Of tiles, a mural above the restroom and Mexican food

A recollection of a gorgeous restaurant, stumbling upon a beautiful mural above the restroom entrance and my first introduction to Mexican food in Mexico.

After half a day of sightseeing around Mexico City's Centro Historico without any breakfast, Bobby and I were pretty famished at that point. Miguel, who has kindly taken upon himself the mission of becoming our local guide for the day (for which we were eternally grateful) gave us a choice of having a meal in one of his favorite restaurants in the city housed in a beautiful historical building or in a café with Mexico City's best view point. Weighing the options between a meal in a restaurant and a café was a tad bit difficult. Though in the end the growling of our stomachs solidified our decision to have a full and proper meal at the restaurant Miguel first suggested.

After a short walk from the Zocalo, making our way through Mexico City's now crowded streets, we finally arrived upon a beautiful building covered in blue and white tiles. The name of the place is Casa de Los Azulejos or the House of Tiles. Miguel told us that this gorgeous building was built and was once the home of the distinguished Count del Valle de Orizaba family. The building derived its name through its distinguished façade, which is covered on three sides by the blue and white tiles of Puebla state. It changed hands several times before being bought by the Sanborns brothers who expanded their soda fountain/drugstore business into one of the best-recognized restaurant chains in Mexico. The building today houses their flagship restaurant which was where we were headed that afternoon.

The interior of the restaurant was just as gorgeous as the buildings' facade. The walls of the courtyard were covered with beautiful murals depicting a garden and wildlife such as peacocks and other exotic birds. On one of the side walls, a fountain covered with mosaics flowed gently. The twinkling of the water mingling with the soft tunes of the piano being played by a pianist at one corner of the courtyard creating an oasis of tranquility in the middle of one of the worlds' most hectic city. The whole place was lit up with natural light from the skylight which accentuated the architectural details of the courtyard. On first glance I thought that the main architectural style of the courtyard was of baroque origins. But  upon closer inspection, wonderful Oriental and Moorish architectural details began to emerge and we were left admiring the harmonious confluence of the different styles in the courtyard.

Though fulfilling in its own way, our stomachs refused to be fed with just architectural wonders alone, so we took upon the task of studying the menu which Miguel helpfully deciphered for us. After some discussion and the near mishap of grossly over ordering massive amounts of food I settled on the Pozole soup called Verde Estillo Guerrero whilst Bobby ordered the Tacos de Cochinita Pibil and Miguel a nacho like dish (not terribly accurate, but best that I can do after forgetting the real name of the dish).

After ordering I excused myself to visit the restroom but also to walk around the restaurant enjoying the space. It was then that I stumbled upon a gorgeous mural above the entrance to the restroom.

After some research I found out that the Mural was entitled "Omnisiencia" painted in 1925 by one of Mexico's three great muralists, José Clemente Orozco. This is arguably quite an important piece of art by one of Mexico's important painters so I did find it both quite funny and sad that this beautiful mural is now gracing the wall above the entrance to the restaurant's restrooms. On the other hand, had the building not been bought, restored and opened to the public in the form of this restaurant, the mural itself might fade into obscurity without a chance for the larger public to admire it. So though the present circumstances might inspire a certain form of indignity, looking at it from a different perspective, I suppose it doesn't diminish the beauty of the mural itself. I just wished that they had a much more discrete sign to mark the door.

Returning from my self-guided tour of the restaurant, before our mains arrived, a huge basket of bread and tortilla chips were plonked in front of us as well as a boat of fresh tomato salsa. Conversing in Spanish (whilst underestimating the spice tolerance of asian looking people in general) the waitress asked Miguel to warn us that the salsa was spicy. Being the famished travelers that we were, we dug in without hesitance. The salsa was tart, incredibly fresh with just a wisp of spiciness (that's right, you heard me, a mere wisp!). We demolished the basket of chips, bread and the salsa in mere minutes. Remembering that salsa and all the fresh and delicious salsas I had throughout my journey in Mexico, it made me queasy now to think that I had once enjoyed those bottled red sludge they tried to pass off as salsa sold in supermarkets (no disrespect to all who enjoyed bottled salsa sauces is intended).

As if done on cue, just as we finished demolishing the boat of salsa, our mains arrived. The Pozole came with a side of two huge rounds of tortilla chips, a wedge of lime and some dried chili powder. Miguel warned me that the dried chili is very spicy. Being the cocky Indonesian spice eater I am, I casually dabbed my finger into the dried chilies and tasted it directly.

It was very spicy.

But, thankfully for my taste buds (and dignity) it was just at a level that I could tolerate and actually enjoyed (whilst discreetly taking a big gulp of ice water). Dumping the whole lot of the dried chilies into the soup, squeezing the wedge of lime over and after giving the soup a couple of stirs,  I dug in.

The soup was delicious! It was piping hot, and the most prominent flavor that came up was that of the freshness of the lime and savoury base of the soup. Inside the soup I found morsels of pork and was pleasantly surprised to find barley at the bottom. After a few more spoonfuls, the spiciness of the chilies and more tartness from the lime came to the forefront which helped to cut through the rather fatty and oily taste of the soup and pork fat. The soup was also topped with bits of fried pork skin. This really reminded me of home, as in Indonesia I loved this particular dish called "Krecek"  made out of fried cow skin which was then cooked in coconut milk, softening its texture and allowing the skin to absorb the flavor of the spices. In the soup the pork skin underwent the same process, after sitting on top of the soup for a few minutes, the bottom half of the skin would become soggy from absorbing the soup and when you bite into it you get both the crispy crunch of the still dry pork skin but also the burst of flavor and soft texture of the soggy skin underneath. I could gush for 3 paragraphs more about how much I enjoyed the soup but I will stop myself and just say that as my first introduction to Mexican food, it was a much loved opening act.

Casa De Los Azulejos
Francisco i. madero no. 4.
 col. centro
 c.p. 06500
Delegación Cuauhtemoc