D.Rough and I managed to get far out of town on a mini-vacation and drove down the coast of Florida to Key West. We did some online review checking and this place called Paseo kept popping up as a place to go. We had the time (mainly since we were just relaxing all day and had no agenda/itinerary), so we checked it out.
Paseo is mainly Caribbean cuisine in sort of a walk-up-counter small corner shop. There are menus at the beginning of the line so you can decide before you get to the cashier/order taker. D.Rough wanted the Caribbean Roast, which the cashier told us was one of their top sellers. I got a West Caribbean Bowl. We also decided to split a roasted ear of corn.
We found a spot outside at the patio tables and waited just a short while for our food to arrive.
D.Rough’s sandwich was pretty impressive. It was slow-roasted pork shoulder slices on a toasted baguette with aioli, cilantro, pickled jalapenos, lettuce and large slices of caramelized onions. The pork was delicious and was complemented well by the aioli and jalapenos. And the bun wasn’t overly toasted, so it didn’t cut up the roof of your mouth. Great sandwich!
The roasted corn had some white cheese partly melted on it, with some cayenne/paprika mix with cilantro. It was really delicious (and I got it all over my person – thankfully, I was shirtless the whole time I was in Key West) and had some serious heat to it. We both loved it.
The West Caribbean Bowl was almost like a deconstructed nacho bowl. It had rice and beans, salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, and jalapenos with a chicken thigh and tortilla chips. The meat fell right off the bone, so it was easy to pull apart and eat with the chips and toppings. I loved this thing. I left them an empty bowl, which I’ll guess happens a lot. The chicken had great flavor, which was sort of the highlight of the bowl. Fantastic lunch!
I’m glad we decided to check this place out. Sometimes, we ended up getting burned on listening to online reviews, but this place was everything it was claimed to be and more. Really nice people working there and amazing food. It was also REALLY reasonably priced, We couldn’t find a copy of the menu online before we got there, so I grabbed a menu and scanned it. You’re welcome.
No Top 5 , just go here. You won’t regret it!
1000 Eaton Street
Key West, FL 33040