Brunch, Delivery, Dining Out, Dinner, Late Night, Lunch, Revisited, Takeout, Upper East Side, YorkvilleKerry Alaric Cheeseborobelly, cascabel, Cascabel Taqueria, chocolate, churro, cornmeal, crunchy, Dining Out, Dinner, gordita, hot, Mexican, Neighborhood, pork, taco, taqueria, tuna, yellowtail, YorkvilleComment

REVISITED | Cascabel Taqueria

Brunch, Delivery, Dining Out, Dinner, Late Night, Lunch, Revisited, Takeout, Upper East Side, YorkvilleKerry Alaric Cheeseborobelly, cascabel, Cascabel Taqueria, chocolate, churro, cornmeal, crunchy, Dining Out, Dinner, gordita, hot, Mexican, Neighborhood, pork, taco, taqueria, tuna, yellowtail, YorkvilleComment
Cascabel Taqueria | 1542 2nd Ave. (bet. 80th & 81st Sts.) | 212.717.7800 | www.nyctacos.com
» Original post
[mappress]

THERE ARE SO MANY great places that I have visited that I kept telling myself, if I lived closer I'd come here all the time! Well it seems like Cascabel might very well become that place for me as I have just come back from revisiting the place less than twenty four hours from my first visit.

Yes, the food here is worth going back for, and this time, of course, I ordered some different items off the menu. I chose the Cangrejo y Maiz Frita (blue crab fritter with corn, fresh salsa, and piquillo pepper aioli) and the Carne Asada Taco (grilled Yucatan achiote hanger steak with oyster mushrooms, creme fresca and crisp-fried onions), and, not to my surprise at all, they were wonderful.

The fritas, pretty much like everything else here that's fried, is surprisingly light and non-greasy yet full of flavor and depth. The texture and taste of the crab were pronounced yet subtle, and the pepper aioli added the right amount of kick but didn't linger.

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The steak tacos were hearty, smoky, and robust and flavor, rounded out by the earthiness of the Oyster mushrooms and the piquant crunch of the crispy onions.

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This time, I tried the tacos with a sample of each of the restaurant's house-made sauces, which included a Roasted Tomato, Tomatilla, Diablo, and a Hotty sauce. The Tomato was deep and full with flavor and hit every part of the tongue; the Tomatilla was bright and herbal and finished clean; the Hotty got its kick from a nice dose of vinegar and, I'm guessing, chili oil, with added sweetness from honey to give it more of a BBQ personality, and the Diablo boasted its heat from probably a variety of peppers that hit hot on the front of the tongue, but followed nicely with some nice flavors that soothingly danced at the back of the throat and paraded some nice notes through the front of the nose.

Next visit: the house-made chorizo. I promise...!

Bun Apple Tea!

.kac.

Cascabel Taqueria on Urbanspoon

Cascabel Taqueria | 1542 2nd Ave. (bet. 80th & 81st Sts.) | 212.717.7800 | www.nyctacos.com