You'd be hard pressed to find a more majestic location for a
restaurant. Nestled on the eastern side of the Plaza Tolsa next to the
Senate building and in the shadow of the Carlos V "caballito"
monument, Los Girasoles has dedicated itself to "rescuing"
Mexican high cuisine since it opened in 1994.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The restaurant is set inside the former Casa de Ejercicios of the
colonial-era Antiguo Hospital de San Andres that was built in 1626.
Diners can be seated outside in a covered terrace setting on the plaza,
inside at booths next to the bar, or upstairs at roomy tables.
The attentive wait staff will first bring the wine list--not a
complete selection, but a reasonably priced array of Mexican, Spanish,
Chilean and French vinos are available.
Open the oversized menu to the Mientras Espera section and scan the
hors d'oeuvres. It's impossible to make a bad choice. The
cheese-filled quesadillas azules and the panuchos yucatecos (marinated
shredded chicken and sliced onion served atop refried beans spread on a
small tortilla) found favor in our dinner party. The chalupas poblanas
and the rollitos de berenjena (fried eggplant rolls stuffed with cheese)
are also recommended.
The soups and salads are equally palatable. The sopa conde (bean
soup) and crema de pistache (pistachio soup with rose petals) were
deemed excellent, while the cilantro 1517 was tasty but a bit salty.
Untested but recommended is the caldo xochitl, a chicken vegetable
concoction dressed with avocado.
The cranberry and mandarin salad (ensalada de arandano y mandarina)
featured pear slices, peanut shavings and a vinaigrette dressing. For
spinach lovers, the ensalada del museo is just for you--spinach leaves,
avocado, panela cheese and toasted chile ancho with the house dressing.
By now, it's time to relax a bit before the main course and I
guarantee the indecisive will have trouble choosing from among the fowl,
beef and fish menu items. The sabana azteca (pressed, boneless chicken
wrapped around spinach and chile poblano smothered in a huitlacoche
sauce) and el especial ... con ajonjoli y mole (boneless chicken breast
stuffed with banana and rice swimming in mole with a toasted sesame seed
topping) both do justice to the notion of Mexican high cuisine. And
that's to say nothing of the turkey with tamarind mole.
Also recommended is the chile de la moneda (a large chile ancho
stuffed with minced pork and raisins and drizzled with a nut and sweet
cream sauce) and the medallones de filete al cacahuate (beef medallions
in a spicy peanut sauce). Also available were red snapper (huachinango)
and trout dishes, as well as shrimp and salmon tamales.
If you somehow have room for dessert, the sweet tooth in you will
be satisfied by the selections of flan, ice cream, chocolate cake and
cajeta. Or you can try the pan nahuatl (sweet corn bread with chile
poblano strips).
Los Girasoles Plaza Manuel Tolsa
Centro Historico
Tel: 5510-0630, 5510-3281
Open Tue. to Sat. 1300-midnight
Sun. And Mon. 1300-2100
food 9.5 decor 9 service 8 cost (in U.S. Dollars per person) $30
COPYRIGHT 2005 American Chamber of Commerce of
Mexico A.C. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2005, Gale Group. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.