Mexican Restaurants – Page 28

Mariscos Monday! – Negro Durazo – a revisit

October 24, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and sometimes Kirk writes, sometimes ed(from Yuma) writes and sometimes Cathy writes here. Today, Cathy is writing.

Background of this post: The Mister and I were born seven days apart. This year, those days were on a Monday. He gets to choose what he wants to eat the first three days, we have to agree on what to eat the middle two days and then I get the last three days. No discussion, just a statement of what or where and for which meal. This year, we each chose Negro Durazo- for three meals. Because we really like it here.

Yes, I wrote about Negro Durazo earlier this year. Great mariscos in Lemon Grove, right off the 94 freeway. It's convenient for us when we are out that way and the food is really good.

Here is a close up of some of the outside signage.

Standard of what is brought out to the table before ordering: fresh salsa, fresh chips and cut limes.

The interior here is quite large, has menu specials displayed along the walls, has televisions and music and can get very loud at dinnertime and on weekends.

Standard tabletop condiments include an array of hot sauces, tostadas in packages and saltine crackers.

As with Mexican seafood (even mariscos trucks) your meal is preceded with a cup of seafood broth.

The Mister ordered the whole charbroiled fish ($10.95). It is a white bass (not tilapia, which is fried), cut in half, seasoned mildly and charbroiled, served with the salad. The fish is fresh, moist, flaky, smokey (in a good way) and extremely good.

I ordered the Negro Durazo tostada($6.95)…piled high on this salad plate.

Really- a lot of seafood. Raw shrimp (sliced in half), octopus, squid and cooked shrimp – marinated and cooked fresh in lime juice and mixed with tomato, cilantro and onion. So fresh and so good on a hot day.

We went back, in the same week, and ordered essentially the same items- the whole charbroiled bass (better photo)(there is a head, cut perfectly in half under the salad)…just as good…so fresh and quite large.

and the Negro Durazo coctele ($13.95)

Octopus, squid and shrimp in this… more (a lot more) seafood than on the tostada…and in a lime-ketchup(by that I mean sweet)-spicy sauce, which also had cucumber (and no onions) along with the tomatoes, cilantro and avocado. A little different and also very refreshing…excellent birthday meals.

I did say three visits during our birthday week. As you can see, there is a breakfast menu at the front door. I'll save that post for later.

Negro Durazo 6954 Federal (at Broadway and the 94) Lemon Grove 91945 (619)240-7148

Website

El Faro- Mariscos (Sherman Heights/Logan Heights)

October 19, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

El Faro has closed.

Welcome back the the blog called mmm-yoso!!! Today, Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are researching places so they can write posts. Cathy is finished researching and this is the rough draft.

Hi. The other day, The Mister and I were (yes, again) taking a little "stay-cation" in San Diego, Balboa Park, to be precise. Here is the Sculpture Garden, near the Old Globe Theater.

The parking lot near the Aerospace Museum was pretty crowded, as were the restaurants in the park, so after about two miles, we drove on the side streets looking for a place to have lunch.

Somehow, we got to Imperial Avenue -looking for the Farmers Market Building (it's for sale)- and a block later we saw street signs welcoming us to both Sherman and Logan Heights…and then saw the word "Family" on this building. I stopped and parked.

El Faro, Spanish for "the lighthouse" . Of course, they serve seafood. Thing is, we saw a mariscos truck and a small mariscos restaurant on the same block…never considered this part of town to have mariscos. But what do we know…
Lunch Specials…

and for future reference, Happy Hour. We walked in.

Five booths, seven tables and the kitchen in the middle. Like eating in Mexico. I asked and found out these owners have been here 13 years, and before they bought this place, it was a seafood restaurant.

Lime wedges, fresh (light and very good) corn chips and a mildly hot salsa were brought to the table (after ordering, a group of appropriate hot sauces were brought out, however, I used this salsa for everything- no vinegar or sugar and a good heat to it).
We decided to try a fish ceviche tostada ($2.25) as an appetizer. Really, really nice. The fish was fresh, flaky, tasty and the lime juice, tomatoes, onion and cilantro were complimentary and not overwhelming. The tostada was placed on top of lettuce and that cucumber slice, so it didn't get soggy.

