A new food review article!
Rarely do I do these.
So today is Mexico’s independence day on September 16th.
I woke up with HEAVY soreness in my arms because of my time in the gym the day before.
As I write this, they’re still sore as fuck.
I was going to keep a chick named Jovi to party tomorrow for my upcoming birthday in a few days but I postponed it to this Saturday to give me body another day to feel better.
I’m not confident it’ll not be sore tomorrow because it’s fairly sore.
Still, I made sure to do something today outside despite the soreness.
Given it’s Mexico’s birthday, I went to try a typical dish that Mexican’s eat on their Independence day.
A dish called Chile en Nogada.
It’s apparently well known for tourists to try on their first days visiting Mexico City when they look up what exciting foods to try.
But, being honest with you, I never once ate this thing until today despite living here for 4 years.
Why not?
Well, first off, I delay things if I feel I have plenty of time to get around to them.
Like when I was living in Buenos Aires years ago, there were still some touristy things I never did that I finally crossed off my list of things to see on my last day living there.
On top of that, touristy things to do never excite me as much unless it’s some really cool nature spot.
Like some amazing waterfalls to see, some awesome hiking trail or whatever else like that.
I don’t really get as excited for checking out cool architecture or trying new foods because it’s not as interesting to me.
Finally, I never tried the Chile en Nogada specifically until today because I always assumed that it must be spicy given the name.
“Chile.”
And given I have a lower tolerance for destroying the inside of my mouth with spicy stuff that causes excruciating pain….
I never got around to eating it.
But given I have 4 years here now, I figured “ah fuck it, might as well try the thing.”
Trying Chile en Nogada
So, in order to try it, I went to a café very close to where I live in Lindavista area of Mexico City.
It was a café that my landlord introduced me to yesterday as he took me out for breakfast and even paid for the meal as a way to introduce me to the neighborhood.
And given the enchiladas I had yesterday were pretty good, I figured the café won’t disappoint on the Chile en Nogada.
So I walked up to the café that you can see here.
The lady gave me the menu and it had two options for the Chile en Nogada.
One that costed 210 pesos or 10 bucks and 50 cents for just the Chile en Nogada.
And another option for 230 pesos or 11 bucks and 50 cents for the Chile en Nogada with a side dish, about a liter of juice water and a dessert.
Obviously, given it’s only an extra dollar, I went with the latter.
Right after ordering my meal, I realized that I didn’t have my phone on me!
So like a good millennial, I told her that I’ll be back in a second because I can’t enjoy an experience without taking pictures of it!
Does it really count if there’s not a photo for Facebook?
Or, back in the day, for Myspace….
Either way, I go back to my apartment and back to the café in just under a few minutes with my phone.
Then the side dish comes first.
I had an option to choose what it could be among various choices they had.
I don’t remember all of them but one was a special type of rice, another was chicken soup and more.
I went with the chicken soup.
Even though I’m not realty that big into soup, it was one of the few choices they had that had any meat to it.
And I’m not a dirty socialist vegan…
I’m an American!
So I want some meat please.
Here’s a photo of the chicken soup with the juice water.
Oddly enough, I didn’t see too much chicken in the soup.
It still tasted fine though.
Then came the Chile en Nogada as you can see here.
To be fair, it does look delicious as hell!
Once I began eating it, I noticed how it wasn’t that spicy whatsoever.
It had what seemed like some meat inside the Chile.
But it was largely a VERY sweet meal.
Too sweet for me actually.
When it comes to what I like to eat, it’s usually something very meat heavy and sometimes something with a bitter taste to it.
Black tea always give me the bitterness needed.
As bitter as my soul.
Still, it was tasty!
But the sweetness was too much for me.
For me, I don’t like eating too much sweet food in one setting.
I maybe have some sugar in my diet once or twice a month at most.
At some point, too much sweetness starts to taste nasty to me.
Regardless, I pushed myself through it and ate the whole thing.
Given it’s Mexico’s birthday and this is the famous dish that I’m supposed to try if I live here, I figured I’ll finish it.
But in order to help me get down all the sweetness, I did order some tea as you can see here.
Finally, I finished the meal and contemplated if I really want the dessert or “postre.”
The waitress came over to take the plate and asked what type of “postre” do I prefer.
And she gave me a few options.
After she asked, I looked at the wall in front of me contemplating for a second if I really want a “postre.”
Given that I just had more sweetness than I had the previous 9 months before, I wasn’t sure.
And given that I already ate the famous Chile en Nogada that I was suppose to try 4 years ago, I figured the mission was complete.
Plus, on top of that, I was full!
I declined the dessert and the waitress could see that I was already full.
She brought me the check while I waited in the café as you can see a picture of it here.
And walked out feeling accomplished with another thing off the list of stuff to do while in Mexico.
The Final Verdict: Worth it?
So how good was it?
I’d give the Chile en Nogada a solid 3.5/5.
It was good.
Above average than your typical meal.
Unique.
But, like I said, my taste buds are not suited for too much sweetness.
If I was more into sweet foods, then I’d give it a 5/5 because it was unique and it definitely gives you a good sweet meal!
Personally, I did find it weird how they offered a “postre” afterwards.
Makes little sense to me.
The Chile en Nogada is already very sweet!
You don’t need more sweetness!
If I was them, I’d replace the “postre” option all together with something else.
Hell, they don’t even need to include something else given the price difference was only 20 pesos or an extra dollar.
And with that extra dollar spent, you already get plenty of water juice and a side option like a soup or whatever.
Plus, the soup was good also!
Very much the value has been covered!
But if we had to offer a replacement to the postre, then I’d maybe add some rice?
Or, on a personal note, I’d add something bitter like black tea.
Because I needed it to counter the intense sweetness of the meal.
For me, it didn’t seem like a meal you would normally eat in of itself.
The Chile en Nogada, while delicious, seemed better fitted to be a dessert in of itself with no extra dessert needed.
Maybe that’s how Mexicans do eat it though?
I have no idea if they see it as a dessert themselves since I never had it before and never asked a Mexican if it’s supposed to be an actual meal or a dessert.
But I guess it’s supposed to be an actual meal since that’s how it was treated at the café and at other restaurants I’ve seen it advertised today.
Personally, I would only eat it again on a special occasion where I had someone to share it with as a dessert.
It was fairly big and filled me up.
So I’d want to share it with it someone if I had it again.
Maybe a special girl that I’m on a wedding anniversary with and we eat it after a meal as dessert?
That seems fitting to me.
It was delicious but seemed like a dessert and I would want to give half the sweetness of it to someone else for reasons explained before.
At any rate, it was good and I would recommend it absolutely!
After the meal, I got to my apartment where my neighbor’s dog was waiting for me as you can see here.
What a good boy!
I’m pretty sure his dog will like me more than him because I’m home more often and can afford to give more pets!
Anyway, enjoy this video in Spanish discussing the chile en nogada.
And leave any comments below in the comment section.
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Thanks for reading.
Best regards,
Matt