Trip Report: Oaxaca, January 2015
Feb 8th, 2015, 03:42 PM
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Trip Report: Oaxaca, January 2015
Trip report: Oaxaca, January 2015
We made arrangements to stay in Oaxaca for a week starting January 1, 2015. Plane reservations were made through Expedia, which sent us a reminder of departure with a suggestion to check the validity of our passports. Ours were due to expire in February 2015 so were no longer valid for travel to Mexico. Fortunately we live in a city with a passport agency and were able to obtain new passports on December 31. We now consider our passports to be valid for only 9.5 years—just to be on the safe side—but this might be a moot point given our age.
Fodor’s Mexico guide seemed skimpy on Oaxaca information, so we used Lonely Planet plus information (mainly restaurants) gleaned on the internet.
We flew Aero Mexico from SF to Oaxaca with a transfer in Mexico City, $1530 RT for two. On our way back we had a 45 minute transfer in Mexico City. We arrived at the Oaxaca airport very early and probably were the first customers at the airline desk where the woman asked us if we wanted to change our flight from Mexico City to Guadalajara to a later time. We said yes, and that was a good thing because our flight left Oaxaca half an hour late. It also turns out that there was a terminal change and it would have been impossible to make the connection under the best circumstance. For some reason, this later flight was not offered on Expedia when we booked the original flight plan because I was already wondering about the short connection time but figured that the worse that would happen is that we would be stuck overnight in Mexico City or Guadalajara.
We found a VRBO vacation Rental #332027 which would be <b>excellent </b>for a couple but presented minor problems when our daughters and toddler were included. The core of the rental is a large room with a queen size bed plus a sitting area with couch and entertainment center, a fully equipped kitchen—standard stove, refrigerator, table for six, a bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. To that was added a room above the caretaker’s casita, accessible by a narrow high open step exterior corkscrew staircase, with just enough room for a double bed and a cot. The luggage had to stay in a corner of the kitchen. Our daughter-in-law complained of a persistent cat odor in that room.
It was very close to Santo Domingo church and the next door regional museum and an easy walk to the Zocalo. In fact, all of the historic district (we were just above the number 74 in the northwest corner of the historic district (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...538307/sizes/l ) is within walking distance of where we stayed.
The casita offered us a better view of living in Oaxaca than staying at a hotel. It was at the end of an alley that placed us into the center of the block, giving us an idea of urban Oaxaca behind the street facade, including roosters crowing at 5 a.m. We also had to take care of the trash we generated—paying the trash man 5 pesos with each pick-up, purchase the 20 to 30 liter purified water container from the local delivery man, and became aware of how all the roof water tanks operated—they have to be replenished by opening water valves and starting an electric pump. Twice we were out of water but the care taking person solved the problem quickly. Admittedly these little things could have appeared to be more of a problem if no one in our group spoke Spanish, but our daughter-in-law is Spanish and our daughter is learning it and can make herself understood.
There is a market around the corner, but we only ate breakfast at the casita and did not fully take advantage of the kitchen. For the few fresh fruit and vegetables we happen to consume, and for the dishes rinse water, we had a large pot of water with Clorox in it. There is a sign in the bathroom to not swallow any water while taking a shower.
We paid our US $157 deposit via Paypal and the rest (US $368) to the manager when we arrived.
We took one trip outside Oaxaca proper taking a bus to Monte Alban, a 30 minute ride. At first we thought that we should look for a public bus because the information we had seemed to indicate that the buses meant for the site itself were part of a tour which we did not want. However, local buses stop at the colonia a couple of kilometers below archeological site, and it turns out that the buses going to the site do not include tours—one pays for the round trip, leaving every hour on the hour and returning every hour on the half hour. Our bus did stop in the colonia, picking up local passengers going to Monte Alban as vendors or service people. The site has not changed much (we had seen it in 1983 and 1996) although it has more visitors. Some of the carvings have been replaced with copies; the originals are in a small museum at the entrance of the site. There are few vendors on the site itself as selling and buying items is against the law, and the few that are there are very discreet. Wherever there is shade benches have been provided, so it is possible to picnic there. In my mind, the best place would be on top of the south pyramid in the back of it, overlooking the valley, but one member of our group could not climb the steps to the top.
