**** Mariscos Los Koras is now Mariscos Altata
While on one of my "drives" I was headed for the I-805 North onramp on Market Street, when this fairly large shop caught my eye.
Instead of getting directly on the freeway, a drove a bit further and made a u-turn. The place looked promising for a few reasons; first there were five vehicles in the parking lot, which means, in addition to any "prop" cars (the cars of the employees parked out front to make the place look busy), there were at least a few customers. Significant because this was 9am on a Sunday morning. And the Coat of Arms of Nayarit, one of the Coastal States of Mexico that borders the Pacific that is well known for their seafood.
A few days later, the Missus famished, and the heat getting to me (it really doesn't take much for us San Diegans), we made our way down to 43rd and Market.
The interior is packed with tables and chairs, and is very…..green, to reflect the ocean theme I guess. The young man who greeted us at the door with a big smile, wasted no time in getting us some chips.
And a nice, slightly picante, smokey, salsa.
And the inevitable standard of most Mariscos operations, a basket of saltines…….
The chips were a good thing, because it took us quite a while to navigate the menu.
I decided to start with the Aguachile Tostada, which arrived in a few minutes.
This was nice and refreshing, with a good bit of heat to it. The shrimp still retained a nice toothsome, meaty texture, without the gumminess of "over-cooked" (by citrus) camarones. I was surprised at the amount of spice that came off this. The Missus also enjoyed this as well.
The Missus "started" with the Vuelve a la Vida, the mixed seafood coctele:
When the chalice arrived, the first thing we noticed was the lack of any tomato in the cocktail. This was a first for us, as I've always had tomato water/ juice/ clamato in versions of this previously. Maybe uber Food Blogger Masa Assassin can clarify that for us. The liquid was pleasantly citrus-y, with the flavor of seafood in the background. The fruits of the sea residing in this goblet were very fresh. The Missus and I both thought the scallops and shrimp stood out. And I enjoyed the huge freshly shucked oyster. Still, the Missus missed the presence of tomato, which leads me to our next question. The young man brought out a bottle of ketchup with our plates….were we supposed to put that in the coctele? At first I thought they were just using the ketchup bottle for their own sauce, but I squeezed out a bit onto my spoon and tasted it…. it was ketchup.
I also ordered a Marlin Taco:
The taco had been deep fried, a la pescadillos, and reached the table sizzling. The taco had reached a level of sinful greasiness, that would qualify this as a guilty pleasure. The smoked marlin had a nice, not too over-powering flavor. And though this was not on the scale of Mariscos German, it was still good.
In case your thinking that the Missus was done….well She wasn't. She also ordered the Filete Los Koras:
The fish was cooked to perfection, moist without being overcooked. I loved the sauce, a green concoction with a nutty, garlicky flavor. Also of note were the beans, which had a strong smoked flavor that I enjoyed. This was our favorite of the day. The Missus wiped almost everything out, and I finished up the sauce and the beans. We had cleaned everything up, to the amazement of the young man serving us.
As we walked out, we saw three guys destroying a whole grilled fish and fixins' (Sarandeado?)…. I don't think too many folks leave here hungry…..
Mariscos Los Koras
4297 Market St
San Diego, CA 92102
Looks like a great find! While the Vuelve a la Vida looks like it could use some fresh tomato, I like that it isn’t over-“cocteled”.
Looks like more of a ceviche style, which I definitely prefer. I generally find cocteles too cloyingly sweet.
This is royaljester from chowhound. You wrote the first review on Okan, just FYI I reviewed Oton:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/648106
Love your blog!
everything you had sounded and looked so good!
yet another slam dunk…
I’m here early in the morning reading this and eating my oatmeal for breakfast. Its so so so sad. Everything looks so good even the weird colored cocktail. I’m just imagining the seafood in place of my oatmeal right now, the horror!
Hi Mike – It kinda rode that line between ceviche (it would have been more like soup) and a coctele.
Hi RJ – Yes, I’ve read many of your posts! Thanks for the kind words, and I hope you have a great time in Japan!
Hi Kat – The seafood was good and fresh, and that Los Koras sauce was yummy.
Hi Chris – Nice place, you should check them out.
Hi Billy – This’ll beat oatmeal any day of the week!
Sign, same boat as Billy, stirring my oatmeal, wishing it was coctele or a fried marlin taco.
My morning yogurt is a poor substitute for the coctele, too. I may have to have one for lunch since it’s so hot and there are a couple of places nearby that mmm-yoso has blogged about.
That big entree looks amazing!
“Prop” cars, that’s great.
Sounds like you found a real gem. I have seen folks put ketchup into coceteles, so that’s why it was served. But purely optional.
Hi Carol – I hope you got something better for lunch!
Hi Sandy – I’d be ineterested to know what place you chose for lunch!
Hi Lynnea – The fish and the Los Loras sauce was really good.
Hi Ed – Have you had a coctele served without sand tomato product before? This was a first for me.
Hot damn! A deep fried marlin taco? I wonder if the lovely folks over at Mariscos German would make one if you ask them nicely…
Nice find as usual, Kirk.
hi kirk –
i liked how the red chip is sticking up on the beans, like a shark’s fin.
fried tacos – good
We only have a few coceteles places in Yuma, but all I’ve tried have some tomato product in the liquid, even Mariscos Nayarita.
Hi Roger – Maybe they will…tough the tacos at MG are pretty well stuffed, so that mightr figure into things.
Hi CC – Greasy goodness!
Hi Ed – I thought that was a bit different.
Have you tried Playa Azul? I’ve been wanting to check it out and was hoping for a review from you guys. I love your blog, and use it far more than yelp.
La Playa Azul Mexican-
4575 Clairemont Dr, San Diego
Would love to hear about it if you check it out. It was reviewed in the San Diego Reader a few years back.
Hi CJE – You know, I haven’t been there since Playa Azul took over that location…. I really should because it’s pretty close to home! Thanks so much for the reminder, and thanks for reading!
Hi Kirk Im getting caught up on all your post and I really enjoyed this one. I cant remember what I had here its been some time but Ive been wanting to get back and destroy some Sarandeado but I might need more then a few heads with the sizes they offer 🙂
Hi MA – From the size of that fish, you’d need some pretty healthy eaters.
Hi Kirk sorry I noticed half my post was clipped off. To answer your question regarding the coctele…… The Vuelve a la Vidas I have had have been based with Ketchup, Chili, Lime and water. The one you guys had would be the same with ketchup and lime added. Im not sure about the citrus flavor. Just like anything Mexican, versions vary by region the ones I have had were made by folks from Veracruz, I believe the owners of Los Koros are from Nayarit.
Hi MA – I gotta say, it was different from versions we’ve had before.