Address: 10 Pacific Street, Newcastle East, NSW 2300
Website: www.casadeloco.com.au
If you live in Newcastle, you know as well as I do that finding vegan food worth going out for can be a bit of a struggle. You can understand my excitement when I stumbled across Casa de Loco’s menu and saw those magic words “vegan options available” (that rarely happens here).
The atmosphere is part of Casa de Loco’s appeal. There’s lots of wood, ambient lighting plus the food and beverages are all served creatively. The food is fresh, light and most importantly tasty. They use a lot of locally sourced and organic ingredients which is cool too! The menu is built for sharing; individual tacos and tapas style dishes and share plates, it’s awesome because you can order for yourself and still get to try a bit of everything!
At my most recent visit to Casa de Loco, I went for my classic order (keep in mind I’m still on a diet). They start you off with some delicious corn chips and salsa to kick the meal off and get your taste buds tantalised.
Next, I went with the corn fritter soft taco ($6) with the house salad ($8). The soft taco is one of my absolute favourite menu, mainly because of the variety of textures and flavours. The soft taco shell is filled with crunchy fried corn kernels and fresh salad, delightful black beans and a mild sauce. Unlike a lot of Mexican food, it’s easy to eat and you’re not left with food dripping down your chin. Ew. That’s gross. The salad kind of changes each time I go there but is always a light yet satisfying accompaniment to the meal.
Since I discovered this place a few months ago, I’ve probably been nearly ten times and I am still excited to go there. Other notable menu items are the guacamole tostadas and patatas fritas. As time goes on I may push them a little to expand their vegan options but for now, it’ll do just fine.
The one negative is that when booking you can usually only choose one dinnertime sitting which is either 6pm or 8pm. You also have to be sure to book as the place can fill up come dinnertime. Despite this, if you’re living in Newcastle or just visiting, add Casa de Loco to your list of places to try.