For the rest of our stay we remained in the city, feeling that trips to outlying areas such as Mitla would prove to be too much for a 2.5 year old toddler. Some of our visits were a little shorter than we would like because of his presence—as for example the visit to the regional museum in the ex-Santo Domingo convent.
The zocalo was full of tents by an Occupy movement protesting the deaths of the 43 students and teachers, and the arrest of some local union organizers. It stayed fully occupied for the entire week we were there, and there were police in riot gear or with their riot gear close by at all times. The square in front of the cathedral itself was festive through the 12th night.
What we did in town: We visited the regional museum, the Ruffino Tamayo museum and the textile museum. The first two are a must for their collection of pre-Columbian objects. The Ruffino Tamayo presents these objects as pieces of art rather than being of archeological/historical interest. The regional museum extends its exhibits to the Porfirio Diaz era and tends to be therefore more historical. The building itself has been restored and gives a sense of a monastical organization if one recognizes the large halls as rectories and other meeting places, and sees the small rooms as the monks’ cells. This is in contrast with the textile museum and adjacent buildings. They were all part of a church/monastery complex that changed over time to be almost unrecognizable as a unit. The textile museum is now separate from the other sections, but the entire complex has been re-done by a private foundation in a combination of restoration and modern adaptation—for example, the former cloister now has a glass wall on one side and a “fountain” that at first appears to be a square of shiny black rock or glass (the water barely flows on it). There is also a modern building that houses a café in the alley delineating one side of the complex, and for children the alley has a merry-go-round. The textile museum is also a mix of old and modern. Its collection is limited, and some of the best pieces were on exhibit in side rooms of the cloister. Access to the different elements of that complex is free.
We walked a lot around the town, and went to quite a few markets: an organic market at the very northern tip of the centro historico (where the red 23 is on the map of Oaxaca) and the enormous market near the bus station. It is perhaps the closest to a souk except that one is not constantly bothered by hawkers and vendors. There are also two large markets just south of the zocalo, and we took a cooking class which started with a buying trip to a smaller market.
We took a cooking class which I found interesting mainly for the visit to the market where we learned that Mexican cooking uses a wide variety of oranges and limes, some of which are simply not available in the States, and for the modern house where the class was held. The class itself was fine if a little expensive for what it was ($70 per person), but in fact we did not eat what we prepared in all instances. One of our dishes was the Yucatan cochinil pibil which is essentially pulled pork. There was no time to cook the pork for such a dish. We did cut some pork in chunks, but that would undoubtedly be for the next cooking class and for a completely different dish.
We ate well in Oaxaca, with one notable exception. One evening we decided to go to Itanoni but discovered that it was not open in the evening. So we decided on an alternative which required another bus ride to a colonia north of the city, and this time the bus driver did not know the restaurant and it was dark so that we could not see street signs. Fortunately some other passengers knew of the restaurant and told us where to get off. So we sent to http://www.estrellademar.mx/index.html#about which was almost empty; three occupied tables at the most. The menu is presented on a iPad, which means that one has a limited view of the menu as a whole. My wife and I ordered a mixed seafood cocktail, not realizing that it is the same as in the States—presented in a narrow fluted glass, but in this case with very little of each piece of sea food. We could identify a piece (not a whole) of oyster, a piece of octopus, a piece of shrimp—all very unsatisfying. My second dish sounded interesting: raw clams on the shell with scallop flambé with cognac. Three half shells on a bed of salt arrived, the waiter poured a generous portion of cognac on them and lit them. But the half shells contained what I can best described as very finely chopped clam and scallop (at best a single of each spread out over the three half shells) so that no taste distinction could be made—in short it was an outrageous conceit. The more traditional Mexican dishes (grilled octopus, tacos and tostadas were better prepared and of larger quantity). The entire meal cost us about $105 and service was exceedingly slow—the waiter claimed the kitchen had problems. The pity of it all is that there was Casa Oaxaca Café as an alternative (also an alternative to its more expensive big sister Casa Oaxaca) near Itanoni that looked much more interesting when we passed it by a couple of days later.
