CASA 1900 PAN & CAFÉ — Restaurant in Mexico City

Oh my goodness! Here it goes. My waiter was a sweet man who did a fine 8/10 waiterly job. I found little fault in his attentions, but beyond this any redeeming qualities of this restaurant came to a screeching halt. Well… the artisanal bread, grassy phenolic olive oil and balsamic vinegar were actually solid and a promising start. I had high hopes that were not dashed by the well-balanced house red that arrived on the heels of the yeasty crusty goodness with an air of austerity lightened with just a touch of fruit-forward character. Things were looking good. Soon, my “New York” steak arrived with it’s side of spaghetti and veggie compliments. This is where the train seemed to leave it’s rails and plunge headlong into an abysmal canyon, the depth of which may prove difficult to convey. To begin with the lesser evils, the veggies were more like really bad dancers than inoperable tumors. A roasted spring onion stood alone and proud above some confused green beans who rested uncomfortably atop a few slices of pineapple. They were not smiling. Captain Creative here found that mixing the beans and piña brought them to a nearly sub-passable level, but there was no question that the onion wanted no part in these shenanigans. To the right, a tiny bowl of bland, molto al dente spaghetti begged me for some olive oil, salt, and pepper. I was happy to acquiesce, crunch crunch. I was going to make it! Finally, my eyes fell upon the beef. I know it was beef. I’ve had it in many forms, but this was no New York cut. It was definitely new… something. It was far wider than any New York strip I’ve ever seen. It was 1/2 an inch thick, and the fat cap was so dense with connective tissue that I couldn’t manage to grind down a single bite. I’m quite certain that this imposter originated somewhere far far away from the top of the short loin. After heavily medicating the unseasoned beast with a dose of salt and pepper, and sadly cutting away the tendon-like fat, I was rewarded with something that teased me with a suggestion of cowy flavor, uninspiring but palatable. In all of this confusion, I had forgotten about my proud spring onion, which I now proceeded to slice up and apply to some oil and vinegar soaked bread slices. A moment of relief! I smiled when I remembered that I could still wash all of this down with a pretty fair red. Life has it’s ups and downs, and I knew that with a dose of my favorite dessert, creme brulee, I was bound to finish up on a high note. Well… my finishing moments arrived, a bit less like some soaring Heifetz finale than the dying screams of a small tortured... never mind. I wasn’t sure anyone on earth would believe what I faced, so I had to document it with my trusty 6s+. It was a soup, and a very thin soup indeed. There actually was no crust or custard in the accepted sense of the words. Runny from top to bottom. The cream for my coffee was a dairy substitute. Bear in mind that this was at a high-end restaurant in one of the gastronomical capitals of planet earth. I called my waiter over, thanked him for his great service, took good care of him, and left with my tail between my legs. Earlier that day, I had enjoyed one of the best dining experiences in memory. Entropy? Negentropy? Not sure what was going on here, but I suspect the message is more Pema Chodron than...

This place, OMG! my wife and I stumbled upon it by sheer accident and man what a pleasant surprise. We went there the first time for breakfast and it was superb. There are a variety of sandwich-like breakfast options as well as eggs in many Italian variations. The things we ordered that time were fried eggs on potato covered toast with melted cheese on top, an absolute success. The consistency, scent, and balance of flavors were in complete harmony. We had the juice of the season, tangerine, and coffee(it makes sense to mention how noteworthy it was, rich and full of flavor, not burned but with smokey notes, in other words a perfect cup) We also had some bread made in-house which was absolutely scrumptious. Of course we had to come back for lunch, in which we had the best salad I've had in my life. It consisted of a deconstructed Capresse salad with the usual ingredients, tomato, cheese(delicious delicious cheese), lettuce and pesto sauce. The tomato was whole and without the skin and apparently cooked in a wine based sauce leaving it tender and flavorful, the mozzarella cheese came in a ball anointed with olive oil and between the two a leaf of lettuce covered in 2 types of pesto sauce, one, the traditional green basil based pesto, and a second, tomato based both of which were like fragmented pieces of glory every time you smeared a piece of tomato or cheese in it and put it in your mouth. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had...

If you know what’s good for you, go get the gourmet concha from Casa 1900 Pan & Café. Even if you don’t, give it a chance. The gourmet concha changed me. I am agnostic but I fell to my knees and thanked God when I tasted the gourmet concha. If they ever start giving out Nobel prizes for recipes that could bring about world peace the first one should go to whoever designed the recipe for the Casa 1900 Pan & Café gourmet concha.

Their normal concha and other pan dulce offerings are also very good, but I would crawl through a valley of knives on my hands and knees if there was a gourmet concha on the other side.

But, be warned of the despair you will feel after trying the gourmet concha - you may spend the rest of your life pining for that kind of joy. This was not my first concha rodeo either - I am a seasoned concha enjoyer and can say on good authority the gourmet concha is absolutely unparalleled.

The service is decent, the ambiance is nice, and the patio seating is lovely but it’s hard to notice anything at all in the sensual grips of the...