The Mister's meal came with this large cup filled with a seafood soup. Excellent, fresh, very nice amount of seafood in the not too tomato flavored broth (it was more of a seafood stock base) .
After a long discussion with myself, I had decided on the camarones (shrimp) salad because of the description. Plain (home made) mayonnaise was the dressing and it complimented the very large (in size and number-24) shrimp. Lettuce, shredded carrot and chopped cucumber were the only salad ingredients. The topping of avocado, two slices of cucumber and the tomato added enough variety so that I could enjoy those shrimp in the dressing. This was filling, refreshing and worth the lunch price ($8.95).
The Mister's Pescado Entero ($8.95). A whole fried tilapia. Very fresh, firm fleshed, not muddy, fried perfectly (I ate the fins; so crispy).

The Mister ate just about everything else…

El Faro Family Restaurant 2249 Imperial Avenue San Diego 92102 (619)2311388

Mariscos Hector’s – Chula Vista

September 13, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you are reading. Lately, Cathy has been writing about her "staycation" walks around the beautiful County parks while Kirk has been updating his Turkey and Greece vacation from this year and ed(from Yuma) has let us in on his vacation to Julian. Cathy is back with something different.

One of our recent walks was quite educational as well as a bit challenging (downhill from the start, therefore uphill to return). This time, we had beautiful views- one, of the Otay Lakes Reservoir…

while walking the one mile path…

with a beautiful view North

and many, many athletic venues- courts, fields, tracks, this archery range…

Yes, the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. There is a path and the public can walk it and view the various venues from it (access directly on the fields is restricted).

There are three BMX riders at the top/starting gate behind the Field Hockey field (court?). You can see we aren't very close to the track. However there is a BMX Development Track closer to the main building and it has several sets of bleacher seats close to the field. The BMX Supercross World Cup will be held here September 30-October 1 (www.ababmx.com) (www.uci.ch)

So anyhow, we walked and enjoyed this new-to-us venue (the Olympic Training Center opened in June 1995) which has a great audio tour as well as the views. Then we drove through the Eastlake section of Chula Vista, looking for something different.

There was a major intersection with three of the corners filled with stores and shops. In the one which had the Kohl's, I spotted this. Of course we stopped.
It was quite large and clean inside, with a bar which had a view of the kitchen,
as well as a bar which was alcohol centric.
We were seated in a booth with very a large, thick granite table and corn chips, a very good spicy-hot fresh salsa and cut limes were placed on the table.

I wanted a champechana cocktail, but also wanted to try other items on the menu. When I saw there was a champechana tostada on the menu ($5.95), I decided that would get me the flavors but not be overwhelmingly filling…but it was huge! Lots of fresh shrimp, octopus, bay scallops cooked in lime juice with added cucumber, tomato and cilantro. This was definitely fresh made for me with tender octopus, fresh shrimp and flavorful, small, bay scallops. There are oysters in the champechana coctail and I can get that next time, if I am so hungry.
The Mister saw a calamari tostada on the menu for only $1.95, so he ordered it for us to share. This was not your typical squid. First, this must have been a very large squid since the pieces had a good diameter. The meat was tender and meaty. It was sauteed, cooked in a salsa which made it tender…almost stew-like. It was very good and I'll order it again.
On the menu, the tacos were priced as "Piece" and "Order". Piece meant one taco; order meant two tacos plus rice and beans. The Gobernador was $3.95 for the single taco and $7.95 for the order. I pulled out my phone and used its handy calculator…

ANYHOW…the gobernador was *wonderful*. This version had a lot of chunks of mild chiles in an almost cream sauce…or really melty cheese and were filled with shrimp. (Gobernador tacos, Sinaloan in origin, have the common denominator of shrimp and cheese and then each chef seems to make it their own…this is a great version).

