Mole coloradito is the sweeter, redder mole of the seven, with ancho and guajillo chiles, plantain and chocolate; a Sunday-lunch standard across Oaxaca.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
Mole coloradito was historically a celebration mole for weddings and baptisms, lighter than negro and quicker to make. The Casa Oaxaca and Las Quince Letras versions stay closest to the convent-kitchen original, with ancho, guajillo and a touch of chilhuacle red giving it a brick-red colour. Many Oaxacan home cooks make it weekly from a Mercado de Abastos mole-paste base, served over enmoladas with shredded chicken and queso fresco for Sunday lunch.
Common allergens: Nuts, Sesame, Wheat (tortilla)
Tip from the editors. Don't skip the plantain: it carries the natural sweetness that distinguishes coloradito from negro.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Las Quince Letras is Celia Florian's women-owned mole room since 1992 near Santo Domingo, where the mole negro runs more than thirty ingredients.
Tip: Order the duo-de-moles or trio-de-moles to see the kitchen's range across three sauces in one sitting.
Restaurante Catedral one block from the cathedral runs a generous courtyard with live music and a seven-moles menu (negro, chichilo, amarillo, verde).
Tip: Tuesdays closed; the moles oaxaquenos platter for two is the standard ask. Live music after 8pm most nights.
Los Pacos on Abasolo with a rooftop terrace runs seven moles on one tasting board for the canonical mole-flight of the city across two sittings daily.
Tip: Skip mains and order the moles-de-Oaxaca tasting plate; bring an appetite and a friend to share the seven.
Ancestral in Xochimilco is the thatched-roof grove on Lopez Alavez, well away from Centro tourist flow, with the seven-moles tasting platter as the headline.
Why locals love it: In Barrio de Xochimilco, the weaving quarter most tourists never reach; thatched-roof grove.
Tip: Take a taxi (the Lopez Alavez block is a steep climb); book the moles tasting for two.
La Olla on Reforma serves the long Oaxacan breakfast (huevos divorciados, chilaquiles verdes, mole-and-egg plates) in the converted-house dining rooms.
Order: Huevos divorciados with mole verde and mole amarillo
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