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Ensenada makes the claim to be the city where the fish taco originates. I don't know about that, nor do I care, but Ensenada is blessed with being located on the beautiful Bahia de Todos Santos with the beautiful Pacific Ocean nearby, and that translates to fish, and more specifically, seafood tacos. I was strolling along Blvd. Lopez Cadenas exploring the area with the intent of patronizing a fish taco stand. It was very cold and rainy December day, so push-cart vendors were out, as I wanted a place where I could get out of the rain. My nose pointed me in the right direction, and landed me at Mariscos El Mariachi.
Photo: It's a rainy afternoon in early December, Monday, December 6, 2004, and business is quite sparse at Mariscos El Mariachi. I brave the rain to enjoy delicious fish tacos!
Photo: The staff outnumber me by a ratio of 5 to 1, as I'm the only customer in the restaurant on this rainy, December afternoon. Mariscos El Mariachi is very much your typical semi-open air restaurant found in towns and cities all over Mexico; completely open facing the street, awning covered in front, cashier's station, cooking area, and counter in front, and picnic tables in the enclosed rear. Due to the wet weather, business was very slow, and I was the only customer. El Mariachi had four lovely women working that day, and I guess they didn't anticipate that business would be so slow, as they certainly didn't need that much help. Anyway, I walked up to the counter and ordered a fish and a shrimp taco, sat down at a table and took off my raincoat. They have a soft-drink and beer cooler in the back of the restaurant, so I reached in and grabbed a Dos XX beer while I was waiting for my tacos. Yes, that's the protocol for Baja, very informal. I'd only been sitting at my table for a minute or so when one of the ladies brought me a basket of fried tortilla chips and whole tray of dips, garnishes and salsa. The chips were made from corn tortillas, CD-sized, cut in half and fried crispy, but not a bit greasy. Instead of going up to the counter for garnishes, like in most restaurants, she brought me a plate of garnishes and dips, obviously to be used for the chips and the tacos. The garnishes included tomatillo dip, spicy red salsa dip, cabbage, salsa fresco consisting of finely cut tomato squares, about 1/4" square, diced white onions and finely diced fresh cilantro. What amazed me the most was she brought me a gigantic container of guacamole-tomatillo dip, which is a very popular condiment in Baja California. Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention the obligatory key limes, cut in half. I drank beer and munched on the delicious chips and dip until they brought me my main meal. I had ordered a fish taco, and a shrimp taco. Both the fish and the shrimp meat were dipped in a beer-batter mixture of Bisquick and other ingredients, and then deep-fried in a built-in, wok-like bowl, that was next to the griddle in the cooking part of the restaurant. The CD-sized corn tortillas were toasted on a propane-fired griddle, first on one side until the brown spots appeared, and then the other side was toasted until done. They time it out so the fish and the tortillas will be ready at the same time, pretty good in my book. Then, they scoop the fish out of the hot oil, place it in the tortilla, and roll the tortilla around the fish, while the fish is hot. Because the tortilla and the fish are hot, the taco retains the desired shape and doesn't fall apart. Very clever...
Photo: If you don't think it's cold in Ensenada... think again. OK, it's not the arctic, but when it's 40 degrees and raining, it's cold!
Photo: Chips and salsa are provided with the meal, and the chips went beyond the meaning of chips... whole tortillas that you break off in pieces and load up with condiments.
Photo: Delicious fish tacos, with all of the condiments, as enjoyed at Mariscos El Mariachi. The price for 2 tacos, 2 beers and all the chips, salsa and garnishes I could eat? MEX $70.00! That's around $6.00 in U.S. bucks. You can't find a better deal than that. Mariscos
El Marachi Copyright(c) 2004 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions... custon photography for any occasion...
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