Restaurante El Anil - OAXACA DE JUÁREZ

El Anil is near to my apartment so I thought it was worth a try. It looked as if it had a good wine selection as the wall were lined with bottles, but Mexican wines weren't on offer. All credit to them, they did eventually open a bottle for me, although poured the smallest glass of wine in my month of travelling to date. No free bread, tortillas, dips or anything else, which is unusual in Oaxaca. Main dish was fine, but nothing special.No atmosphere and terrible music

Our breakfast consisted of lots of coffee, fresh fruit with granola and fresh yogurt, delicious large waffles or eggs. Choice of 4 different ''packetes''. Designer presentation with good portions.

My wife and I live in Oaxaca. We eat out often but for some reason had never gotten around to trying El Añil. This evening we decided to rectify that omission. To start we chose to share the tacos filled with huitlacoche and dried chiles. For our main courses we pick from the Oaxacan section of the ample menu. My wife ordered the pork tenderloin in coloradito sauce. I went for the tasajo estilo de la casa, which was billed as tasajo stuffed with cheese. The food was all presented nicely on attractive plates, and the young waiter was pleasant. However, the starter turned out to be a disaster. The waiter should have warned us that the tacos we had ordered were extremely picante. They were so fiery that the taste of the huitlacoche was entirely masked. Neither of us are averse to picante food, but this was off the spice charts. The tacos seared our tongues and mouths to the extent that we felt like we had changed our professions to fire-eaters. Our throats and stomachs were the next to be scorched and they continued to burn for several minutes. We now know that the phrase “fire in the belly” is not just a metaphor. In my case, other than the uncomfortably strong burning sensation in my stomach I suffered no other negative effects. My wife, on the other hand, had a reaction not unlike anaphylactic shock, although she has no food allergies. The blood drained from her face, her hands began to tingle, and she felt faint. She had to put her head between her knees for several minutes before the sensation abated. But once recovered from the shock, like the good soldier she is, she marched on into the lovely-appearing pork tenderloin. The pork, however, in addition to being far from tender, was overcooked and dry. My tasajo was also overcooked and tough; and the amount of cheese around which the two small strips of tasajo were wrapped was miniscule. Although our experience might not be representative of the quality of the other dishes on the menu, needless to say we’ll never return to Añil given the many other excellent restaurants in Oaxaca.