Local Review: Casero Kitchen Table Brings the Flavour
Local Review: Casero Kitchen Table Brings the Flavour
Born from the success of a renovated double-decker bus in Sauble Beach, Casero Kitchen Table brings authentic Mexican flavours to Owen Sound, offering everything from smoky brisket to tequila flights.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
Casero Kitchen Table in Owen Sound came about after the enthusiastic response to Mexican-style offerings from a renovated double-decker bus in Sauble Beach.
The Taco Bus is still drawing crowds, in season, but the city location, tucked at the back of a parking lot downtown, offers a lively lunch or dinner spot year-round.
I’ve lost track of how many places you can get a burrito in this town, but never mind the others. Casero’s ten (10!) fillings make for a challenging choice for this massive, tortilla-wrapped package crammed with extras like pickled onion, salsa and cheese.
There are gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options for these and several other menu items.
Some of the taco choices are less successful. The triple taco idea is a great way to try 3 of their 11 fillings, but the flour tortilla's thick double wrap overwhelms the brisket's inner goodness, for example.
A better choice is the fish taco, a soft corn tortilla filled with crunchy local whitefish set off nicely with a pineapple salsa.
Speaking of brisket, Casero smokes its own from Ontario beef and makes it available at several local outlets in various sizes for at-home meals. When our locked-down world was ruled by takeout options, this was a standout in my household.
Another in-house specialty is their hot sauce, a tomato-based habanero concoction that goes well with their quesadillas. Every table has a selection of hot sauces, including their own and several you won’t recognize from the local grocery store.
Desserts are all made on the premises. The most outstanding is the Tres Leches Cake which, I’m told by someone who has tried, is very hard to make well.
What to wash it all down with? Well, you can choose from a broad selection of brews from small Ontario producers or bigger brands from Mexico. Or, the obvious choice here and a feature of the drinks menu, some tequila or mezcal.
Casero offers curated flights of either of these and several individual brands. The assortment of cocktails is mostly tequila-based, but there are mocktails, too, along with Mexican fruit sodas.
Service is efficient and friendly, including on the small covered patio. However, if I’m being served a side salad, I want more than a fork to eat it with. And the paper napkins spill awkwardly out of their container, no matter how hard you try to pull out just one. But these are minor quibbles, offset by delicious food, nicely presented, evoking the flavours of Mexico.
Casero Kitchen Table is a licensed restaurant currently open Monday to Saturday from 11:30-9:00. It is located at 946 3rd Ave East, Owen Sound, and can be reached at 519.416.8226.
It’s not wheelchair accessible, and take out available – including beef brisket and the house hot sauce. Check their website for the latest.
Thank you to sponsors of The Owen Sound Current Writers’ Fund, who make these community contributions possible. Contributions from the community do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of The Owen Sound Current and its editor or publisher.
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