(people chattering) - And they just take plate after plate of the most tender meat you've ever tasted in your life out of that oven. It's just oozy and dripping with juices. (upbeat music) Oh, there's our ride right there. (speaking foreign language) Good morning! I hope you're having an amazing day. It's Mark Wiens. We just landed in Mexico City and I had previously arranged for a car to come meet us here. We're going directly to
a place called Texcoco, which is famous for Barbacoa, which is one of the
ultimate Mexican dishes. I love it so much! We're gonna eat there and then after that, we'll be going to Teotihuacan to visit the Pyramid of the Sun. That's the plan for today
on this Mexico food trip. (speaking foreign language) (chattering) We're on our way to a
place called Texcoco first to eat Barbacoa. (lively music) That was about a 45-minute
ride from the airport and we have arived. This is just, it's kinda like a hidden
town within the mountains above Mexico City and this entire town is
like a Barbacoa town. But we pulled into this restaurant. It's called El Pica I, and
immediately as we pulled in, you could smell the aroma of smoky meat. It literally filled into the Suburban. (lively mariachi music) The meat aromas here are just irresistible and this place is so huge. It's almost like a fair. They have kids, things for
kids, they have Ferris wheels, they have all sorts of snacks that have sort of
surrounded the restaurant and there's just a massive
seating section throughout the, almost throughout the jungle here. You just choose any table. They have tables throughout these. It's really like a shady
cool vine-filled dining room. We got a table here but they also have more
of a communal section, but this is really cool. Now we're gonna go check out the Barbacoa and kind of figure out even how to order. (lively salsa music) (people chattering) Oh, this is absolutely insane. So leading up to the main, this is the main Barbacoa here, and leading up to it, you
have all sorts of condiments. You can buy all sorts of side dishes, but this is what you're
gonna come here to eat. This is what you want
to eat, the Barbacoa. (people chattering) You come up to the front first and you make your order and
you pay and then after that, I think you go to the
meat-chopping station to get your meat. (shovel scraping on metal) We're just in time as
they're opening a fresh oven. (people chattering) Oh, that is unbelievable! He took off the lid of the clay oven and just a poof of smoke came out so that the smoke is just, it's just locked up inside that clay oven, and you can immediately smell, the owner just told me it's lamb. And he's given me permission
to come back here and film. Oh, wow, that smells unbelievable. And there's some kinda like leaf. (people chattering) I'm standing up here on the clay oven, just bathing in the steam
and smoke of the Barbacoa. And it's wrapped in many layers of, it's a type of, it's similar to agave, but he said it's the ... I can't remember the Spanish name and it's wrapped in
multiple layers of that. (people chattering) (lively salsa music) So they have about six
or seven brick ovens which are just stuffed full of lamb and they're packed in so tight so it holds in all of that steam and smoke until the meat is ridiculously tender. And then as they finish
one, they open another one and I think they just keep
selling until they sell out. But in order to take the
meat out of the oven, because it's so ridiculously ultra-tender, they just scoop it out by the plateful. They don't need knives here. All they do is take a
plate and literally like, scoop it in or grab it and they
just take plate after plate of the most tender meat you've
ever tasted in your life out of that oven. It's just oozy and dripping with juices. (lively salsa music) Oh, (speaking foreign language). This is right out of the oven. Oh! Oh, wow! That might be the most tender
piece of meat I've ever had. Oh, oh, that's insane. Wow, Carlos. (lively salsa music) That will make you weep with joy. (speaking foreign language) I don't know if I've
ever been this excited to go eat meat in my life. Oh, I'm running back to our table, but yeah, you get the
meat at the back there. Whoa, and you can buy some
fried bananas here, too. But they have so many things you can buy, and you buy all your condiments. Carlos already got all the salsas, but I also got a little cup of guacamole. Oh man, that meat! That meat is insane. Okay, let's go eat. (people chattering) Those guys that reach into the ovens? (speaking foreign language) Those guys are like firemen, man. (laughing) Did you see those guys? - [Carlos] Now, and that
thing opens like (whooshing). - So hot, man, it's so hot. You can order two different versions. It's all lamb, but you
can either order a plate without bones or with bones, so we got one of each to share
and it comes by the kilo. You can only order it by
the kilo so we got two kilos of the most tender meat ever. I've never been so excited to open a gift in my entire life, to unwrap a gift. (paper crinkling) Oh, it's just so hot. And then they wrap it in a plastic bag. Oh man, the juiciness is unbelievable. Look at all of those lamb juices and fats. I got the boneless first, I just have to take
another bite of that meat. Look at that. (people chattering) Oh man. It falls apart in your
