Casa Oaxaca Reforma — Restaurant in Oaxaca

First of all I thought I was going to Casa Oaxaca but I ended up at Casa Oaxaca Reforma. I never got to go to casa Oaxaca but I'm sure the difference is huge. Castle Oaxaca Reforma was quite a disappointment.

I ordered two soups for my daughters and both of them were not even room temperature. I was really surprised because at the price point everything should be spot on and the soup should not be cold. I did not return it because my daughters were hungry but even they 7 and 9 mentioned that it was not hot.

We ordered a couple of entrees to share. One of them was beef ribs and the other one was some pork dish. Neither of them were hot. The beef ribs consisted of one rib which seemed like it was cooked a long time ago a thrown together salad and some room temperature roasted potatoes. The pork dish was worse. It consisted of some knuckle or bone with very little meat on it. The same thrown together salad as the beef rib and no potato. This was truly a disappointing and expensive experience.

The best part of the evening were the cocktails. I got to admit the cocktails were delicious. I had one with mezcal and passion fruit that blew me away. Also the table side salsa preparation was nice but the south side itself was nothing to write home about. I definitely won't be going here again. They really need to step up their game as far as food preparation and the temperature in which...

I think there's three things that make this place so fantastic...

1. ‎Fresh Ingredients — Every dish I've tried here has an amazing freshness about it. Vegetables taste like they've just been picked from the garden, and the meat & cheeses are always of the highest quality.
2. Environment — Staff here are very friendly, professional and attentitive. Menus have explanations for each dish in English. The restaurant is located in a beautifully decorated courtyard area with an open style kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare your meal. On weekends they have live music at night.
3. ‎Variety — You could come back here for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a whole week and still be trying new things. Each section of the menu feels like a different restaurant. It's so refreshing.

Whether you're here for an hour, a day or a week - Casa Oaxaca Café is simply a must visit. This place serves up some of the best damn food you'll find not just in Oaxaca, but the whole of...

We sought this place out based on the fame of Casa Oaxaca, which has the same owner / chef. I was torn between giving it a 3 and a 4. It wasn’t an expensive meal, so you could argue from a value perspective it should be a 4. But, I went with a 3 given that I think it has the potential to be a lot better.

Food had some bright spots - such as freshly made salsa using house charred ingredients. Deserts were also pretty decent. However, there were a lot of execution errors, such as undercooked rice and poorly trimmed meat with lots of fat.

Service was ok - but lots of smaller issues (e.g. not bringing menus, no plates to split food, etc…). We never saw a drink menu - maybe one doesn’t exist? The staff was friendly and helpful though.

Ambiance wasn’t bad.

We did visit on a holiday, so perhaps we caught the place on a bad day. And - as I said - the place definitely isn’t over priced. So…...