Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Casa Oaxaca Reforma

Oaxaca, Mexico

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

The Mexican Colonial City of Oaxaca is known for its cuisine. Restaurants abound and food choices run from  fusion to indigenous.

We read about Casa Oaxaca located in the pleasant neighborhood of Reforma, about a 22 minute walk from our hotel.

The online menu looked very attractive, so we wanted to try it out.

Entrance to Casa Oaxaca

It was actually a bit warmer than we thought when we started out walking to Casa Oaxaca. Adding to that it was a bit uphill and there was little shade.

Arriving at the entrance, we were hot, thirsty, and ready for lunch.

Happy to see shade and open doors, we wandered in to be seated.

Indoor/outdoor seating

Waitstaff were just setting up, so we lingered around until we were allowed to enter.

The special board was not written up yet, but after a short interim, we were seated at a nice corner table against the wall.

Akaisha and Billy at Casa Oaxaca

Here we are, and ready for our beverages!

Waiter and his ingredients to make fresh salsa

Mexican restaurants sometimes offer tableside service in making a fresh salsa especially to order.

Here you see the various ingredients, including several fire-roasted chiles, roasted tomatoes, sea salt and chopped garlic.

The volcanic mortar is in the center and you can see the volcanic rock pestle at about 9 o'clock in the photo.

Waiter is splitting an aguachile pepper for the freshly made salsa

While we waited for our food to be cooked and delivered, our waiter proceeded to make our individual-styled salsa.

We chose a dry dark chile for the smoky flavor and a roasted aguachile, roasted red tomato, onion, cilantro, and garlic.

When the waiter put a little water into the salsa, he teased us saying that it was mezcal! Silly me, I believed him!

We think the salsa was one of the best things we ate here.

Waiter mixing the ingredients in a volcanic mortar

The waiter cut and smashed our chosen ingredients and then continued to mix by hand.

Yes, of course wearing gloves in a food situation is sanitary. But in all seriousness, some chiles are very hot, and to have that chile oil on your hands can cause blisters. If one is careless and touches their face or eye while having this chile oil on them... a doctor visit may be in order!

Don't ask me how I know... a friend told me!!

A closer look at the finished salsa

Here you can see the roasted bits from the chile peppers, diced onions, cilantro and the seeds from the chiles.

What flavor!!

Fried tortilla with beans and day cheese as an appetizer

This fried blue corn tortilla with a soft, sweetish cheese on top was an appetizer to share. It was delicious with our custom-made salsa!

Grilled beet salad

We shared a salad of grilled beets, grilled apple, goat cheese, water cress, orange slices, both pumpkin and sesame seeds with a bit of pureed mango for contrast.

It was lovely, and the presentation was beautiful.

The contrast of flavors was well thought out. The sweetness of the mango and beet against the tartness of the orange slices was a good meld. The slightly salty goat cheese also added distinction, and the peppery watercress pulled off the complete set of flavors.

Lechon with beans and house salad

As I mentioned earlier, the special board was not up at the time we ordered our meal. Had it been, we would have ordered the rack of lamb.

To add to the main course switch-a-roo, Billy had considered the roasted octopus (which is a specialty) but for some reason, we were "talked into" ordering the lechon by several different waiters.

Lechon is a baby piglet and is normally very moist, delicious and falls off the bone. We have eaten it many times over our years in Mexico, so we went with the various waiters' suggestions for us to try it.

This was the first time we had lechon with a crispy outside and that was very interesting. However, the piglet was a bit dry and hard to cut, not the fall-off-the-bone style we were accustomed to.

This meal was served with salad and red beans.

Crispy tortillas in a basket on the left.

Our Bill

Before tip, our bill came to about $30USD for the  two of us.

The special board

At last the special board!

Listed are grilled marlin, tuna, rack of lamb and fajitas of Rib Eye.

Oh...  had we only known!

The next time we visit Casa Oaxaca, we'll come a bit later and check out these offerings of the day!

Would we return? Yes.

Casa Oaxaca Café Jazmines 5

18 Colonio Reforma

Oaxaca, Oaxaca, C.P. 68050

Tele: 951. 502. 6017

Website: https://www.casaoaxacacafe.com/php/spa/index.php#comidaYCena

For more information on Oaxaca, CLICK HERE

For more information and photos of Mexico, Click Here

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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