One note- the corn chips that came with salsa, the corn tortilla with the tostadas and the corn tortilla used for the tacos were each unique and flavorful and very very different in texture. That was another delightful surprise. We will be coming back to try the Parrillada dishes (barbecue) which include carne asada, kabobs and lobster as well as the various fish dishes. Oh and there is a breakfast menu! I guess we'll go back to the Olympic Training Center more often…

Hector's Mariscos 2305 Otay Lakes Road Ste 201 Chula Vista 91915 (619)421-1300 Website

(yes, the website is www.hectorsmariscos.comand the sign above the door is Mariscos Hector's. You'll find it)

Saturday Stuffs: Luong Hai Ky returns to Convoy and La Playita tries to bring me back from the dead.

July 9, 2011 mmm-yoso Cooking, Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Both of these restaurants are no longer in business

Luong Hai Ky returns to Convoy:

Friend of yoso "Yummy Yummy" told me about this one. Luong Hai Ky has returned to Convoy street in their original location. I guess business just wasn't "phat" enough for Phat Restaurant. It never a good sign when a place goes from menu to buffet…..

Though I don't think the food at LHK ever reached the same heights after the original owner passed away, it still served a decent bowl of egg noodles soup. I had thoughts of dropping by, but it was just too darned hot this past week.

Luong Hai Ky Restaurant
4633 Convoy St Ste 107
San Diego, CA 92111

La Playita tries to bring me back from the dead:

Figuratively of course….. that's the Vuelve a la Vida ("Back to Life" – $13). Man did this hit the spot… and actually brought me back to life, if only for a short while. The version at La Playita is tangy and a bit sweet….I suspect from ketchup, but I'm not complaining, as there's a generous portion of seafood. It could be a bit more "picante", but I usually add a bit of hot sauce to fix that.

You can find Cathy's posts on La Playita here and here.

La Playita Seafood
5185 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92117

So how'd you deal with this past weeks heat?

Frankie has his own way off letting me know he's hot….. he lies flat on his side on the floor, usually in the middle of the living room with his tongue sticking out…. quite subtle, don't you think?

Yuma Mexican Miscellany – Pollos El Correteado, Rossy’s, El Buen Taquito, and Taqueria Reyes

July 6, 2011 ed fromyuma Food Trucks, Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk is busy doing something. Cathy is busy doing something else. ed (from Yuma) has been busy putting together this post on 4 different places in Yuma (in Arizona).

Kirk calls these type of posts "Cleaning out the Memory Card." I have pictures of interesting and good Mexican food I've eaten recently at several different small eateries. No point in doing a bunch of little posts, so I'll just throw them all together here. There should be something of interest in this post for almost any Yuman being.

Pollos El Correteado

In Yuma County, there are three different locations for this restaurant chain (I have no idea how widespread the chain is in Mexico, but there are locations in San Luis, Sonora). One location is on Main Street in Somerton, one is on 3E by the base, and one is on Eighth Street next to the Subway across the street from Food City:
These folks do one thing very well:
Great Mexican roasted chicken. What Pollo Loco aspires to be:
These are special chickens that have four legs, four thighs, but no breast or wing. That anatomical peculiarity puzzled me the first time I ordered a whole chicken ($9). Must be a damn strange looking bird when alive, but it looks pretty good when served:

The macaroni salad and the mashed potatoes are pretty much meh, and the salsa and the white corn tortillas (both gratis) are far from distinguished. So I usually get the chicken to go and have it with homemade macaroni or potato salad.

Rossy's

Rossy's used to be a small truck in a small space with rather poor lighting and great corn and hotdogs. Now the same small truck (and a little hot dog cart) occupy the large lot that was most recently Tata's:

The corn (with butter, crema, and cheese) is still good, if not especially good for you:
They now serve a range of decent tacos that you can decorate with guacamole, pico de gallo, shredded cabbage, and lemon wedges. A carne asada taco with all the fixings looks like this:
For me, however, the big draw of the place are the bacon-wrapped hotdogs which they will happily accessorize for you:

Love those grilled onions, along with salsa and who knows what else.