We did not have any other negative eating experience. One meal was grilled food at the organic market. We had some qualms about the salads and raw tomatoes that often accompanied the dishes and tried to stay clear of them. We ate at the other markets, with the best market meal at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. We entered the market on the cooking side which is line with half a dozen or so places that grill meat. There are seating areas nearby, and then the fun begins. One orders a basket of meat, and the garnishes and other items (beer, tortillas) come from other vendors. We ordered a bunch of green onions from one vendor which are then sent to the place grilling our meat so that they can grill the onions too. We never would have been able to manage this without our daughter-in-law’s fluent Spanish, and even she did not understand fully how the system worked. Food came, beer and other drinks came, and no one seemed to be anxious to collect payment. It all worked out at the end, and it was cheap. I think that the meat itself was 150 pesos and it was more than the four of us could consume. We shared the table with another family in the same predicament. The husband was Mexican but wife, baby, in-laws were Italian, and they were as clueless as we were. We shared some of our dishes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/16432854546
Itanoni (http://www.itanoni.com/ ) is an experience. It is a restaurant which specializes in corn dishes—mainly different types of tortillas (tacos, tostadas, memelitas, tetelas) which are made with different varieties of heritage maize. The restaurant is outside the centro historico, but for us, within walking distance of where we stayed.
Restaurante Catedral (http://www.restaurantecatedral.com.mx/# ) is absolutely worth it. It specializes in <i>mole</i>s, but everything was good, service was excellent, the ambiance very pleasant with discreet live guitar music. The meal for four (appetizers, main dishes, desserts, drinks) came to 1878 pesos, about $125.
Los Danzantes (http://losdanzantes.com/category/oaxaca/ ) came highly recommended. The food and the ambiance are more inventive than at Catedral, but more uneven. The quality and the prices are similar, and we paid 1960 pesos (about $132) for a similar meal, but with a higher alcohol tab as we had a bottle plus a glass of wine instead of three beers. As a tourist I would choose Catedral, but if I lived in the city and wanted a higher end meal, I probably would choose Los Danzantes.
La Biznaga, near Santo Domingo, was much less expensive that these two (about $42) and very enjoyable.
Ou first evening meal was at the Casa de la Abuela (about $51), overlooking the zocalo and the square in front of the Cathedral. Definitely a tourist place. It was fine for our first meal, almost better as the return from a previous trip, and an obvious choice if looking for a restaurant in the zocalo area. La Biznaga was better.
Restaurant Maria Bonita was recommended for traditional cooking but it was a disappointment.
These meals do not represent the totality of our food experience, but while I remember some locations visually (for example a taqueria in our neighborhood where we had soup for our evening meal), I neither remember the name nor the price we paid, although it undoubtedly was cheap.
Here are the combined pictures of our three stays in Oaxaca: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...882801271/show
We made arrangements to stay in Oaxaca for a week starting January 1, 2015. Plane reservations were made through Expedia, which sent us a reminder of departure with a suggestion to check the validity of our passports. Ours were due to expire in February 2015 so were no longer valid for travel to Mexico. Fortunately we live in a city with a passport agency and were able to obtain new passports on December 31. We now consider our passports to be valid for only 9.5 years—just to be on the safe side—but this might be a moot point given our age.
Fodor’s Mexico guide seemed skimpy on Oaxaca information, so we used Lonely Planet plus information (mainly restaurants) gleaned on the internet.
We flew Aero Mexico from SF to Oaxaca with a transfer in Mexico City, $1530 RT for two. On our way back we had a 45 minute transfer in Mexico City. We arrived at the Oaxaca airport very early and probably were the first customers at the airline desk where the woman asked us if we wanted to change our flight from Mexico City to Guadalajara to a later time. We said yes, and that was a good thing because our flight left Oaxaca half an hour late. It also turns out that there was a terminal change and it would have been impossible to make the connection under the best circumstance. For some reason, this later flight was not offered on Expedia when we booked the original flight plan because I was already wondering about the short connection time but figured that the worse that would happen is that we would be stuck overnight in Mexico City or Guadalajara.
