Pasillo de Humo

Pasillo de Humo is a restaurant located in Mercado Condesa, a small “culinary-mall” occupied by artisan vendors of foods and small restaurants. Mercado Condesa is much smaller than big sister, Mercado Roma, in the nearby colonia of Roma Norte, and Pasillo de Humo is the only full-service restaurant in the facility in Condesa.

The restaurant specializes in Oaxacan cuisine and offers a variety of Oaxacan dishes, many prepared in a wood burning oven in a large open kitchen, overlooking the dining area.

The décor is very nice, save the odd choice of what appears to be rather inexpensive outdoor dining furniture. Cheap plastic and painted steel folding chairs look like something you’d rent for an outdoor wedding from some party supply store.

Come on, guys . . . buy some decent furniture.

The waiter was pleasant enough but didn’t speak a lick of English. The chef, who was friendly, and approached me to discuss the appetizer I’d ordered, did speak a bit of English. He brought over a plate full of corn to show me the type they used to make their masa.

I had ordered the Empanadas de San Antonino which I presumed, incorrectly, would be like the meat pies that are so commonly available throughout Latin America, especially in the south in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. As it turns out, these empanadas are corn tortillas, folded over a filling of a spicy corn meal with cheese, a filling similar in consistency to tamales, then grilled until crispy. At first I was a bit unimpressed by the dish, but I added salsa and the pickled onions, and bite by bite I started acquiring a taste for these crispy little handhelds.

For the main course, I ordered the Molcajete Oaxaqueño. For you non-Mexicans, the molcajete is the lava-rock container used as a small caldron to serve bubbling hot concoctions in Mexican cuisine. This stew-like mix of sliced beef, cecina (dried beef slices), nopales (prickly-pear cactus petals), mild pasilla chili peppers and onions, is a typical Oaxaqueño dish. It’s served accompanied by corn tortillas. This was delicious and highly recommended as an example of an iconic Oaxacan recipe.

Save the cheap-looking folding chairs, the décor, service and execution of the Oaxacan cuisine was top-notch. I went for lunch and was working, so I skipped the shot of Oaxacan mezcal, which is the perfect accompaniment to this cuisine.

I’ll be back soon for dinner, to make up for this omission.