Man was the weather so hot….and humid for a couple of weeks, yeah? It kept me trying to find some different “stuffs” to eat. One place that I’ve had on my “list” for ages came to mind because I was in the area. Right on Camino Ruiz is Tulum Seafood…..I’d always been meaning to visit, but for some reason the place keeps slipping my mind. But on my recent visit to Paris Sandwiches I saw the shop once again and this time I made up my mind to finally visit. I know my former coworker “CY” enjoys the place as do several other folks. And then of course I forgot all about it……until we got nailed by the record heat and humidity at the beginning of the month. At which time I made up my mind to finally drop by.
Tulum opens at 9am daily and I decided to drop by a bit after 9am. The parking lot is fairly small….and the shop actually has drive thru.
There’s a small patio, and a small but efficiently set-up counter-dining area.
An then there’s the menu…which would totally cause analysis paralysis.
With tons of mariscos options, there’s even birria, carne asada, menudo, chile relleno, and so forth!
The name say “seafood”…it was going to be mariscos for me. I was really craving some ceviche; so I went with the namesake Ceviche Tulum…I decided on a tostada which was $9. I was wanting to try some of the smoked fish here and decided on the Marlin Taquitos ($9). The typical estilo marlyn here is made with tuna instead of the namesake marlin.
I went and got some hot sauces and lime while waiting.
Both the roasted tomato (quemada) salsa and serrano lime salsas were pretty spicy.
And soon my food was ready.
I was pleasantly surprised at how much pleasantly toothsome, yet tender shrimp there was on the tostada. That fire roasted arbol marinade was potent, the acidity from the lime juice heightened the sharp burn, which didn’t linger too long. The avocado tempers the sour spice with a hint of sweetness.
The tostadas were very sturdy, yet quite crunchy.
Just a straight forward and to the point dish. It was just what the doctor ordered on this day.
As for the Taquitos….well, it was a pretty large portion.
Way too much cheese and sour cream for my taste. The tortillas for the taquitos seemed to be basically the same as what’s used for the tostadas, making it very crunchy, but much too thick in my opinion. It was a case of too much “stuff” and not enough fish as I really couldn’t make out the flavor of the smoked fish.
Not a favorite of mine.
Still, I had enjoyed the ceviche, and thought the price was quite reasonable. So, when we got hit with another heat wave, that ceviche was again beckoning to me. And since the Missus had a day off and Tulum has a patio, we decided to check them out, and take JJ along.
The Missus decided on the Aguachile Verde and went with a “bowl” which was $22. I again got the Ceviche Tulum and also got a Tia Lupe Taco ($8) which featured the house smoked tuna .
The Aguachile felt quite hefty and came with three tostadas. It had a ton of cucumber and red onion. Lots of tender shrimp under all of that as well.
This was quite sharply sour which really enhanced the spiciness. In fact, the Missus, who is usually immune to immediate signs of chile heat actually felt it and had to take a short break in the middle of eating this. But like the ceviche it’s not a lingering spice and mellows down quite quickly. This was a bit too sour for me; but the Missus enjoyed it.
The Ceviche Tulum delivered the same as before.
As much as the Missus enjoyed the aguachile, She actually enjoyed the Tia Lupe Taco the most. The fish seemed to have been crisped up with caramelized edges adding enhanced flavor and texture. The Missus ate a bite and told me “this is like smoked fish bacon”!
Some quemada salsa to kick up the heat a bit really helped; the good amount of avocado added creaminess and the zarandeado sauce wasn’t overly thick and mayo heavy, adding some smokey-richness to the taco. The tortilla held up, though barely, as it was starting to go as we were finishing up.
Still, we enjoyed this meal. Is it the best mariscos we’ve ever had? Well, no…..but it’s better than what we’ve been getting from Mariscos Trucks recently and really did “hit the spot”. The young woman working on both of my visits was very pleasant and the prices are not bad at all….especially for seafood. The covered patio, especially on a very warm day was a plus for JJ. With the huge menu, I’m sure not everything is great on the menu…perhaps we got lucky? Still, I’m sure we’ll return again….it’s good to have another option in the area.
On an interesting note; even though it was a gazillion degrees out, we saw the Hispanic guys having Menudo! What the heck? Maybe they were recovering from a “rough night”? Well, maybe when the weather cools off…..
Tulum Seafood
10631 Camino Ruiz
San Diego, CA 92126
Current Hours:
Daily 9am – 9pm