I have seen and heard good things about Cafe Castro ever since I started to live here. I was going to go to their previous location on Rodeo Road but never made it. Last week, I finally decided to check out Cafe Castro. I should have been going there sooner. Cafe Castro is my kind of restaurant. Good New Mexican comfort food with reasonable prices. I didn’t think that I would find a vegan tamale there, but I did. All I had to do was just read the online menu. The vegan tamales(9.99) were hidden under the vegetarian special right at the top of the menu. The Vegetarian Special included your choice of two rolled enchiladas or two vegan tamales, smothered in either red or green chile with rice and beans. Since I was ordering for the first time, I called in my order. I like to ask questions about my meal.
I was asked if I wanted cheese on top of my tamales. Yes! I wanted to try the cheese before I tried the without cheese version. I was also politely asked what type of chile. In a new situation, I always ask for Christmas(red & green chile). I found that I really like both red and green but as you know lately I have been favoring red chile. I loved Cafe Castro’s red chile. It was the perfect solution for these cold winter days here in Santa Fe.
The masa ratio was perfect, not too much masa to the ratio of tamale filling. There was corn and black bean in the filling(Yes!!!). The rice was incredibly soft. The beans had enough spice but not too much. The cheese really did add to my overall enjoyment of this meal. This is comfort food at its finest. And the meal was still warm enough to eat when I arrived home. I was impressed.
You also get a sopaipilla with every entree. I love sopaipilla’s. Cafe Castro has some of the best I have eaten. They were not greasy. Their sopaipilla was large, light and fluffy. Yum! A small detail, the sopaipilla came with real honey. Wow! I was expecting some of that high fructose honey, no way. This honey was real. I didn’t have to break out my honey from the Santa Fe Honey Salon. Buy local…
I wanted to check to make sure that Cafe Casto’s still served Huevos Rancheros at 4 in the afternoon. They did! So we had the huevos rancheros(7.99) which included corn tortillas topped with two eggs anyway you want. We had the over easy medium. The huevos were also served with beans, potatoes, and cheese. It was as good tasting as it looked. This is pure New Mexican goodness!
I phoned in my order but you could also access Cafe Casto’s online menu. The person at the front counter who answered my call was very polite and informative. That made my ordering much easier.
My order was ready before the 15 minutes that was quoted. There were more people doing take-out than inside the restaurant but it was very early for a Friday evening. I have seen many cars in their parking lot so I know it gets very busy. In fact, there is a long hallway in the front, just so you can wait for a table inside the restaurant.
There are daily specials from Tuesday-Sunday like A Flight of Tacos on Tuesday(9.99), Blue Corn Enchiladas(8.99) on Wednesday, On Thursday, Fajita (10.99), Friday, Chicharron Burrito for (9.99), Saturday, Tripe Enchilada Plate for (8.99) and on Sunday, Carne Adovada (9.99).
Gluten-free chile is available upon request. There are also 5 vegetarian options from the Vegetarian Special(9.99), El Plato Pequeno(6.99), Chiles Rellenos(10.99), Quesadilla Grande(7.99), and a Chalupa Dinner(9.99).
Cafe Castro is located at 2811 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe. Cafe Castro is open Tuesday through Sunday 11am to 9pm.
Cafe Castro’s phone number is 1.505.473.5800 This phone number is already in my phone.
TidBites
Don’t forget about Valentine’s Day!!! Several Santa Fe Restaurants are featuring special menus like:
315 Wine Bistro Valentine’s Day Menu a 3 course prix fix at 85 dollars. Dinner seatings are 4-8:30pm
Restaurant Martin is offering a Prix Fixe Menu at $100 per person, starting with an amuse bouche, your choice of appetizers, entrees including pan-seared blue nose sea bass or black angus prime beef tenderloin, and ending with a scrumptious dessert of two choices, chocolate opera cake or raspberry vacherin. Vegetarian tasting plate is also available.
La Boca I received an email about a special dinner with or without wine pairings starting February 11-14. La Boca’s regular menu will also be available. I didn’t see the special menu on the La Boca website but it had a lot of tapas and wine pairings. I‘d check with la Boca. La Boca will be open on Monday February 14, from 5pm-9pm
Rio Chama Prime Steakhouse will be offering a Valentine’s day Special from Friday February 11th to Monday February 14th Their amuse bouche is a caviar with smoked salmon mousse, starter pear salad or grilled quail. Your entree choices are sunflower seed crusted red snapper or a braised short rib with your choice of red velvet cake or chocolate covered strawberries
La Casa Sena will be offerering a special Valentine’s Day dinner on Monday Februrary 14th. Starters include a pear salad, cappuccino mushroom bisque, or Maryland crab cake. Your entree choices are beef tenderloin, halibut, chicken tagine and a vegetable lasagna. For dessert you have three choices: an apple cobbler, fresas enamoradas, and devil’s cake. The dinner menu is 85 per person and with wine pairing it will cost you $115.
Sweetwater Harvest Kitchen offers two special dishes, sea bass or duck breast, for Valentine’s on Friday February 12 and Saturday February 13
Also Esquina Pizza has finally opened! Esquina opened on February 4th and has pizza, salads, and desserts. You can also order online. Esquina Pizza is located at 403 S Guadalupe(right next to Paloma)Their phone number is 505.303.3034
And Backroad Pizza, Please bring back your incredible Detroit Style Pizza. I really miss it.
The Espanola Humane Society is having its annual fundraiser, Puppy Love. It is an online auction. Gift certificates from Cowgirl(two 50 dollar gift certificates), 315 Wine Bistro(two 50 gift certificates), Radish and Rye(200 gift certificate), Santa Cafe( One hundred dollars gift certificate),Harry’s Roadhouse(50 dollar gift certificate plus a Harry’s Roadhouse cookbook), Fire and Hops( two 25 dollar gift certificates), A Custom Designed Gourmet Vegan Meal for 4 by Liberty Gourmand (current bid 215) and Edible Cocktails and Chocolate Sea Salt OM Gift Basket by Liquid Muse(current bid 50) are some of the featured choices. The bidding started on Saturday February 5th and will end on Saturday February 12th at 8pm
Santa Fe City Different Foodie 