Mazorca Mx

Forget the Gothic Quarter. Forget the neon-lit taco chains in Eixample where the salsa comes out of a plastic jug and the 'guacamole' has never seen an actual avocado. If you want the real thing—the kind of food that tastes like smoke, earth, and history—you have to get on the L5 metro and head north to Horta. You’re looking for Plaça de Bacardí, a square that feels less like a European city and more like a sleepy village plaza where time decided to stop for a smoke break.

Mazorca Mx is a tiny, unpretentious temple dedicated to the 'mazorca'—the corn cob. This isn't the Tex-Mex bastardization that has plagued Europe for decades. This is a love letter to Oaxaca. When you walk in, the first thing that hits you isn't the decor—which is colorful and honest without being kitschy—it’s the smell. It’s the scent of nixtamalized corn hitting a hot surface, a smell that is ancient and deeply comforting.

The star of the show, the reason you dragged yourself out to the 08031 zip code, is the tlayuda. Think of it as a Mexican pizza, but that description does it a massive disservice. It’s a large, thin, crunchy corn tortilla, toasted until it’s structurally sound enough to carry the weight of the world. It’s smeared with asiento—unrefined pork lard that carries more flavor than a dozen high-end steaks—and topped with black bean purée, tasajo (thinly sliced beef), and a generous helping of Oaxacan cheese that pulls apart in glorious, salty strings. It’s a textural masterpiece: the snap of the tortilla, the creaminess of the beans, and the chew of the meat. It’s messy, it’s visceral, and it’s exactly what you need.

But don't stop there. The tacos are served on hand-pressed tortillas that actually taste like corn, not cardboard. Whether it’s the carnitas or the al pastor, the fillings are treated with respect. There’s a level of heat in the salsas that respects your intelligence—it burns, but it doesn't blind. It’s a balanced, calculated heat that opens up the palate rather than destroying it.

Then there is the Tres Leches cake. Usually, this dessert is a soggy, overly sweet disappointment. At Mazorca Mx, it’s a revelation. It’s a sponge cake soaked in three types of milk until it’s heavy with moisture but somehow still retains its integrity. It’s cool, creamy, and just sweet enough to make you forget every bad decision you’ve made that week.

The service is what you’d expect from a neighborhood joint in Horta: it’s personal, it’s sometimes a little slow when the place is packed with locals, and it’s entirely devoid of the cynical 'turn-and-burn' attitude of the city center. The people here actually seem to give a damn about the food they’re putting in front of you.

Is it out of the way? Yes. Is the space cramped? Absolutely. Will you have to wait for a table on a Friday night because every family in the barrio has the same idea? Probably. But that’s the price of entry for something authentic. This is one of the best Mexican restaurants in Barcelona precisely because it doesn't try to be anything other than what it is: a small piece of Mexico transplanted into a quiet Catalan square. If you’re looking for a 'gastronomic adventure' with foam and tweezers, go elsewhere. If you want to tear into a tlayuda with your hands while the sun sets over Plaça de Bacardí, you’ve found your spot.