According to Webster’s Dictionary, a Taco is a tortilla that is rolled, stuffed or folded with a mixture inside. By that definition I’ve pretty much exclusively eaten tacos while in Mexico City, whether I actually ordered tacos or created my own with the corn tortillas supplied with my meals. I’ve had some very traditional tacos and flavors, and I’ve had some that were more unexpected. My ‘Omakase Taco Experience’ at Pujol was the latter.

First off, outside of Japanese meals I’ve never had an omakase, and I didn’t know quite how they could play with this concept of a taco. I assumed there would be escamoles (ant larvae) or huitlacoche (corn fungus which is said to be “the food of the gods” here), but actually neither were on this menu. Served only at their bar, 12 seats, this Omakase took local ingredients and local concepts to create tacos you and I would never think of.

Pujol is in the Polanco neighborhood, think the Beverly Hills of CDMX. I had some uber issues on my way to the reservations, so I arrived 20 minutes late to the restaurant, anxious that they would pretentiously tell me to leave, and extremely apologetic (masking the rage I was feeling for uber in that moment) but as soon you walk into this very calm, minimalist interior and are greeted by a very nice woman who I think was American and didn’t care at all that I was so late, you can’t help but immediately relax and prepare for the 2.5 hour taco experience ahead.

I took my seat next to a very nice Brazilian couple and the bartender/server very easily caught me up to the group. What was not clear to me before I got there was that each course had an alcohol pairing…not a wine pairing, but an alcohol pairing. I haven’t been drinking much this year (that goes back to the gut health initiative I mentioned), but the menu clearly states the price is the price, with the alcohol or not, so I figured why not?!

First up were the Botanas, or snacks, served with a margarita, on the rocks with salt. This course could easily have been renamed Corn, Three Ways. A corn pastry of sorts stuffed with cheese, topped with chopped onions and pepper, and then a shaved black truffle on top; A puffed corn chip with caviar; A mini corn on a skewer, covered in what I’m sure was fancy chili aoili or mayonnaise, but I tried not to think about it, bc this mini corn was incredible and I wanted so many more!

The next course was the Tetela, a triangular corn pouch stuffed with beans and a fresh cheese (quesillo). There was a peanut sauce on the side (in spanish, cacahuate), which personally i felt was a weird addition – it didn’t add or take away.  This course was served with beer for the group, but I had requested a no-cerveza experience (again, gut health) so I got a taste of sherry. This first official course felt somewhat standard, but I wasn’t complaining!

Next up might have been my favorite of the day. It was a taco of eggplant, but the inside of the tortilla had Hoja Santa, an herb with velvety leaves, baked onto/into it, and then there was essentially a hummus of sorts with the eggplant placed on top. Totally unexpected flavors – really fresh and delicious – and paired perfectly with some white wine.

The next taco had an Asian flare to it – Blue Corn tortilla (my favorite!) with Seabass belly, on top of grilled avocado, with yuzu drizzled on the fish for flavor. This was a great taco, and it was paired with the biggest surprise of the day…Mexican Sake! This course was a highlight.

A corn fritter, or molote, with banana came next. Pickled onions to top, and delicious mole underneath. Paired with a fresh cocktail of mezcal and grapefruit, a perfect sip with the mole and the fried food. And if you’re thinking, wow they’re really sampling all different alcohols, yeah no kidding :).

Up next was probably my least favorite plate. A mini tostada with cured pork cheek, roasted cabbage, onion and a mustard-seed vinaigrette of sorts. If memory serves, this course was paired with tequila. Amazingly aromatic, and extremely strong. I couldn’t finish it, and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. I wanted more from the flavors of this taco – I wish the meat had more to it.

The next taco was a take on the classic pastor. While most of the tacos were completely new and different flavors, where traditional Mexican is concerned, this one was an elevated version of the traditional. Al Pastor is typically pork, but this taco replaced it with duck, served with pineapple and onions. Cilantro on top, but of course I removed it because I just cant eat it (not necessarily soap flavor, but something that I just never want anywhere near my mouth), and a lime. Another wine course with this one, but this time red. I love al pastor, and the duck here was awesome!

The penultimate savory course was essentially a chile relleno in a taco. While on this trip, I learned that a very typical local food is a tamale torta (that’s a tamale sandwich, between two pieces of bread), so using that knowledge this plate made sense to me – why not throw a chile relleno in a taco?! So, here we had a deep fried chile, stuffed with cheese and meat, avocado and red onion on top, and corn tortilla underneath to roll it all up into a taco. An extra pour of red wine, of course, to match this one ;).

And the last of the savory courses was all about mole. This was an enmolada…take an enchilada + mole, and you get enmolada. To decipher that further, we have a “rolled” tortilla, in this case let’s call it folded, cooked in mole. The tortilla was another one of those amazing Hoja Santo ones (the green tortilla from my favorite course), and the 2 moles were perfect, one was actually over 1500 days old – I could’ve licked the plate! Some of you in LA will understand what I mean when I say it was like “it was borrrn in the sauce.” A shot of mezcal accompanied – this pairing was Mexico in a nutshell.

From here we were escorted onto the patio for dessert. We walked by the restaurant’s garden on the way to our seats, and we reclined as we digested before the sweet plates came.

First out was a sorbet of pulque and nopales – a little sweet and a little spicy. Pulque is a big deal down here! It’s a fermented agave drink that is used in many local cocktails. I loved the way this dish looked. And I needed a light bite after everything that came before. Next a cup of coffee with cinnamon arrived, followed by the last plate, which I have to say was strange – not bad, but not a memorable ending for a meal like this. It was a gelatin of almond and herbs from the garden, which was served with 2 little plums. The gelatin was light and nice, but the plums didn’t really have any flavor and they seemed just sort of tacked on.

Luckily for us, though, while this was the end of the menu, a beautiful churro was then delivered with la cuenta (the bill). I haven’t had a churro while I’ve been in town so I was even more excited to see this last plate arrive. It was light and airy, somehow, despite being fried dough :). I paid the bill, and realized I needed to take a long walk…so I walked from Polanco all the way home to Condesa.

Whether everything on this menu was actually a taco or not, I guess is open for debate, but it was a great way to see how chefs are playing with the concept here. This was a delicious meal and a great way to spend the afternoon.