17 Sep 2012 0001 GMT+0000
Recently, I’ve been craving tacos.
Between June and September (2012), I’ve traveled through Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Singapore, New Zealand, and Australia. I’ve had the great privilege of eating inexpensive and out-of-this-world Asian food including Chinese (Cantonese), Himalayan, Indian, Nepalese, Thai, and Vietnamese. I continue to eat, and I still want more.
But occasionally, the memory of visiting friends in Ciudad de México (México City) surfaces, and I think of tacos.
I needs the tacos.
On my final night in the city, Eva and I are out at a concert, but we leave before the end of the gig for the promise of late-night tacos. We’re going to a taco-place she frequented in her youth as an out-late after-party place for food in the early-morning hours.
Just before 4am, we arrive at Taquería Brasil Copacabana in Delegación (the borough of) Coyoacán.
There are some ten or so tables around, but there are only a couple of people eating when we enter.
Bright fluorescent lights illuminate the cafeteria-like restaurant with a familiar cold glare. Decades’ old tables and chairs are scattered throughout the place, sitting on tired scratchy linoleum floors. There are more staff than customers; a couple of staff with hairnets are lingering about in quiet but animated conversation.
It’s absolutely perfect: it’s exactly the kind of place I had hoped to visit, and one I know only the locals would go for their taco fix.
As Eva describes the “hole-in-the-wall”:
… The name “Taquerías Brasil Copacabana” comes from the original location in Villa Coapa (in the Federal District or state of Mexico City). The place used to be a double cinema called “Brasil” and “Copacabana”. The cinemas closed down, and a bunch of small taco stands (carts) began popping up in the evenings. Over time, the taco stands became popular. Eventually, someone bought the entire place, cleverly converted it all into a single taco eatery, and decided to keep the name.
Tacos al pastor has been described as the Mexican version of döner kebab, but with porky goodness. Tender seasoned melt-in-your-mouth pork is fried on a metal grill right in front of you, and the pork is served hot, enveloped lovingly within heated soft taco wraps. Bottles containing sauces of varying evil and spice await your taco devouring needs. Alternatively, I ask for “alambre de pastor” complete with grilled onions and peppers and a layer of melted cheese for that stick-in-your-stomach soak-up-the-beer goodness.
But I’m also here for tacos de lengua, or tacos with beef tongue. It’s not something many would entertain, but I know it’s commonly served here, and I’ve had beef tongue before. While tonight’s tacos de lengua is downright delicious, my preference of the three choices tonight would be the “simpler” tacos al pastor.
When everyone in the room nods at my eating pleasure, I know I’ve done exactly the right thing. And I know I’ve done right by them, too. It’s a perfect way to end a fantastic week in México City with Eva and her family.
I made the photos above with a 4th-generation iPod Touch on 10 March 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-2mW.
Posted by HL fotoeins
Categories: Culture, Food and Drink, Mexico, MyRTW, North America, Personal, Travel
Tags: alambre de pastor, Ciudad de Mexico, Coyoacan, Distrito Federal, fotoeins, Mexico City, tacos, tacos al pastor, tacos de lengua
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MMMM. DELICIOS , TAQUERIA COPACABANAS IS THE BEST, (COAPA) RELATIVE NEAR MY HOUSE.
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By virginia boyzo on 17 Sep 2012 at 0236 GMT+0000
Hola, Virginia. ¿Verdad? ¿Es realmente cerca de ti? Me gustaría poder volver a D.F. y comer más tacos allá! 🙂 Gracias por tus comentarios!
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By fotoeins on 17 Sep 2012 at 1506 GMT+0000
I tried to go to the main one after a concert and the abundance of clubs made parking impossible. I had to settle for lesser tacos. I am spoiled.
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By Eva on 27 Sep 2012 at 2115 GMT+0000
Lesser tacos, Eva? That’s just … so wrong. 😉 When I last looked at their website I noticed there are 3 sites. Judging by our visit, the Coyoacán location was a quieter outlet – not that I minded. I can only imagine what the Coapa location might be like. Thanks for your comment – I hope you have the opportunity soon to be spoiled again!
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By fotoeins on 29 Sep 2012 at 2312 GMT+0000
you describe these places exactly as they are. And I love this for that. Watch me eat tacos later.
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By curiouslikeakat on 3 Oct 2013 at 1625 GMT+0000
Thanks, Kat; I look forward to your detailed reports to your search for the best tacos and/or late-night food stops in the D.F. 😉
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By fotoeins on 3 Oct 2013 at 1719 GMT+0000
Haha! Do you like empanadas? I’ve got a stand for you then….
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By curiouslikeakat on 7 Oct 2013 at 2225 GMT+0000
I spent 5 years in north-central coastal Chile enjoying their fine empanadas: empanada de pino, and empanada de mariscos, of which there are many kinds. So, my answer would be a big “Siiiiii …”
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By fotoeins on 7 Oct 2013 at 2256 GMT+0000
[…] By all accounts, there are as many people packed into the metropolitan region of the Mexican capital city as there are people in all of Canada. It’s something to wrap around in my brain, until I realize there’s no other place I’d rather be when I think of Mexico, her living history, and satisfying early-morning munchies in a taquería in the city’s Coyoacán. […]
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By Plugging 19 UNESCO Heritage Sites Around the World | Fotoeins Fotopress on 6 Apr 2015 at 0032 GMT+0000