Concha rolls are never far from my mind, seeing as I’m on a permanent quest to find the best concha in Mexico City. The subject came up again on Saturday night, when my friend Jesica urged me to give Maque another chance. We were sipping tequila at a local lounge.
“They’re really good!” Jesica said, as the music pumped at the bar. “I promise!”
I’d banished the Condesa bakery from my list a few months ago, after tasting one concha and finding it dry and bland. But it is possible I got a bum batch. So I went back to Maque on Tuesday morning.
As soon as I sat down, a waiter appeared and asked if I’d like a piece of bread.
“The concha,” I said, firmly.
He chose a particularly large chocolate concha from his basket, and set it on my plate. It looked beautiful. (That’s it above.)
I took my knife and fork, and gently sliced off a piece. Took a bite, and….
The chocolate coating was powdery, almost sandy. Like they’d wiped the concha around the floor as a Swiffer. I poked away at the coating with my fork and tried a piece of the bread. It was… okay. Soft enough, but almost… papery tasting. And an off-buttery flavor lurked in the background.
I declared it dead after four bites.
The point is: I really trust Jesica’s opinion, and Maque has a great reputation here in Mexico City. Am I missing something? Are the conchas at Bondy actually Americanized, and I just don’t know it? I had them again about a week ago, and they were the stuff of dreams. A toasted-sugar, almost creamy chocolate coating lay on the bread, which was so soft, you could probably mash it with the underside of your fork and it would stick. It was like the center of a cinnamon roll. (But without the cinnamon.) Oh man, oh man, oh MAN.
But maybe that isn’t Mexican at all.
Well. The next steps in my Best Concha of Mexico City test are visits to Sak’s, La Casita del Pan in Coyoacan, Pastelería Suiza in Condesa (just because I want an excuse to go there), and on the advice of reader Alice, La Casa del Pastor. And need to make my own conchas, just so I can figure out how difficult this really is.
Yeah, I’ve always thought they should be on the dry side. Never had a concha I would describe as “creamy” or “moist.”
Hi again — you are always on the most fun quests — Here is my tip – try to see if you can find out when they bake those conchas (at whichever one is your favorite bakery) – and get there when they just take them out of the oven! Conchas are totally the best right then – just out of oven and warm! Yum! They have consistency like clouds with the not too sweet coating on top. They kind of dissolve into your mouth like cotton candy.
And by the way thank you for your welcoming note after my other comment. I love how you are so generously welcoming and how you are enjoying meeting and talking with everyone you meet!
La concha, has to be vanilla, not chocolate…I think that Maques conchas are the best!
xxooxx
When I was a kid, my grandparents would go to the local Mexican panaderia atleast twice a week. I thought the Mexican pan dulce was the best! But when I moved to Mexico, I found the pan dulce to be lacking in taste. Not just the conchas, but the polvorones, and especially the empanadas. Here in Yahualica, they only have empanadas de piña y de leche. And no puerquitos! Too sad! Anyway, I asked my aunt, who owned a panaderia in the States why this was and she said that its probably because they use lower quality ingredients. Who knows! Best of luck to you in finding a delicious concha!
i agree with Lesley that the best conchas I’ve ever tried were from Bondy. So good, they’re the gold standard for me and I’ve tried them as much as I could from everywhere near me looking for that same flavor.
I was just pondering conchas the other night and am thinking that maybe part of the Bondy experience is that they are baked fresh and served very close to the time they come out of the oven. When I went there with my ex-novia, we were able to get one of the last ones left – and it was still early on a Sunday Brunch!
After trying conchas from many bakeries, and finding some that were close in texture and flavor to Bondy, it seems that they dry out and lose their character within hours of baking. Just a couple of hours I’m starting to think can make a tremendous difference in the experience of eating one.
I have to say your first description is more like anything Iv had here in Mexico. Even when I visited MX city and Guad. But deff in the small town I live in they are all just like that first explanation. But keep trying sounds like fun.
El Cardenal. Great pan dulce. The best we’ve had anywhere in Meexico. (Haven’t tried Bondy yet.
Get the optional natas to slather on. Have the chocolate caliente. The service is old worldly and gracious. Traiga suficiente dinero o tarjeta crédito.
(We have only been to the original location, on Las Palmas, Col. Centro.)
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
I tried a concha at Bondy recently, it was good but… I don’t know, the bread was heavy and not fluffy and porous as it should be.
I’m a big fan of conchas also, and I can tell that the conchas at Matisse are the best I’ve ever had.
If you want to try, there’s one at Eugenia 111, Col. del Valle (I had my concha there), and another on Amsterdam 260, Condesa.
Agri: Funny that you should comment, I was going to post something today about my Matisse experience. I think I may need to revisit Bondy for another taste test. My preference for conchas has changed even from a year ago, I think.