paired with a glass of mezcal, this is modern Mexican fare at its best.

In a taxi back to our hotel after midnight, it’s difficult to reconcile the experience we’ve just had with the gritty streets we’re zipping through, where street vendors are still plying their trade with the city’s night owls.

They’re world’s apart, and perhaps that’s the point. Dine on the streets for a taste of traditional Mexico – but visit Pujol to taste the Mexico of the future.

Pujol is found in the Polanco neighbourhood of Mexico City. Reservations can be made with the restaurant or online. See:

United Airlines flies to Mexico City from Auckland, with a stop-over in San Francisco. See:

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