Roma, the Bafta-winning, Oscar-nominated film, is shot in arty black and white, and evocative of the early Seventies, when director and cinematographer Alfonso Cuarón grew up. Roma, the district, is very much in full colour – and is arguably the most thrustingly contemporary of all Mexico City’s colonias (neighbourhoods).

During the last decade, Roma has come to rival the wealthier, leafier districts of Polanco and Condesa and is now one of the most gentrified residential-cum-entertainment areas in the Mexican capital. Avenida Álvaro Obregón, its main drag, is hipster central, a whirl of coffee shops, thronging eating places (from the kitsch to the rather classy), discreet speakeasys and some...