Oaxaca is now officially one of my favourite cities, anywhere. The people are incredibly friendly, the food is delicious and there are so many different things to do. It is also a great city for walking with lots of streets dedicated to pedestrians. The whole downtown area is made up of beautifully colourful colonial buildings filled with museums, artisan cooperatives, cafes and restaurants. Crossing the center of town are a number of pedestrian streets, one of which, Macedonia Alcala street, goes past the beautiful Santo Domingo Church. If you are lucky, and we were lucky several times during our trip, you will see some sort of celebration here. A few steps away from the church is your first and most important stop; Casa Mayordomo.
(Click on video below)
There are two main brands of chocolate millers in town, and most of the chocolate comes from one of the two. By far the most popular one, and the one with more stores is Mayordomo. Mayordomo Chocolate was started in 1956 and is a family business from the region. This is Mayordomo’s restaurant where they sell a range of local specialties as well as the only two choices of hot chocolate in Oaxaca (or chocolate as they call it here. It is assumed when you asked for chocolate that you want to drink hot chocolate since no one eats chocolate). You can get it with milk or with water, big or small. We sat down inside and ordered one of each in small (although I would recommend the big). A few moments later one of the waiters arrived with two large green ceramic jugs, one with the milk chocolate and the other with the water chocolate. He used the molinillo, a wooden stick used to mix the chocolate together well and then whisk up the liquid to create a fantastic frothy top. He then filled our little cups as high as they could possibly be filled. And all this for just 20 pesos. Safe to say that the chocolate here was my favourite on our trip to Oaxaca. It was creamy and light, with a hint of cinnamon. Just beautiful. The food here was beautiful as well. We had the mole rojo with pollo, as well as the pozole de pollo, a beautiful soup, although just calling it a soup doesn’t do it justice. All excellent.
Once you have made your body happy with this magical drink, continue your walk down Macedonia Alcala until you hit the Zocalo, the main square and the cathedral. Here again you are likely to see some sort of a party. Today they had several young children dancing traditional dances dressed in beautiful elaborate and colourful outfits. To continue your loop turn around and walk back up the street parallel to Macedonia Alcala called Garcia Viglio. The first part of this road isn’t pedestrian but the second part is. As you get to the end of the non-pedestrian part, right back near the Santo Domingo Church, stop in at a tiny bakery on the corner called Pan&Co. They have the most incredible Pan de Chocolate I have ever had. I was so obsessed with these we ordered several each day. They fill them with Oaxacan chocolate of course. Grab a couple, and then continue down the road past several great restaurant options for dinner. Soon you will reach the old aqueducts and your loop is complete. Beyond these main pedestrian streets you can pretty much walk in any direction in Oaxaca and you will fine something interesting; a local park, interesting stores and restaurants. You can spend hours getting lost (safely) in Oaxaca.
Verdict: Simply a must – start your Oaxaca trip here! Casa Mayordomo, Macedonia Alcala n. 302 Oaxaca, Mexico
