Casa Café — Restaurant in Mexico City

Good spot overall, can't complain. However, there are a few small challenges I think would make this a much more appealing venue.

There was an overall lack of definition in the food we got (a mollete, a chocolatine and a caramelized-gouda-bacon ciabatta sandwich). The kind of lack of definition that I noticed at my own restaurants when I was away from the business for too long.

The mollete was well thought, but poorly executed. The cheese, I believe, was not exactly the right kind, or was not cooked at a high enough temperature, making it a slightly slimy separated cheese. I'm sure a harder broil following by a quick resting period, and then topping with the onions and tomatoes would make this much more appetizing and tasty. In the current configuration, the onions and tomatoes sweated water onto the cheese, confusing the texture even more. This will sound absolutely gringonizing, but high temp mozzarella would be a great choice of cheese IMO. I would also add more salt and acid, but that might not be necessary if the excessively rich mouthfeel is fixed first by a change of cheese and temperature. These were also thick slices of cheese, the sheer mass of cheese might be the problem.

The chocolatine was disappointing, considering the excellence of nearby competitors in the domain of croissants. I'm not sure what went wrong there, but I'm not sure anything went right. Texture, structure, temperature, taste were all slightly or fully off. These are my personal preferences though, maybe I just like mine different.

The caramelized onion, gouda (I believe) and bacon was a great idea, but suffered the same issues as the mollete. The espresso-honey bacon was amazing, but being hidden inside half melted cheese, bread and caramelized onion prevented it from shining. The onions were great, but again, you would barely distinguish them from the whole. A reduction in sweetness would be a good addition I believe, maybe switching the caramelized onions for caramelized white cabbage would help, in addition to bringing less sugar and more umami than onions, to support the bacony taste. Texturally, throwing in some greens, or even slightly sweet vinegary pickled onions for extra crunch, would work.

The ciabatta bread was a liiiiittle tough. The bubbles were too small in my opinion, making this too mealy. Maybe that's just weak wheat, lack of work, or improper oven temperature, but this could be fixed in a morning of work by a professional breadmaker.

The espresso was great, well extracted and good quality beans with a nice...

Coming from a huge coffee cultured city we have incredible experience. I’m here to state to the world that if these gents ran a cafe in my hometown I would be there everyday. So far on this trip we’ve been here everyday. Tasty chai latte, cappuccino with almond milk, and other lattes. Their freshly baked pastries range from croissants and empanadas, and offer chilaquiles and egg dishes. You can satisfy your lunch and early dinner cravings too. Foremost the warm and delightful welcomes you get each time is uniquely theirs. Diego has a warm charming smile that will draw you in, and he’s like that day and night. He says they’ve only closed 3 times in 2023– that’s a hard working crew! Eduardo, Alexis and Benjamín were just as convivial. And don’t be shy about your Spanish because you can fall back on English with no problem. They’re fully bilingual! Run don’t walk to this fabulous coffee house and restaurant and make it your home base in CDMX / Condesa / Roma!...

A gem in Condesa. From the moment I walked in, the team was very welcoming and the ambience enchanting. By day, it's a warm café, full of different people from all over the world. The aroma of freshly ground beans and house-baked pastries wraps around you as soon as you enter the door. Luckily, for people who want diverse options if they don't drink, this place turns into a non-alcoholic bar that offers you the whole experience of dining paired with amazing cocktails and wine. If I had to say something in a sentence, I'd say the food and the atmosphere is everything; inclusive, intimate and absolutely alive...