We found a VRBO vacation Rental #332027 which would be <b>excellent </b>for a couple but presented minor problems when our daughters and toddler were included. The core of the rental is a large room with a queen size bed plus a sitting area with couch and entertainment center, a fully equipped kitchen—standard stove, refrigerator, table for six, a bathroom with sink, toilet and shower. To that was added a room above the caretaker’s casita, accessible by a narrow high open step exterior corkscrew staircase, with just enough room for a double bed and a cot. The luggage had to stay in a corner of the kitchen. Our daughter-in-law complained of a persistent cat odor in that room.
It was very close to Santo Domingo church and the next door regional museum and an easy walk to the Zocalo. In fact, all of the historic district (we were just above the number 74 in the northwest corner of the historic district (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...538307/sizes/l ) is within walking distance of where we stayed.
The casita offered us a better view of living in Oaxaca than staying at a hotel. It was at the end of an alley that placed us into the center of the block, giving us an idea of urban Oaxaca behind the street facade, including roosters crowing at 5 a.m. We also had to take care of the trash we generated—paying the trash man 5 pesos with each pick-up, purchase the 20 to 30 liter purified water container from the local delivery man, and became aware of how all the roof water tanks operated—they have to be replenished by opening water valves and starting an electric pump. Twice we were out of water but the care taking person solved the problem quickly. Admittedly these little things could have appeared to be more of a problem if no one in our group spoke Spanish, but our daughter-in-law is Spanish and our daughter is learning it and can make herself understood.
There is a market around the corner, but we only ate breakfast at the casita and did not fully take advantage of the kitchen. For the few fresh fruit and vegetables we happen to consume, and for the dishes rinse water, we had a large pot of water with Clorox in it. There is a sign in the bathroom to not swallow any water while taking a shower.
We paid our US $157 deposit via Paypal and the rest (US $368) to the manager when we arrived.
We took one trip outside Oaxaca proper taking a bus to Monte Alban, a 30 minute ride. At first we thought that we should look for a public bus because the information we had seemed to indicate that the buses meant for the site itself were part of a tour which we did not want. However, local buses stop at the colonia a couple of kilometers below archeological site, and it turns out that the buses going to the site do not include tours—one pays for the round trip, leaving every hour on the hour and returning every hour on the half hour. Our bus did stop in the colonia, picking up local passengers going to Monte Alban as vendors or service people. The site has not changed much (we had seen it in 1983 and 1996) although it has more visitors. Some of the carvings have been replaced with copies; the originals are in a small museum at the entrance of the site. There are few vendors on the site itself as selling and buying items is against the law, and the few that are there are very discreet. Wherever there is shade benches have been provided, so it is possible to picnic there. In my mind, the best place would be on top of the south pyramid in the back of it, overlooking the valley, but one member of our group could not climb the steps to the top.
For the rest of our stay we remained in the city, feeling that trips to outlying areas such as Mitla would prove to be too much for a 2.5 year old toddler. Some of our visits were a little shorter than we would like because of his presence—as for example the visit to the regional museum in the ex-Santo Domingo convent.
The zocalo was full of tents by an Occupy movement protesting the deaths of the 43 students and teachers, and the arrest of some local union organizers. It stayed fully occupied for the entire week we were there, and there were police in riot gear or with their riot gear close by at all times. The square in front of the cathedral itself was festive through the 12th night.