mouth is an understatement. You can definitely tell that it's lamb. It's just embedded with smoke. It's salty, unbelievable flavor. Next, I'll try a tortilla, and I'm gonna kinda cover up the meat so that it doesn't get cold on us. Just, oh look, look at that. Oh, it just flakes. (people chattering) I'll add on a little
bit of that guacamole, a little bit of that salsa, and we also got a whole bag
of habaneros and onions. (people chattering) And finally, a squeeze of lime. Oh, that's just a
beautiful, beautiful thing. Wow! Your teeth just immediately
slice through the meat. Yeah, those habaneros have a
little bit of heat to them. The salsa is excellent. You've got that creamy guacamole in there. That's all you need. (lively salsa music) We've switched now. This is the meat with the bone, so it's just fall-apart bone tender. Oh, the bone just slips out! Look at that. Oh, it just strings apart. Just look at that tenderness. (people chattering) Oh wow, yeah this is another bone. Oh look, it's just
never-ending excitement. Okay, I think that's good. That's a pretty hefty one. Okay, guacamole. (lively salsa music) And it's so incredibly good with this habanero-onion mixture, and it is pretty spicy. (people chattering) Okay, and finally gotta
have the squeeze, oh. (chuckling) My fingers are so slippery
that I lost the lime. (chuckling) Okay. Finally gotta have the squeeze of lime. Oh, and that, and that is complete. This is a monster right here. Yeah, this is just insanely delicious. (lively salsa music) (people chattering) (mariachi band playing) Oh man, I'm feeling a little
disoriented after that, but people come here with
their entire families just to hang out, just to
celebrate and eat lamb. Okay, I don't think I know how
to find my way out of here. (mariachi band playing) And I love this environment here. This is absolutely sensational. Yeah, this place is literally
just Mexican lamb-sanity. Oh, okay, we gotta move
to the next location. That's the type of lamb
that when you eat it, after you finish eating, you
feel like you've used Chapstick because there's a layer
of oily fat on your lips. Oh yeah, that was fatty and
just packed full of flavor. This town is just a tiny
little sleepy, really like, almost like a village,
it's a really small town. But this place is bumping,
this place is a lamb carnival. (chattering) We're on our way next to Teotihuacan. (upbeat music) It's not that hot but the
sun is extremely strong. I'm gonna lather up on the sunscreen and good thing I have my hat. All right, we're ready. There's a 70-pesos entrance fee. It's a massive complex. There are a number of different pyramids, including the Pyramid of the Sun, and the Pyramid of the
Moon, and this is the center of the powerful and mighty Aztec kingdom. (upbeat music) We're starting off at
(speaking foreign language), which is the Pyramid of the Moon. And you can see, the
steps are pretty steep. You can't go all the way
to the top of this one, but you can go to the first lookout point where there's a flat area,
where you can get a nice view so I'm gonna start climbing. It's a good thing I
ate a bunch of Barbacoa so I have a bunch of energy. (lively salsa music) Yeah, those are some
pretty steep steps, ah. Oh, awesome view up here though. (people chattering) You would not wanna lose
your footing on those steps. (lively salsa music) We're walking over now to
the Pyramid of the Sun, which is the biggest pyramid here. It's a massive structure and what's awesome about it is that you can climb all the way to the top, so you can see a bunch of people at top. Oh, the view from up there
is gonna be fantastic. (lively salsa music) All right, time to get some exercise. We happen to be here on a Sunday and it's absolutely packed. So we're having to queue
up to climb the pyramid and there are just mobs
of people up there. (lively salsa music) Okay guys, some bad news. The line is so insanely long
that I'm sure it will take about maybe 1 1/2 or two hours
to get all the way to the top because this line just snakes around. It's like an immigration line and we're supposed to be
somewhere at 4:00 p.m., but we gotta drive somewhere. And it's already 2:30
or something like that, so we're not gonna be able
to make it to the top. Just so packed. I mean, that's our fault
for coming on Sunday, but this was my only day to come, but I'm still happy I came, and you can still get amazing views just from this first ledge here. (people chattering) So if you can come on a
non-weekend, or an off-peak time, I would definitely recommend it. Anyway, still worthwhile to visit and that Barbacoa. Oh man, that was the highlight. That was so unbelievably good. It's a little bit off the beaten path but it's so worth it if you love lamb and if you love food. I'm gonna end this video right now. We're just gonna drive
into Mexico City from here. So thank you very much for watching this Mexican
food adventure, Barbacoa. Remember to give this video a thumbs-up if you enjoyed it and
leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you. And finally, if you're not subscribed, click Subscribe Now. I'm gonna be publishing lots
more food and travel videos and click the little bell
icon so that you get notified of all future videos. Thanks again for watching. I will see you on the next video.