El Buen Taquito

Getting a meal at El Buen Taquito was not easy for Tina and I. First, the truck is almost hidden toward the back of a lot on the east side of Avenue B, about a block south of the intersection with Eighth Street. Then, after we had discovered it, every time we wanted to go there, the place was closed. We realized, finally, that it opened later than most of the other taco trucks in the neighborhood and is not open every evening. However, many times we would drive by – let's say returning from San Pedro or Rossy's – it would be open and busy, much busier than the truck called "Yuma's Best" just up the street from it.

Our luck changed a few months ago when we pulled up, saw the lights, and decided to find out why this place was so popular:
The menu is extremely limited, but very reasonably priced:
We ordered a variety – crispy tacos, tostadas, rolled tacos, and sopes along with a couple of aguas frescas. However, the first thing we were brought were little cups of incredibly rich and flavorful consommé:

The only meat used by this truck is beef, and the beef has been cooked a long time so that its flavor in the tacos and flautas is fairly neutral and background. The consommé, on the other hand, is as beefy as Arnold Schwarzenegger in his glory days.

Then we received our order. The lighting, as you can tell, is far from ideal for photographs, but here is a picture of a couple of the excellent crunchy tacos:

Because the primary difference between the sope and the tostada are how thick the tortilla/patty is, it is hard from me to tell which one is which in my photographs. I think this is a tostada:
And perhaps this is a close-up of a sope:
Underneath the lettuce and cheese is a flauta:

In any case, Buen Taquita does one thing extremely well – deep frying. The tacos, flautas, sopes, and tostadas all had crunchy deep fried corn tortillas or patties. None of them was greasy; all of them were tasty. The sope was a little more chewy than the others. The soft meat and frijoles provided a flavor and texture contrast with the fried shells and abundant shredded lettuce. Everything was covered with cotija cheese.

Would I want to eat here every night? No, of course not. But sometimes you just gotta have crunch and this is the taco truck to provide it.

Taqueria Reyes

Taqueria Reyes recently opened in Palm Plaza on Avenue A, where Taqueria Jalisco had been in business for many years:
As well as providing a range of standard tacos, I am very fond of the tortas there, for example this one made with machaca:

Inside, there is a smear of frijoles, slices of avocado, chopped lettuce, tomato and mayo. I, for one, appreciate the pickled jalapeno, which I've always thought was perfect with tortas.

The other item that I love here is the Menudo ($5.99). For a dollar extra, you can get it con pata. When placed on the table, it looks like this:

It comes with a choice of bread or tortillas and is served with all kinds of condiments including lemon wedges, oregano, cilantro, menudo spices, chopped onion, and a deep and powerful salsa:

After I add some condiments and stir it up, it looks like this:
Look at all that tripe and hominy! But what I find most truly satisfying about the Menudo here is that pata, a big piece of cow hoof. And when I get lucky, the hoof is completely covered with wonderfully chewy tendon:
Sooo goood!! While the soup overall is not as complex as the incredible sopa de pata at the old Pupuseria Cabanas (I still miss that place a lot), it's the best cow hoof I can find in Yuma. And cow hoof is a good thing.

Taco Loco- a little taco shop with Mexican food- in Santee

June 29, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops, What Cathy Eats!

Taco Loco has closed. It's now a similar yet different taco shop.

Thanks for reading mmm-yoso!!! Cathy is blogging today. Kirk is very busy and ed (from Yuma) is busier.

In an obscure location on Fanita Drive just past the first signal light South of Mission Gorge Road (one block North from Goa Way, a private street) next to an unimaginatively named Liquor Store in Santee, this small building has always housed a taco shop. The latest incarnation, Taco Loco, is, by far, the best.

Yes, that's the building… behind the drive thru menu.

You can park and walk inside and will find five tables and 14 chairs. The tables are covered with happy colored table cloths and there are some interesting (a few Mexican) beverage selections in the cooler, although homemade aguas frescas are also available. Specials are written on a white board, there is a menu behind the cash register.
Also are some more specials on the wall to your left if you are standing at the cash register.