What we did in town: We visited the regional museum, the Ruffino Tamayo museum and the textile museum. The first two are a must for their collection of pre-Columbian objects. The Ruffino Tamayo presents these objects as pieces of art rather than being of archeological/historical interest. The regional museum extends its exhibits to the Porfirio Diaz era and tends to be therefore more historical. The building itself has been restored and gives a sense of a monastical organization if one recognizes the large halls as rectories and other meeting places, and sees the small rooms as the monks’ cells. This is in contrast with the textile museum and adjacent buildings. They were all part of a church/monastery complex that changed over time to be almost unrecognizable as a unit. The textile museum is now separate from the other sections, but the entire complex has been re-done by a private foundation in a combination of restoration and modern adaptation—for example, the former cloister now has a glass wall on one side and a “fountain” that at first appears to be a square of shiny black rock or glass (the water barely flows on it). There is also a modern building that houses a café in the alley delineating one side of the complex, and for children the alley has a merry-go-round. The textile museum is also a mix of old and modern. Its collection is limited, and some of the best pieces were on exhibit in side rooms of the cloister. Access to the different elements of that complex is free.
We walked a lot around the town, and went to quite a few markets: an organic market at the very northern tip of the centro historico (where the red 23 is on the map of Oaxaca) and the enormous market near the bus station. It is perhaps the closest to a souk except that one is not constantly bothered by hawkers and vendors. There are also two large markets just south of the zocalo, and we took a cooking class which started with a buying trip to a smaller market.
We took a cooking class which I found interesting mainly for the visit to the market where we learned that Mexican cooking uses a wide variety of oranges and limes, some of which are simply not available in the States, and for the modern house where the class was held. The class itself was fine if a little expensive for what it was ($70 per person), but in fact we did not eat what we prepared in all instances. One of our dishes was the Yucatan cochinil pibil which is essentially pulled pork. There was no time to cook the pork for such a dish. We did cut some pork in chunks, but that would undoubtedly be for the next cooking class and for a completely different dish.
We ate well in Oaxaca, with one notable exception. One evening we decided to go to Itanoni but discovered that it was not open in the evening. So we decided on an alternative which required another bus ride to a colonia north of the city, and this time the bus driver did not know the restaurant and it was dark so that we could not see street signs. Fortunately some other passengers knew of the restaurant and told us where to get off. So we sent to http://www.estrellademar.mx/index.html#about which was almost empty; three occupied tables at the most. The menu is presented on a iPad, which means that one has a limited view of the menu as a whole. My wife and I ordered a mixed seafood cocktail, not realizing that it is the same as in the States—presented in a narrow fluted glass, but in this case with very little of each piece of sea food. We could identify a piece (not a whole) of oyster, a piece of octopus, a piece of shrimp—all very unsatisfying. My second dish sounded interesting: raw clams on the shell with scallop flambé with cognac. Three half shells on a bed of salt arrived, the waiter poured a generous portion of cognac on them and lit them. But the half shells contained what I can best described as very finely chopped clam and scallop (at best a single of each spread out over the three half shells) so that no taste distinction could be made—in short it was an outrageous conceit. The more traditional Mexican dishes (grilled octopus, tacos and tostadas were better prepared and of larger quantity). The entire meal cost us about $105 and service was exceedingly slow—the waiter claimed the kitchen had problems. The pity of it all is that there was Casa Oaxaca Café as an alternative (also an alternative to its more expensive big sister Casa Oaxaca) near Itanoni that looked much more interesting when we passed it by a couple of days later.
We did not have any other negative eating experience. One meal was grilled food at the organic market. We had some qualms about the salads and raw tomatoes that often accompanied the dishes and tried to stay clear of them. We ate at the other markets, with the best market meal at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. We entered the market on the cooking side which is line with half a dozen or so places that grill meat. There are seating areas nearby, and then the fun begins. One orders a basket of meat, and the garnishes and other items (beer, tortillas) come from other vendors. We ordered a bunch of green onions from one vendor which are then sent to the place grilling our meat so that they can grill the onions too. We never would have been able to manage this without our daughter-in-law’s fluent Spanish, and even she did not understand fully how the system worked. Food came, beer and other drinks came, and no one seemed to be anxious to collect payment. It all worked out at the end, and it was cheap. I think that the meat itself was 150 pesos and it was more than the four of us could consume. We shared the table with another family in the same predicament. The husband was Mexican but wife, baby, in-laws were Italian, and they were as clueless as we were. We shared some of our dishes: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/16432854546
Itanoni (http://www.itanoni.com/ ) is an experience. It is a restaurant which specializes in corn dishes—mainly different types of tortillas (tacos, tostadas, memelitas, tetelas) which are made with different varieties of heritage maize. The restaurant is outside the centro historico, but for us, within walking distance of where we stayed.
