A complex Puebla-rooted sauce of 20-plus ingredients including chiles anchos, mulatos, pasilla and chipotle, almonds, peanuts, sesame, raisins, cinnamon, cloves, anise, plantain and Mexican chocolate. Served over turkey or chicken.
Mole poblano was created in the 17th century by the nuns of the Convento de Santa Rosa in Puebla, when Sor Andrea de la Asuncion is said to have invented the dish to honour the visiting Archbishop. The Puebla original recipe runs about 30 ingredients and takes a day to make. The dish migrated to Mexico City through the colonial era and is now the canonical Sunday lunch across the capital. Azul Historico, Nicos and Cafe de Tacuba run some of the city's most respected versions.
4 editor picks for Mole poblano in Mexico City, ranked by editorial score. All Mexico City signature dishes · Mole poblano across every city.
Nicos ★ 4.6
azcapotzalco · Av. Cuitlahuac 3102, Clavería, Azcapotzalco, 02080 Ciudad de Mexico
Nicos in Mexico City is Gerardo Vazquez Lugo's family-run Azcapotzalco room on Cuitlahuac, the traditional Mexican kitchen ranked on the Latin America 50 Best list and a national institution.
El Cardenal ★ 4.6
centro-historico · Calle de la Palma 23, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
El Cardenal in Mexico City is the Briz family's 1969 Centro Historico room on Palma, the traditional Mexican breakfast institution where hot chocolate is frothed tableside with raw-milk nata.
Azul Historico ★ 4.4
centro-historico · Isabel la Catolica 30, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
Azul Historico in Mexico City is chef Ricardo Munoz Zurita's traditional Mexican kitchen inside the courtyard of the Downtown Mexico hotel on Isabel la Catolica, with Mexican regional moles as the spine.
Cafe de Tacuba ★ 4.3
centro-historico · Calle de Tacuba 28, Centro Historico, Cuauhtemoc, 06000 Ciudad de Mexico
Cafe de Tacuba in Mexico City is the Mollinedo family's 1912 Centro Historico room on Tacuba, the colonial-palace dining hall that defines traditional Mexican capital cooking.