Addicted to the spice - Mexico City

Our dedication to the food of Mexico. This deserves it's own blog, in 7 days we only touched the surface with trying the food of the locals but what a week it was. Travelling on a budget we thought we may struggle to eat well and experiment, we were wrong. It was super cheap and easy to eat well. Here are a few of our favourite dishes and places we found during our stay.

Tacos - When it comes to tacos, go local, but not too local. We were advised by our AirBnB host José that the street vendor food may not go down too well for our unaccustomed stomachs. His recommendation was Taqueria Alvaro Obregan, a restaurant just around the corner from where we stayed in Roma. We were lucky to have José to order for us, if you're not so lucky then you can't go wrong with the basics - Tacos al pastor, consisting of schwarma pork (you'll see these rotisseries everywhere), onion, lettuce and pineapple. A second option is the Gringa taco, filled with cheese, pork and pineapple then grilled like a quesadilla. The last delicacy we tried was the Costra de queso, it's pretty much burnt cheese. You know if you make a toasted sandwich and the bits of cheese that go crusty on the edges, think of that but more, like a cheese lattice. In most restaurants, including this one you're given a choice of salsas, from mild to spicy. This isn't any normal Nando's peri peri sauce, forget the lemon and herb, they use fresh harbenero chilli to make the spices so be warned, they taste amazing but they will set your mouth on fire.

Horchata - If you're looking for something to cool you down after the spicy tacos, enjoy some Horchata, a milky looking drink made with rice, flavoured with cinnamon, sweetened with sugar and served over ice. It sounds odd, but it goes fantastically well with tacos.

Coffee - We didn't have one bad cup of coffee in our stay, every corner hosts a coffee shop serving freshly ground beans with pastries and fresh bread. It's so easy to sit with a fresh brew and watch the world go by. A couple of our favourites were Santa Vida, and Boicot cafe. The later serves a coffee tasting board of cold brews, pair it with waffles and you can't go wrong. Despite the number of cafes we went to, José's house had one of the best coffees, there's nothing better than waking up and pottering downstairs to make fresh cup, he used a Mexican brand Casu, he even gave us a jar full to take away with us so we have a little piece of Mexico.

Mango - My god the mango, we could have stayed in Mexico just for the mango. It averaged about 17 pesos per kilo, which works out at 71p, you can get at least two for that. One tradition is to dunk a slice of mango in chilli flakes, strangely delicious. As we were on a budget we stayed in a few nights and cooked for ourselves, one night we (we means Stefan, Jo isn't quite so talented in the kitchen) made a mango and chicken curry, chuck a couple harbenero chillis in and you're basically Mexican.

Tequila - drink it straight, drink it in cocktails, drink it with coke. It doesn't really matter, just drink it.

Churros - Who doesnt like churros? Try Churrería El Moro, there's a few of these dotted around the City, we tried this one in Roma. They serve churro bites, churro's with chocolate, mini churro's sandwiching ice cream (Consuelo's), along with hot chocolates and other snacks and drinks.

Avocado - Undoubtably the best Avocado we've tasted. If you pick a ripe one then you're in for a treat, we had them probably every other day with eggs in the morning and they didn't disappoint. Try some nachos, the guacamole is unforgettable.

Mercado Roma - Not to be confused with a traditional market, Mercado Roma is a gourmet food hall, most established mexican restaurants have a stall here. Slightly more pricey then your normal markets but a great experience and totally worth it. The place is bustling with choice, from tacos, to burgers, to pizza, they even have a El Moro churro stall, two birds one stone right! The seating is a picnic bench set up so you have plenty of chance to mingle with the locals, even head upstairs on an evening to sample the whiskey and cigar bar, or maybe get a tattoo or a haircut? So much choice. We picked the burrito place and saw our food being cooked in front of us, ready for the addition of our choice of salsa.

Pizzeria T - If you're crazing something slightly less Mexican then head to Pizzeria T, a tiny, beautiful Pizza restaurant in Roma. This place has so much character which is emulated by the staff, and you can even sneak in a glass of wine. Most places will have some sort of salsa or chilli oil at the table, we were nearing the end of our week in Mexico when we came across Pizzeria T and the waiter was very surprised when Stefan caked his pizza in chilli oil, he came to offer water expecting him to have regretted his decision. Even in a non traditional Mexican restaurant, you can't get away from the spice.

As the title says, Mexico left us addicted to the spice, and we loved it.