Top 3 Indian Restaurants in Mexico City
My time in Mexico City seems to mostly revolve around the best street foods, grills or drinks. It’s been a true culinary experience since I’ve been here. It’s funny that when I first got to this city, I never thought I’d think of it as a foodie’s delight – now I think, it has some of the best food options in the world (And I’ve eaten all over the world).
This time, my culinary journey experience continues by covering the best Indian restaurants in Mexico City.
I’ve also partnered with a local to find out what is the best. In my article about my favorite vegan restaurants in Mexico, an amiga who is a veteran vegetarian helped accompany me to find the best vegan restaurants in Mexico City. Now, I’ve partnered up with a world class chef in Mexico to help filter for what Indian Restaurants you should be going to.
While my love for tacos and salsa is never-dying, there’s no denying that Mexico City is one of the best foodie cities in the world. As I found myself chasing down my taco-al-pastor of the day with a cold gulp of agua de jamaica (hibiscus-flavored water), I realized no visit to the city would ever be complete if I didn’t make time for other world cuisines. With Indian food currently being at the top of my crave list, I set out to find the best ones.
When it comes to all good food, you have to do some research first. After much traveling, I’ve become slightly skeptical about the recommendations I see on the internet because– let’s face it– many of them are for tourists. Although Indian cuisine isn’t local, I refused to believe there weren’t any decent spots offering more than chicken tikka masala and stale-looking naan.
Fortunately, since I’ve been here I became friends with a chef. The world-class blow-your-mind kind of chef. Thus, I had no doubt her recommendations would be great. Working with a range of budgets, she gave me a short list. I thought it was too short for my own sake but little did I know that those restaurants were all I ever needed.
After sitting down for hefty meals in each of them, I’ve decided to pass down the list to you guys with some of my recommendations and opinions. Beginning with cheap eats in quaint lesser-known neighborhoods and working my way up to the flashy high-end district of Polanco, there’s a place on this list for every kind of budget and traveler. If you’re ever in the city, make sure to check them out!
Naan
This is the go-to place for delicious cheap eats. Don’t expect a huge menu, though. Unlike most Indian restaurants I’ve been to in other places, this one prefers to specialize in a handful of them and occasionally offers seasonal Mexican-Indian fusion dishes like the red lentil chile en nogada. I just had to get it while I was there because chiles en nogada are a true delicacy that you can only get in Mexico for about a month every year. Anyway, as good as that was, I didn’t dream up this article so I could recommend you more Mexican food.
Something I should probably mention is that the menu is 100% vegetarian. If you’re a meat-lover, this might not be great news for you but, then again, a huge part of India is vegetarian. Despite this, the food is absolutely delightful and well-balanced. All of the main dishes are curry bowls served with basmati rice. Some of them have koftas, but it’s just a matter of taste.
My favorite was the “Mutter” curry. It’s a tomato-cashew nut based curry with peas, tofu, and spinach koftas. I loved that it wasn’t overly greasy and didn’t leave me feeling like I couldn’t take one more step after lunch. It also comes with a side of naan. They have traditional and garlic kinds, but I went the traditional route. It was freshly made and extremely light.
They also have crispy, delicious samosas filled with potato and peas. Served with a side of mango chutney for dipping, I was head over heels in love. The mango lassi is also really refreshing and I highly recommend it to go with your meal. You can get a full meal for about $200 pesos (about $10 USD).
Overall, this place was great even though it didn’t look very traditional but since I’m not eating the decor of the place, I don’t mind. It’s located in Santa María la Ribera, a quaint neighborhood with a gorgeous central plaza and mosaic-lined kiosk in the center, perfect for an afternoon walk after lunch.
Tandoor
First opening its doors in 1986, it was the first restaurant to introduce Indo-Pakistani food to the city. Led by a native Pakistani chef, he named the place after the clay oven in which some of its most iconic dishes are made, a clay oven. It’s been so successful over the years that it now has 3 locations throughout the city, in some of the nicest neighborhoods like Condesa, Polanco, and San Ángel. Whichever location you visit, you’ll be able to tell it’s super traditional right away. The air just smells of spices and the walls are lined with statues and art.
I went to the location in Condesa because I’d been exploring around Roma that day and decided it was only about a 15 minute walk away. They have a nice little Indian food market out front where you can buy all sorts of spices and ingredients to make your own food at home.
Unfortunately, it’s not that big but I guess it gets the job done if you’re an expat missing home. When it comes to Indian grocery stores and Indian food markets in Mexico City, the scene is underwhelming. That’s because the Indian community isn’t that big here, but what are we going to do?
The lamb curry and vindaloo chicken were absolutely AMAZING! So was the Palak Paneer, which is a thick sauce made with pureed spinach and diced paneer cheese. As usual, I couldn’t miss out on the lassi and it was equally spectacular.
I also got the chicken pakora and sabzi shorba soup as starters. I probably overdid it by getting some gulab jamun and artisanal ice cream for dessert but everything was so good I just couldn’t resist!
As far as pricing, it’s definitely not as budget-friendly as Naan but, given the location, ambiance, and quality of the food, it’s worth every penny.
Casa Elefante
The sister-restaurant of Taj Mahal (probably the most popular Indian restaurant in the city), I decided to give this one a try. When I asked my friend why she hadn’t just recommended the Taj Mahal, she said it’d gotten so popular that the food had lowered in quality so they could accommodate more people during service every day. With that being said, Casa Elefante turned out to be a real surprise!
Everything looked so good I decided to skip the starters and dive right in. I ordered lamb-mutton masala, king prawn rogon josh, curried eggplants, and lamb biryani. Each bite was beautifully spiced and transported me back to my time in New Delhi… For dessert, I got some almond kulfi and rosh malai.
Located in the heart of Polanco, the flashiest neighborhood in all of Mexico, I went in knowing that the prices weren’t going to be very friendly. Upon seeing the menu, I realized they weren’t as bad but I probably wouldn’t be having Indian food there every day. Definitely worth it, just not as budget-friendly.
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