La Cocina de Humo — Local services in Oaxaca

This is, unfortunately, the most disappointing culinary experience I've had in my life, considering expectation vis a vis reality. I had read so much about this restaurant and seen so many pictures, that I had impatiently waiting to go for over a year. Levadura de Olla (the chef's other restaurant in Oaxaca) is probably one of my favorite places in the city, so this particular place could hardly disappoint, but oh boy...

The place itself is very nicely set, with a long table where everyone sits in a single row facing the person who will "prepare" the food for you; it is neatly decorated with typical elements of a Oaxacan kitchen. When we were greeted by our server, she mentioned that the whole concept is meant to resemble having dinner at a typical Oaxacan home. And that is very true, but not in a good way. Out of the 8 courses we were served, not even one had a special flavor, most were plain and insipid. One of those courses was a dish of red rice and beans; rice was hard and uncooked. I've had better rice and beans in almost every Mexican home I've been to. Another one was simply rolled tortillas with melted quesillo and cooked greens; overly simple and lackluster. We also got pork rib with pink mole. My particular piece was not braised correctly, so the meat was still tough, and the fat didn't render. I am aware that the menu changes weekly, so we might have attended on the restaurant's worst week ever.

The only real experience about the place is that the server was making fresh tortillas in front of us, but freshly made tortillas are already a must in almost all good Oaxacan restaurants. All the dishes where pre-made and only heated in the comal.

The server herself, who was in front of us the whole time, was not even kind enough to throughly explain some of the processesa and answer our questions, making the whole 2 hour-meal a very uncomfortable moment. Our

I strongly suggest to both Mexicans and foreigners to skip this place and try some of the other amazing restaurants in Oaxaca. Even though the concept of having an "authentic oaxacan table experience" might be appealing to some, there are other places with better prices, better food, and definitely...

When I first heard of La Cocina De Humo through NYT’s, “36 Hours in Oaxaca,” I approached the recommendation with a healthy dose of skepticism. Will it deliver on the promise of good traditional Oaxacan food in an authentic kitchen? Will it be burdened or worse, made complacent, by the expectations of North American tourist lore - NYT, Eva Longoria’s travel show? And finally, will it be approachable for a young couple not particularly looking for fine dining? As I stepped into the quaint, spacious courtyard, populated with the proudly displayed Oaxacan earthen cookware, I felt my anxieties slip away, and I was home.

Our chef and host for the evening welcomed us into a cosy dining room plus open kitchen, where all the ingredients for our dinner were laid out for us to see. She quickly got to work, stoking the wood-fired oven, rolling out the tortillas, mashing the tomatillos and chiles for the salsa - seemingly all at once.

We’re vegetarian, and for the first time in a while, we felt like our dietary preferences were truly catered to, not obliged. The food? It was spread out over 7 courses, packed with flavor, fresh, and surprisingly light on the stomach. We had a tomato potato soup, tortillas with castillo and mole, quesadillas with cheese and beans, squash prepared simply with tomatoes, garlic, and chile, and finally, arroz con leche with mango. The drinks were gorgeous - The agua/leche con maíz surpassed the Salvadoran horchata for me, which is saying a lot. I could taste the smokiness and mild sweetness from the toasted corn and cinnamon in every sip. I’ll dream about it for a long time.

La Cocina De Humo is not a restaurant, it’s a unique dining experience, one that I’ll hopefully get to...

Walked here on a rainy Wednesday evening in early July 2023. We had made and paid for the reservation in early April 2023. The restaurant was very quaint and intimate. They said they'd normally be able to fit 25 guests but that night there were only two other couples. Note that this place is Spanish speaking only. On their website they said to tell them if you require a translator. I emailed them to ask for one but never got a response from them.

The food "Experience" came out to MX $2,430 for two, which excludes the drinks you order there. My fiance ordered a beer which was MX$95. It was an 8-course meal with some complementary drinks included. There was a sweet corn water drink that was included, a small glass of a kind of sweet juice, and another glass of fermented drink with 2% alcohol.

The food was very good and hearty. The savory food felt very homey and did not have very much acidity too many of the dishes. They were very careful with the dietary restrictions. If a dish contained something you're allergic to, they'd give you the same dish without the ingredient instead of a substitute dish.

They also have cooking classes there as well. They have an amazing pottery store in the front as well. If I had to say one negative thing about it was the bench seating didn't have any cushions and my boney butt was hurting quite a lot towards the end of the 2.5-hour meal. I wouldn't come back here but I'm glad I got to try it. They said that they change their menu every week so you might have a very...