Isabel La Católica 30

Padrinos is located in a gorgeous 17th century former palace in downtown Mexico City, not three blocks away from the Zocalo (main square). The building also houses the Downtown Mexico Hotel --a Grupo Habita property (the most successful modern hospitality group in Mexico, who "build hotels around communities" and who own the Hotel Americano in Chelsea in NYC). The building has a central courtyard that houses "Azul Historico," a wonderful Mexican cuisine restaurant you should consider prior to entering Padrinos. Padrinos is a gorgeous place with a beautiful terrace and lush vertical garden in the back. The terrace is operational year-round thanks to a retractable sun shade and rain tarp, and should ideally be a place where one could spend hours upon hours eating and drinking. The drinking is not an issue, because the house has a very well stocked bar; the food, however.... Reads very well off the menu, and then something happens in the kitchen. The tortilla base in my "huarache" was bone dry and über tough (to the point where fork and knife were merely mechanical tools to separate it rather cutting it). The "sopes" with duck --which were by far the most attractive plate, also had a very dry base and the duck was overly sweet and lacked acidity to balance it. Almost forgot: don't get a Bloody Mary. They use a (not very good) bottled mix. Go to Azul. You'll thank me.

Great ambience, lovely deck and good service . We started off with a really good ceviche, but when we were about to try the main course, to be honest it was not what we expected, the soups were too salty, the fish was awful, the expresso was a disgrace. And the brownie was dry and hollow. The only good thing was that they didn't charge us the tomato soup after finding out about our complaints.

It's a little expensive by Mexico City standards but well worth it. The flora and lighting in the building make for a really gorgeous and unique ambiance. The waitstaff were extremely attendant and helpful with any questions we had. The food was all unique and delicious. We tried a wide spread of items all of which was tasty but the mole was my favorite overall.

Padrinos is a great option for eating nearby major historic attractions in Mexico City. Menu is vast, offering a wide variety of options with a concentration on seafood. Service was as best as you can get it. The crew really made an effort to go above and beyond and suggested items based on our group's questions. To top it off, they did an awesome job in finding Tuetanos for us -a delicacy if you have had them-. The place is children friendly and there is plenty of open space in the terrace. A green wall with grass and a hanging bike give you the perfect relaxing atmosphere while you enjoy the menu. You can get there by taxi -they will drop you off at the main entrance of the palace- or by car, parking in any of the parking lots in Isabel La Catolica before you hit #30. All in all, a very good place to eat, relax and recharge in historic Mexico City.

While others might find this restaurant a little pricey for the quality, we had no regrets at all about dining here on a quiet Tuesday evening, our last in Mexico City. The outdoor seating in the courtyard with the clever "grass" wall with its bicycle hanging over one table like the Sword of Damocles at a height of fifteen feet or so, was very pleasant for a January evening. Our starters of shrimp aguachile and a shrimp in salsa verde were excellent and perfectly piquant. The sea bass entree was succulent and perfectly cooked and the spicy shrimp (yes, I know enough with the shrimp but we hadn't any seafood for the entire trip to this point) were also good but perhaps too much like a "Buffalo" treatment here. Finished with some nice ice creams and a glass of an over the top Mezcal called Marcanegra from Oaxaca. I've never tasted flavors like this before--woof!