El Bajío, new location in Madrid by chef Titita Ramírez, legend of Mexican cuisine

Prawn taco, from El Bajío, in Madrid.

Image provided by the restaurant.

More than ever until now, the legend accompanies the Mexican chef Titita Ramírez, who at the age of 84 continues to supervise the 20 restaurants that she keeps open in Mexico City.

Among them is her parent company, founded with her husband, Raúl Ramírez, more than half a century ago.

Places where she takes refuge in the essence of the traditional cuisine of her country, the same that pulses daily in canteens and inns.

Among her memories, the visit that Ferran Adrià made to El Bajío in 2002, at which time the Spanish chef described the place as the best Mexican restaurant in the world.

“My mini inflated bean tortillas inspired Ferran with those

air bags

that he implemented in El Bulli's menus,” he has repeatedly stated.

After opening Casa Carmen in New York in 2022, the group he directs, in complicity with his son Raúl Ramírez, landed in Madrid last December.

He did it with a brief repertoire of traditional dishes—tacos, sopes, aguachiles, moles and other specialties—, where pre-Hispanic ingredients and genuine indigenous recipes come together, alongside pickles and preparations of street origin such as his famous chicharrones that are offered with guacamole, an almost obligatory starter.

“Without the pork that came to us from Spain, Mexican cuisine would lack a part of the soul that defines it,” the cook often repeats.

Punctuation	6
Bread -	–
Coffee	6
Store	7
Atmosphere	7
Toilets	8
Kitchen	6
Desserts	6
Service	6

In charge of the new premises, two Spanish professionals.

As room director, the loquacious Yolanda Iglesias;

in the kitchen Josep Rivera, trained for years in Mexican cuisine.

Overall, a correct cuisine that, in the first months of filming, perhaps out of fear of the response of its clientele, has not finished taking the pulse of either certain seasonings or the spiciness, below what was expected.

As an appetizer, some remarkable toasted corn tortillas with two spicy sauces, the red one with roasted tomato and serrano chili, and the green one with green tomatillo and cilantro.

The sea bass aguachile on a green chili and cucumber sauce with notes of black sauce from a smoked chili is pleasing, but not exciting.

Sirloin 'Huarache' with two sauces, from El Bajío.

Image provided by the restaurant.

The shredded pork quesadillas on corn tortillas are perfect, whose sweetness is contributed by the cuerito (skin) and the guajaca cheese, a snack that accompanies the house guacamole.

And they do not detract, although they lack sparkle, from two other classic tacos, the one with prawns with red cabbage in pico de gallo sauce, and the crumbled oxtail taco with Mexican spices, with annatto and pickled onion.

Both with the sensation of that lack of seasoning common in the marvelous Mexican cuisine.

The prawn

mixiote

is disconcerting , which is nothing more than a papillote in a banana leaf with the woody aromas provided by a tatemado chili sauce.

Apart from the sirloin

huarache

, the most successful street-origin recipe, huge sandal-shaped corn tortillas on which refried beans, red and green sauce and filleted beef sirloin are superimposed.

No less convincing than molle de roca de res, a stew of blood sausage with

guajillo

chili .

Veracruz-style fried plantains, from El Bajío.

Image provided by the restaurant.

Along with its winery, with an abundance of tequilas and mezcals, the house offers a wide selection of cocktails, including the classic, excessively sweet margarita.

The final point is provided by the desserts—cajeta flan (dulce de leche);

Corn Cake;

Veracruz-style fried plantains—dense, delicious, faithful to tradition and the popular taste they represent.

Corner of the dining room at El Bajío, in Madrid.

Image provided by the restaurant.

The Bajío

• Address: Españoleto, 10, Madrid

• Telephone: 659 051 592

• Price: Between 50 and 70 euros per person

• Hours: Closed on Sunday nights

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