Café Nin — Restaurant in Mexico City

Café Nin, Mexico City DigiNomNoms Score: 8.5/10 (overall food average) Note: My reviews are based on food alone: flavor, texture, and execution. Not service, decor, or speed.

DigiNomNoms Food-Only Rating Scale

(No fluff, no vibes, just the bite.)

10/10 – Mythical You may never get this. If you do, it’s because the dish shattered your expectations and redefined what food can be. A once-in-a-lifetime bite.

9/10 – World-Class Possibly the best version of this dish you’ll ever eat. Flawless balance. Perfect execution. You’d travel for it. You may never taste anything better in this category.

8/10 – Rare Excellence Exceptional. You don’t expect to find anything better than this in the next year. Bold flavor, clean textures, balanced components. Worth telling everyone you know about it.

7/10 – Damn Good Strong showing. It impressed you and delivered something memorable. You’d order it again and recommend it if someone’s nearby.

6/10 – Above Average Solid. A good dish with maybe one standout element. Wouldn’t crave it later, but no regrets.

5/10 – Baseline Edible It fed you. It worked. It didn’t insult you, but it didn’t excite you either. You’d eat it again, but only if options were limited.

2–4/10 – Forgettable to Frustrating Something went wrong, bad execution, imbalanced flavors, stale ingredients. Not necessarily inedible, but not worth revisiting.

1/10 – Culinary Crime Scene No effort. Low quality. Bad taste, poor prep, possibly overpriced. You wouldn’t serve it to someone you love. Sets humanity back.

Huevos Rancheros – 9.0/10 One of the most complex and satisfying dishes I’ve ever eaten. The roasted salsa was deep and smoky, with subtle heat and garlic woven through, not dominated by tomato, but elevated by it. The tortillas had structure without crispiness, the eggs were perfectly cooked with yolks that stayed rich without flooding the plate, and the avocado? The best I’ve ever tasted: delicate, slightly floral, sweet and clean. Cheese added umami without overpowering. A masterclass in balance.

Cardamom Roll – 8.2/10 Flaky, crusty, and nothing like the overly soft, sugar-bomb rolls common in the U.S. The cardamom gave texture without being raw or bitter. Sugar drizzle was minimal but intentional. Sweetness was balanced and restrained. This roll made me want to lick the plate, not for the sugar, but for the craftsmanship.

Lavender-Blueberry Scone – 8.0/10 Firm, snappable texture. This scone had real integrity. Lavender was subtle, not perfumey. The piped-in blueberry was fresh, not syrupy, and the top icing was delicate and restrained. It's the kind of scone you eat in slow, clean bites. Not just filler! A real dish in its own right.

Coffee (Latte + Cappuccino) - 8.8/10 As someone who’s roasted over half a ton of beans in my lifetime, I can say with confidence: this is some of the best Chiapas espresso I’ve had that I didn't roast. Chocolate, almond tannins, slight mulled...

When I googled this place for my last meal in Mexico, I was supper excited about the whole experience based on over 8k reviews on google and 4.5 stars. Let me break down my experience:

FOOD: Super delicious, nothing to say about it, everywas well made and attention to detail was put into every dish we tried

ATMOSPHERE: Cool little place with a lovely outdoor seating area. There was someone playing the saxophone and it added value to the dining experience.

SERVICE: As we we're sat, I mentioned to our server that we were tight on time and he told us that would not be a problem. The food didn't take long. It was the service that was 1000% lacking from everyone working there, we were offered water, but never no one came back to refill our bottle at the table. It was only after I called someone and asked for water that we got it. After our food got delivered, I told the server that we needed our check. 20 minutes later and NADA!!! I had to call someone and let them know we had to go and needed to pay, at last we got our bill and of course at the time of payment we were asked if we wanted to leave a tip. I left 10%, I always tip 20% if the service deserves it but this server didn't even deserve 10% No one ever came to check if we were happy with what we ordered or if we even got what we wanted. One of the dishes I ordered was baked oatmeal and I asked without milk, guess what, they served it and poured it on it even though I said no before they did, they said they had to!!! I do not blame the lack of attention to detail or better hospitality on the staff, it all comes down to who is running the place. There was NON EXISTENT MANAGER PRESENCE on site at all. Too bad because the place is super cozy and really inviting, however if they don't do things right, it is only a matter of time. We, the customers deserve better than that. TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE hold them accountable and avoid disappointed guests reviews like this one. I am really sorry but that was my experience and I hope of helps whoever is reading this to make the changes that need to be made to not disappoint diners that...

BEAUTIFUL LOCATION, GOOD FOOD AND DRINK, LIMITED VEGAN / GLUTEN FREE OPTIONS - GET THERE EARLY OR BE READY TO WAIT

This is a must experience place on your Mexico City list if you haven’t been before! We had our last brunch of our Mexico City trip at this busy

ARRIVAL & WAIT TIME We arrived at 12:00pm Sunday and the was a queue and we were told there was a 35 min waiting time.

We put our name down and waited. Don’t let the announced waiting time scare you.

Most people out there name down and when called they don’t respond or have left. Our waiting time was only 10 mins as a result.

FOOD & DRINK The food was good. The bread is really good for Mexico City (I understand they source theirs from the bakery at Rosetta)

Try their home pressed juices - they come in a cute bottle.

Also their match tea - lactose free and plant based milk is offered.

To fill up I would recommend their sandwiches - very good. Or their egg options which my partner enjoyed.

There are two dishes I can recommend which really set me up for the day:

Baked Oatmeal, Berries and Oat Milk

Barely Bread, Broccoli, Spinach, Avocado and Gruyère Cheese

SERVICE So, this is a very busy location and the staff seem to strive to try their best to manage demand and expectations in the best way - although they’re not consistently perceptive, attentive or sensitive.

We discovered by chance that the breakfast menu had stopped to be replaced by a lunch Opferung when we wanted to order something else.

This wasn’t clearly marked on any of the menus or proactively announced...