Taste: Hawskmoor

right on the edge of the city, Hawksmoor is an atmospherically sultry experience. Simple, understated restaurant, heavily overstocked bar and comfy-seats drinks area. Blatantly intended for a quiet and sedate clientèle.

Tonight though, a few too many of us arrived for a friend's leaving drinks and treated it as a more normal bar... much to the distaste of both my credit card and a self-inflated head waiter, who bluntly presented a 'shift out of the way' or 'be scolded with hot food' ultimatum when the throng spread too near the kitchen door.

The hot food in question looked to be a far more magnetic reason to be here. Mostly steak in appealing masculine cuts. Didn't get close enough to taste and wont be top of the list for a re-visit. Treated a little too rough for the money - shame.

Taste: Cinnabar

Chinnabar, not to be confused with the China Grill (my mistake) is another place I remember from my previous visit to Mexico DF.

On the corner of a busy road I remember watching car's headlights streaking by through floor to ceiling opaque red walls. However, following a recent renovation, the windows are now clear glass and so the impressive ambiance is marginalized by a fishbowl effect.

Its a trendy place, however, with resident DJ and filled up as the evening progressed with two large bars serving (as expected) a plethora of margaritas/cocktails.

Food is asian/mexican fusion which sounds exciting on the menu but lacked when push came shove. We were convinced by a fun waitress to go for soy and ginger steak and the result was a chewy cut of beef with all the flavor drowned out by a salty soy based sauce.

If the walls are back to red its a great place for a good cocktail, otherwise there are better places around the corner.

Cinnabar
67 Nuevo Leon Condesa
Mexico City,
Telephone: + 55 5286 8456