White Duck Taco Shop

I had been dying to try the White Duck Taco Shop in Asheville, NC for months.  Over the holidays I was finally able to try out several of their tasty tacos. Located in the River Arts District, White Duck is a great launching spot for a day of browsing the amazing art galleries and artist studios that line the streets in this part of town. Here you will find anything from hand blown glass to amazing pottery along with a few cute eateries.

The White Duck menu focuses on "good and affordable" food. The tacos range from your typical fish taco enhanced by a fresh slaw and dressed up tarter sauce to those with an Asian and Greek flare.  I was happy to have a few people along to help me sample. I ordered the gyro taco as well as the fish taco. The fish was lightly fried and flakey the flavor was set off by a creamy jalapeno tarter sauce and a crunchy fresh cole slaw. The gyro taco was my favorite! It featured thinly sliced gyro meat a great tzatziki sauce, cucumbers, pico de gallo, feta, and a corn tortilla. This was rich, flavorful and filling. It seems like two tacos are enough to fill anyone, but it's hard to resist trying more. 

Fish and the Gyro

We started with chips, salsa and queso which were unremarkable although we did enjoy the smokey chipotle sauce that came as a part of the selection. Other great tacos we tried were the jerk chicken, duck confit, steak and cheese and the Bangkok shrimp.

Duck Confit and the Jerk Chicken

The duck confit was rich and unexpectedly paired with avocado which smoothed out the richness of the duck. The jerk chicken packed a spicy punch. The chicken seemed rubbed with a true jerk marinade of intricate spices. This was cooled with a purple cabbage slaw. 

Bangkok Shrimp and the Steak and Cheese

The Bangkok shrimp was slightly spicy and paired with fresh zucchini and carrots to help mellow the heat. The steak and cheese was a great take on the traditional cheesesteak sandwich rolled into a corn tortilla and lightened with lettuce and pico de gallo.

The restaurant has a great laid back feel. You can order and eat quickly although a line formed quickly after 1 pm. On a sunny day you can dine on the porch at a picnic table overlooking the river and the train. I can't wait to go back and try another great selection.