Pujol’s Taco Omakase

Recently, I had the pleasure of trying Pujol’s taco omakase, or taco tasting.  The brain-child of revered Mexican chef, Enrique Olvera, Pujol has consistently ranked in the world’s best 50 restaurants (right now, at #5). 

When I was in Oaxaca in April, I visited Olvera’s restaurant, Criollo. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed with it.  However, having a weakness for tacos, and wanting to see what a world class restaurant was like, I made reservations for Pujol’s 1:30 pm taco omakase.  The reservations, made about a month in advance online, required a credit card number for a “guarantee” (in case I cancel..).

Location of Pujol

Pujol is in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, on a side street (Tennyson) off of Masaryk.  It was a nice walk down the shopping street, Masaryk, where LV, Gucci, Ferragamo and Starbucks are.  I walked to Pujol from a morning visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropología, which was a nice 20-30 minute walk away, if you didn’t keep walking in circles like I did that day…  But I digress.

Nestled on an unassuming street, you may not notice the entrance to the restaurant.

Arrival to Pujol Mexico City

Once inside, they seated everyone with the 1:30 pm taco omakase at the bar.  Each course comes paired with a drink.  The price is the same with or without the pairing.  I’m not a big alcoholic beverage drinker, so as the post and the courses continue, you’ll see how my drinks fared.

Also, before I begin, a big shout out and thank you to Mike, the electrician from Houston, who was my taco tasting companion and source of conversation during the meal. 

2022 update: Mike, the electrician from Houston, googled Pujol in Mexico City and found my blog! He emailed to say hello and that he found my post. Got to love the power of the internet!

Without further ado… the Pujol 8-course Taco Omakase.

1. Street Snacks

For local Mexican diners, the baby corn came with the husk intact, and the Mexicans next to me ate the husk. I didn’t realize it was edible! For us foreigners, the husk is peeled back and we only eat the corn.

Before we move on from the street snacks amuse bouche… The little blue corn puff…  For those of you unfamiliar with escamol (the white toppings on the blue puff), it is a Mexican delicacy.  Some people may be squeamish about it, but escamol is the edible larvae and pupae of ants.  Yes, that’s right.  Ant eggs.  Before you say anything… let me just say one word.  DELICIOUS!!!!  Don’t knock it til you try it!

2. Uni, Beans Tetela

Inside the tetela was black beans. Served with a uni (sea urchin) pico de gallo.  The uni pico de gallo was AMAZING, both on the tetela and on its own.  My favorite course!!

For those of you new to my blog, I was particularly pleased at the uni dish being so delicious.  To find out why, see my other post about sea urchins, here.

Drink Check:

New addition: Atolli, Mexican Pale Ale.  Made from corn.  2 courses, 2 drinks.

3. Eggplant Taco, Hoja Santa, Humus, Shisho

I spy a new drink – white wine.

4. Amberjack Taco, Avocado, Seaweed

(served with Mexican sake)

5. Scallop Tostada

(Dressed with lemon, sesame oil, and served with tequila)

Thinly sliced raw scallops lined the crispy tortilla, resulting in a delightfully fresh and crisp tostada.  I’ve never had scallops or a tostada like this!!

More than half way through – let’s keep going on this taco omakase!

6. Seabass Taco al Pastor

7. Softshell Crab Taco, Cucumber, Shiso

I love soft shell crab and shiso peppers!!  And the combination in a taco was amazing!!  So delicious.  Definitely my second favorite course!

Drink Check:

From L to R, drinks for courses 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3.  Water on the very right.  In here there is: tequila, mezcal, sake, rose wine, another beer and white wine.  You can mostly guess which is which. However, since the liquors are all kinda clear colored, I kind of forgot.  You’ll forgive me though.

