Azul y Oro

i had high expectations in trying out this restaurant in the outskirts of town. first, it came highly recommended by a dear friend who is traveling around the world eating his way through. second, the chowhounds at chowhound.com gave glowing praises. third, the chef is well-respected and authored the gastronomy dictionary.

so, i was willing to trek all the way to the end of the line 3 subway line to universidad, then take a shuttle around the sprawling campus to get to the restaurant.

we had 3 things:

1. silki pak (or something like that) - it tasted like pate with lots of cilantro and onions. it tasted better with the bread than with the chips. this was ok. i did not hate it but did not love it either.

2. mole negro - this was too smokey and too sweet for my taste. this dish disappointed me the most because it came so highly recommended.

3. cochinita pibil - i loved this dish. it is basically pork cooked in banana leaves with tomatoes and i think an orange rind. the pork was tender and so full of flavor. plus, it came with this white rice that was so sweet and soft and fluffy i could eat it all by itself. the black beans that came on the side was also very delicious.

the corn tortillas were served hot and were pretty good and fresh and also came wrapped in banana leaves.

i did enjoy my horchata (drink made of rice). it was the right sweetness without being overwhelming.

overall, i give this a 3 star because i only enjoyed the cohinita pibil.

there are 2 restaurants at UNAM (the university). we went to the original restaurant:
Centro Cultural Universtario
Circuito Exterior sin/nombre
Tel. (55) 5622-7135
Sunday through Tuesday 10:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday through Saturday 10:00am – 8:00 pm


the other restaurant on campus is at:
Torre de Ingeniería
Circuito Interior sin/nombre
Frente a la Facultad de Ingeniería
Tel. (55) 5623-3500, ext. 1065
Hours
Monday and Tuesday 8:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday through Friday 8:00am – 8:00 pm

to get to the original restaurant:
take the line 3 metro to "universidad." when you exit the metro station, turn right, and go down the stairs and enter the campus. then, take the ruta 3 campus shuttle (towards centro cultural) and stop at the "sala nezahualcoyotl."