Pix from Xochimilco

 Xochimilco's $11 steak special, in which freshly grilled cactus paddle provides extra lube. Served with rice and cheese-dusted beans (click to consume)

This week Counter Culture zooms in on Xochimilco, a profoundly good Sunset Park taqueria named after Mexico City's answer to Coney Island. Actually, with its colorful canal boats, it looks a little more like Venice, Italy. As you might have expected, though it displays urban flourishes, the food served there has more in common with the rural southern Mexican menu. To read about Xochimilco's pambazo sandwich, click here.

eat more Mexican food, after the jump

The mole al estilo Xochimilco is a vegetable-crammed soup based on beef ribs, flaunting a fiery broth

Chicken in a strangely colored pumpkinseed sauce (mole pipian) is another south-country classic

The fiery red pozole, weekends only, with a tostada on the side