8. Enmolada, Hoja Santa Tortilla

And now, for Pujol’s famous Mole Madre, aged 1681 days, or almost 5 years!!  The flavor is much richer and tangier than the normal mole.  I’m not a huge fan of mole in general, so this one wasn’t spectacular to me.  It’s definitely unique, I’ll say that!  From the NY Times’ T Magazine,

“Pujol’s mole madre is a contemporary version of [celebratory dishes]. Our own paste is reheated twice a day and is ‘fed’ with new mole whenever we are down to 10 liters. This Solera system gives us a mole that is exponentially more subtle and complex than your average mole. Additionally, since the mole is getting reheated through the months, ‘it has now been alive for more than 400 days’ the recipe adapts to seasonality and the ingredients change accordingly. It might have hazelnut or almond or macadamia or a mix of all three. The same is true for the tomatoes, the fruits, even the chiles.”

Since that review, the mole madre I tried had continued to age another 1,200 some days!

And with that nugget of information, the taco omakase finished on a high note of the legendary aged mole.

Dessert in the Garden

After, we were escorted out to the garden area for dessert.  Enormously tall trees, surrounded by lovely greenery, kept us company during dessert. Delightfully charming outdoor area to enjoy our desserts. However, it was uncovered… and I understand that Mexico City is known for their notorious but reliable 5 -7 pm heavy rain showers (according to locals).

9. Gaznate, Sake Kasu

From L to R: a plum, a cream roll, matcha green tea, and ice cream (i forgot the flavor) with ginger. In the upper right corner is the cloth napkin from our omakase, with a corn kernel pattern on it. They said we could keep it as a memento. Nice touch.

Even though the photo and description above goes L to R, we ate it R to L… They suggested it this way.  Although the plum was good, I was quite disappointed that it was the end.  Especially since I could have had the below pictured cream roll as the last delicious sweet taste in my mouth. But no.  I was good at following instructions.

But just as my disappointment couldn’t be any greater, the wait staff shuffled out one by one. With Beauty and the Beast’s “Be Our Guest” playing in my head, out came the real dessert.  You can see the beginnings of that in the background of my plum photo above.

And now, here is the real dessert.

The thinnest, lightest, most delicious fried churro I’ve ever had!!!  This was definitely the best way to end the taco tasting… if it truly ended with the plum, this review would have gone sour at the end.  But no!  PUJOL’S TACO OMAKASE.  AMAZING TIL THE END.

Parting Thoughts on Pujol’s Taco Omakase

I HIGHLY recommend trying Pujol’s Taco Omakase, if you:

1. want to eat at a world class restaurant
2. like tacos
3. want to try world class tacos
4. don’t mind dropping 2,998 Pesos | $160 USD for 8 tacos and 8 drinks
5. like having 8 different alcoholic beverages in one sitting (or if you don’t drink alcohol, if you like having 8 different non-alcoholic beverages in one sitting… btw, alcohol or not, the cost is still 2,998 Pesos)
6. are not afraid to eat ant larvae/pupae or sea urchins
7. want a souvenir (used by yourself) cloth napkin… (and finally)
8. don’t mind spending 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm eating lunch
9. WANT TO EAT AN AMAZING MEAL!

Restaurant Information

Pujol | map
Tennyson 133, Polanco
11550 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Phone: +52 55 5545 4111
Reservations Required 
1:30 pm Taco Omakase 2,300 MXN | $115 USD
Prices, as of 20 April 2021

If using Uber, set the address to “133 Tennyson” (actual address), NOT “Pujol”, which will direct to their old location.

Need some help planning your foodie fun trip to Mexico City?

• Luxury hotel suggestions:
  • Hyatt Regency Polanco and JW Marriott Polanco are both within 10 minutes walking distance to Pujol!
  • Centrally located in the Reforma neighborhood, Hilton Mexico City Reforma and Mexico City Marriott Reforma Hotel are also fantastic options.
• More foodie adventure suggestions:
  • Check out the Must-Try Street Foods in Mexico City from Chef Denise, including all the favorites I had on this trip!
  • Instead of Pujol’s Taco Omakase, how about joining a Taco Crawl with a food critic?
  • Join Candelilla, Mexico City’s hidden supper club;
  • Experience a dinner exploring Mexico’s cuisine, from before and after Spanish colonization.

Please note that some products or referrals in this post are affiliate links (in green) and if you go through them to make a purchase or booking, I will earn a commission. I share these product and booking links because they are related to the post and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours whether to click through and make a purchase through these links.

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Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

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