Every Mexican table has its first negotiation: "shall we order guacamole or cheese?" It seems minor, but what arrives first sets the tone of the meal: something fresh that opens the appetite or something hot that invites you to stay. Porfirio's menu has two guacamoles and two cheeses, so the debate has more nuance.
Team Guacamole
Traditional Guacamole: with cherry tomato, red onion and criollo cilantro. It's the acid test of any Mexican kitchen, because it depends on the ripeness of the avocado and on balance. It works for starting light, for tables with kids and for anyone approaching Mexican cuisine for the first time.
Guacamole with Rib Eye Chicharrón: with a touch of lime and handmade criollo corn tortillas. The chicharrón adds crunch and saltiness against the creaminess of the avocado. With the tortillas you don't dip: you build small tacos. It's for tables with a good appetite.
Team Cheese
Queso Fundido Natural: creamy and gratinéed, with Sonoran sobaquera tortilla. It arrives bubbling and forces the table to act fast. You tear off a piece of sobaquera, scoop up the cheese and roll it. It's for cool evenings and tables in no hurry.
Queso Cilantro: over salsa verde, with sesame seeds and cilantro, and flour tortillas. It's the least known and the one that surprises the most: the salsa verde gives it an acidity and freshness uncommon in a cheese dish. It works as the middle ground of the debate.
How to Settle It Depending on the Occasion
- In hot weather (Cancún, Playa, Mérida): Traditional Guacamole or Queso Cilantro.
- In cold or rain (Mexico City): Queso Fundido or Guacamole with Chicharrón.
- If a steak comes next: something fresh, so you don't overload.
- If seafood comes next: Queso Fundido works as an earthy contrast before the sea.
- If there are two of you: just one starter.
- If there are four: one guacamole and one cheese, and the debate disappears.
- If there are six or more: all four options, as a tour of starters.
The Diplomatic Answer
Almost always, the discussion ends the same way: you order both. And it makes sense, because they don't compete, they complement each other. Traditional Guacamole with Queso Fundido Natural is fresh against hot, corn against flour, south against north.
To go with them, the Michoacán pairs with the guacamole for its fruity acidity; the Sonora, with its bitterness and smokiness, cuts through the richness of the cheese.
That the table argues over what to order first is a good sign: there's appetite, there's a desire to share and nobody is in a hurry. And if someone insists the debate isn't settled, you can always order again.
