Good Food in Mexico City: A Guide to Food Stalls, Fondas and Fine Dining by Nicholas Gilman, winner of the 2008 Gourmand Cookbook award, is a little book with a big purpose: to put Mexico City on the map as one of the great food capitals of the world. The city, founded by the Aztecs almost 700 years ago, and currently home to one-quarter of the country's population, is a complex amalgam of cultural influences, which show up gloriously in its food. This guide, written by a resident gastronome who knows the city inside and out, takes the reader to out-of-the-way market stalls, taco joints, as well as fashionable high-end dining spots on today's culinary scene. Included are chapters on bars and cantinas, cafés, and food shopping, and short essays on various aspects of Mexican cuisine and its history. Clear maps of the city, as well as an extensive glossary of ingredients, dishes and cooking terms are provided, making this an easy use guide to great food in a great city.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: An Excellent guide for a city with overwhelming choices Comment: In my opinion food is one of the most important experiences in travel. It is always so disappointing to me to have a mediocre meal when the chances to experience great and new food are so few. This book is very helpful as it contains a glossary of many of the more foreign dishes as well as a great guide by type of dining experience as well as cuisine. With a city the size of Mexico City it is great to have such a comprehensive and conscientious guide that is so portable at the same time. I am looking forward to visiting old favorites as well as exploring new ones with this books assitance. Also great is the list of websites in the back. This is a great resource for planning to make the most out of any visit to one of our favorite cities in the world. Customer Rating: Summary: I'm Getting Hungry Comment: This is the book I was hoping for. My best memories of Mexico tend to be of and around food. Planning another trip to Mexico City, I've been through the mainstream guidebooks, which are generally out of date and written at "arm's distance" from the food, the restaurants and the people who prepare it. Not the case with this book. I now have more options for great food than I will have time to exercise. Cantinas that serve free botanas (appetizers) with drinks? Yes. Particularly good food stalls in the mercados? Check. Maybe a quality Spanish restaurant in El Centro? Got it. Let's see, I know one night I'll want birria for dinner. Luckily Taqueria Tlaquepaque is around the corner from my hotel, and it's open until 9 p.m.
If you're going to visit Mexico City (or live there now) and like good food, buy this book. For making reservations at fine dining restaurants to finding a great cup of coffee on the spur of the moment, this book can't be beat.
Customer Rating: Summary: Entertaining, Useful, but Slightly Flawed Comment: This little guide entertained me, and helped us find some otherwise lesser known Mexico City dining spots. I like its personal, quirky character.
It does need a good going over by a more demanding editor to clean up a few flaws, such as missing items on the maps. There are key listings, in some cases, but no corresponding locator number on the map. The maps are very small scale and of low quality.
But, overall, it's a good buy for the Mexico City food aficionado. Customer Rating: Summary: great experiences with this guide Comment: My wife and I spent a week in Mexico City and without exception we had great experiences with this guide. We went to several Fondas and tried some of the restaurants as well.
Dollar for dollar this guide added the most benefit of any we bought to our enjoyment of this trip. Customer Rating: Summary: At last! a guide to street food in Mexico City Comment: I was so excited to see that someone who loves to eat had finally written a guide to street food in Mexico City! This book is everything for which I had hoped. Nick Gilman shares personalized, specific information how to find the places, what to expect once there and explains food terms to clarify their culinary differences. Nick made me feel like I was one of his friends visiting him in Mexico City and he was telling me about some of his favorite places for food, giving all the insider details. I have already circled and underlined all the places where I want to eat so it will be like one treasure hunt after another.
