A Roma Norte neighbourhood guide

Last week I wrote about things to do in Mexico City, and today I want to tell you about my favourite neighbourhood there. After three visits, it's actually become one of my favourite neighbourhoods anywhere.

Roma Norte is in the southwest of the city and it's pretty much the opposite of what I expected Mexico City to be like. With tree-lined streets and wide pavements, it's quiet and relaxing. Perfect for strolling around in the sunshine with a cup of coffee.

There are cafes, restaurants and little boutiques everywhere, lots of street art and green spaces filled with dog walkers. We loved coming back to our chilled neighbourhood after busy days at the museums and galleries in the city centre.

Street art

If you've been here for a while, you'll know that we love cities with lots of street art. And one of the fun things about Roma Norte is spotting all the murals and doodles as you wander around.

Cafés

• Panaderia Rosetta: My absolute favourite bakery/cafe in Mexico (the world?). It was a struggle not to go here every day. Everything is perfect – the sandwiches, the pastries, the cookies, the coffee. It's also a cosy place to sit in the mornings. It's almost always packed so go early to grab a seat at the counter.

• Buna 42: Great coffee and pastries. This is a nice, bright café with lots of outside seating.
• Dosis Café: Probably the best coffee we had in Mexico City. And with fast internet too, it's a good place to get some work done.

Restaurants

• El Lugarcito: I'll start with our favourite restaurant in Mexico City. We stayed across the road from El Lugarcito on our third visit, and a couple of meals later, we'd tried almost everything on the menu. It's all about the seafood here – fish tacos, tuna tostadas, ceviche. Everything was fresh and delicious, and we loved sitting outside and people-watching.

• El Parnita: A very popular place for antojitos (small dishes), think quesidillas, tacos and memelas. It's only open for lunch and gets super busy so there's a nice lively atmosphere.

• Galanga Thai Kitchen: If you're craving noodles, head here. My pad thai was really good and it made a nice change from tacos.
• La Docena: This is actually a seafood restaurant, but we had great burgers here, and there's a nice, buzzy atmosphere in the evenings.
• Porco Rosso: A super casual spot with lots of outdoor picnic tables, Porco Rosso is all about the BBQ meats and sides. Best on a sunny day!

• Mercado Roma: A little different from the other markets in the city, Mercado Roma has lots of gourmet food stands and a big dining area with a vertical garden.

Where to stay

We stayed in Airbnb apartments during our time in Roma Norte. There are plenty of good options at any price. There are also a few hotels and hostels in the area (if your budget can stretch, La Valise Hotel is lovely).

A few other things

• We bought most of our food from Sumesa (an upmarket supermarket with lots of international products), and also visited Mercado Medellin for vegetables.
• There's a weekly farmer's market every Sunday at Mercado 100.
• Running: There are a few green spaces in the area, but our favourite place to run was the Avenida Amsterdam loop in nearby Condesa.
• Transport: The area itself is easy to walk around. There are a couple of metro stops too so it's well connected to other parts of the city. You can also use Uber taxis, which is another cheap way to get around. The traffic is infamously bad in Mexico City, so avoid travelling at rush hour if you can.
• Where to work: There are a couple of coworking spaces in the area, although we didn't use them. The best places we found to work were Buna 42 and Dosis Cafe (which has faster internet out of the two).