Restaurante Catedral (http://www.restaurantecatedral.com.mx/# ) is absolutely worth it. It specializes in <i>mole</i>s, but everything was good, service was excellent, the ambiance very pleasant with discreet live guitar music. The meal for four (appetizers, main dishes, desserts, drinks) came to 1878 pesos, about $125.
Los Danzantes (http://losdanzantes.com/category/oaxaca/ ) came highly recommended. The food and the ambiance are more inventive than at Catedral, but more uneven. The quality and the prices are similar, and we paid 1960 pesos (about $132) for a similar meal, but with a higher alcohol tab as we had a bottle plus a glass of wine instead of three beers. As a tourist I would choose Catedral, but if I lived in the city and wanted a higher end meal, I probably would choose Los Danzantes.
La Biznaga, near Santo Domingo, was much less expensive that these two (about $42) and very enjoyable.
Ou first evening meal was at the Casa de la Abuela (about $51), overlooking the zocalo and the square in front of the Cathedral. Definitely a tourist place. It was fine for our first meal, almost better as the return from a previous trip, and an obvious choice if looking for a restaurant in the zocalo area. La Biznaga was better.
Restaurant Maria Bonita was recommended for traditional cooking but it was a disappointment.
These meals do not represent the totality of our food experience, but while I remember some locations visually (for example a taqueria in our neighborhood where we had soup for our evening meal), I neither remember the name nor the price we paid, although it undoubtedly was cheap.
Here are the combined pictures of our three stays in Oaxaca: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...882801271/show
Feb 9th, 2015, 06:18 AM
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Great report, thanks. I want to do that meal you had at the market, though I'm not sure my Spanish is equal to it. we'll check it out though. We're in Oaxaca now - in fact looking forward to having dinner with yestravel in a few weeks. We walked by restaurant Catedral yeaterday and it does look lovely! We've eaten twice at Biznaga on this trip- always enjoy it. Yesterday we stopped by its new sister restaurant very near the textile museum - called somethng like Cabuche.... different concept, more like museum cafe for breakfast and lunch, no alcohol, closes by 8 or before. We just had a torta and a quesadilla which were fine, so can't comment much on the food otherwise.
Thanks for the cooking school report. can you say which one you attended? have been doing some research and plan to go to arrange a class for next week.
Thanks for the cooking school report. can you say which one you attended? have been doing some research and plan to go to arrange a class for next week.
Feb 9th, 2015, 08:16 AM
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Try this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622882801271/
add /show to see it as a slide show with information; you'll have to click on "info" to get the titles of each slide.
add /show to see it as a slide show with information; you'll have to click on "info" to get the titles of each slide.
Feb 9th, 2015, 09:33 PM
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Thanks for the report. I was able to see all the pictures--good ones! Oaxaca is such an incredibly photogenic place. I'm glad you had a good trip.
We enjoyed Itanoni when we were there a couple of years ago--best part was just sitting in the open-air room watching the cooks working nearby.
I've recently heard another good report about Biznaga--it seems to be redeeming itself, which I'm glad to hear because it's such a nice space for relaxing and dining.
We enjoyed Itanoni when we were there a couple of years ago--best part was just sitting in the open-air room watching the cooks working nearby.
I've recently heard another good report about Biznaga--it seems to be redeeming itself, which I'm glad to hear because it's such a nice space for relaxing and dining.
Jan 14th, 2016, 03:26 PM
#13
Thanks, Michael, nice slideshow and report. I was in Oaxaca for the first time this summer. It is so colorful, so beautiful. And we ate so well! We ended up going to Restaurant Catedral twice, our first night there and our last, because it was such a good evening with good food, service, ambiance in the courtyard with the fountain, etc.
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