A Long Travel Day, But It's Always Worth It!

For those of you who remember the old OJ Simpson rental car commercials, we, too, ran through JFK just making our flight to Mexico City. In one very short half hour period, we were in all three of the airport terminals before we finally were directed to the correct spot. A bit confusing, but part of the travel experience. Nonetheless, we arrived in DF early, cleared customs, grabbed a taxi, and headed for Hotel Gillow. Although we always stay in the Historical District, the Gillow is a bit of an upgrade from where we usually stay. We're just two short blocks from the cathedral and main square and right in the heart of what everyone comes to DF to see. It's a great location and by city hotel standards, very reasonable. A standard room here costs around $55 US. We upgraded to a suite for a mere $12 more. And the suite really is the way to go! Spacial, comfortable, and a nice jaccuzi tub to soak in after a long day of sightseeing.

We had been wanting to try a Yucatec restaurant just down the street for some time. Since there were four of us now, this Sunday afternoon was the perfect time to try Coox Hanal. From the outside, it's hard even to find. However, after walking up two floors, the stairway opens onto the most colorful restaurant filled with happy, smiling patrons all enjoying the tastes of the Yucatan (the Cancun area and much more). We choose a table on the terrace. Live entertainment was going on in the dining room while nearly every table inside and out was filled mostly with family groups.

We come to trust the recommendations of servers in restaurants particularly when we don't really know what to order and don't want to miss out on the house specialities. So, we asked our server to bring us four of the favorites that we could all share. We would never have gotten to taste some of these on our own. We started out with a plate of papadzules. These are rolled tortilas filled with egg and covered in a green pumpkin seed sauce. Delicious! This was followed by a panucho (a corn tortilla with black beans and spicy shreaded pork). Our third starter, and one of my favorites, we're the salbutes - tortillas covered with shreaded turkey, pickled onions, and avacado (be sure to check out more photos by clicking on the links to images and more commentary). Finally, the main course arrived - the cochinita pibil. This large place of shreaded pork must have been cooked for hours as it just fell off the bone. From what I could see, this was one of the most popular dishes in the restaurtand and for good reason. We left stuffed. From what I could tell, although this restaurant can be found in guide books, it's pretty much a local favorite. As we left, the line of people waiting to get into Coox Hanal gave some indication of its popularity with the locals. We've eaten in many reataurants in the Yucatan, but Coox Hanal is by far one of the best! Buen provecho!