After seeing the sign, I had to try the cabeza and lengua tacos ($2.45 each)(cabeza is on the left, lengua is in the front in this photo). If you eat in, your items are brought out to your table on a tray with a real plate. The tacos are each served with two corn tortillas which are topped with meat, cilantro and onions. Nothing more was needed, even though a green and red hot sauce were offered and salt packets are on the table. The cabeza (meat from the head of the cow) was more game-y tasting, almost like goat. There was a nice, sticky fat on some of the diced pieces; carnitas-like fat is a good description. The meat was chewier/had more texture in comparison to the lengua (beef tongue) which was very smooth in texture and had milder hut distinct flavor. Both taco meats still were more flavorful than even carne asada/marinated meat. I suppose I should have tried a carne asada taco to compare further but these two tacos filled me up.

As mentioned in the title and signage, Taco Loco serves Authentic Mexican food. Above is Camarones Culichi ($7.99) Shrimp (plump and good tasting) served in a green sauce with cheese along with rice and refried beans (good and made with lard). Culichi is a traditional Sinaloan sauce made with poblano chilis and cheese and is a flavor I crave. The preparation here is great.

Well. This sign is on another wall. One day I had to.

This is the large Shrimp Cocktail ($7.99). It is served in a large salad bowl. Bowl.Of. Fresh. Shrimp. Cocktail. The photo is a bit perspective challenged. I counted 23 shrimp, but think I may have miscounted and probably 24 were in this large bowl which included lime juice, tomato, onion, cucumber, cilantro, avocado. Wonderfully perfect and so fresh. [The small cocktail is $6.99; I haven't bothered ordering one to see the size difference for only $1.]

Of course, Taco Loco is a taco shop and burritos are on the menu. Large burritos.

Cross section of the chile relleno burrito ($4.69). This was an excellent fried chile relleno. A fresh poblano chili filled with melty cheese, battered in an egg-flour mix and fried light and crispy. The burrito included beans, lettuce, sour cream and salsa.

The carne asada burrito ($4.69) is very good in its simplicity. The meat is tender, mildly flavored and wrapped in the giant tortilla with guacamole and pico de gallo salsa. Not as good as the other meats here, in my opinion, but not horrible.

The chile verde plate ($7.59) also is substantial and topped with a very, very good home made tomatillo sauce. The carnitas meat was tender and flavorful. This is served with tortillas, rice, beans, guacamole and some lettuce.

The shredded beef taco salad ($4.69) is a good meal. The shredded beef has an excellent stewed flavor which is complimented by the beans, cheeses, salsas, guacamole and crispy cold lettuce.

Here's a good size comparison photo of a plain cheese quesedilla ($3.19) and a chicken adobada taco ($2.59). The marinated chicken is moist, flavorful and, as you can see, a substantial serving size, simply served on two corn tortillas with guacamole.

Taco Loco is an exceptional hole in the wall that you may want to seek out if you are in the neighborhood. Try some of the items that aren't served at your regular taco shop.

Taco Loco 8667 Fanita Drive Santee 92071 (619) 562-6060 (Call ahead for faster service) Open 8 am-10 pm Mon-Thurs, 8 am-11 pm Fri-Sat and 9 am-9 pm Sunday

Website

The little note under the drive thru menu? "When ready to order, move forward please."

Sunday Sandwiches: Tropical Oasis

June 5, 2011 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Sandwiches

Though my heart (or perhaps stomach) belongs to Banh Mi, I also enjoy a good torta once in a while. Not an over-stuffed massive beast of a torta, but something on a nice toasted bolillo, a balanced amount of decently flavored and moist protein (i.e. pork or beef). For me, there's something nice and summery about wrapping your hands around a yeasty smelling roll….. well, perhaps that's not putting my best typing foot forward, but I hope you understand what I mean.

More then a few months ago; a co-worker, "KM" told me about a Juice Bar – Smoothie – Sandwich shop that her husband enjoys called Tropical Oasis off of Telegraph Canyon Road in Chula Vista. I few weeks later I just happened to be in the area…. and went looking for it. The reason I'd never seen it before is that I usually go East on Telegraph Canyon, always looking to my right getting off the 805. If I'd just look at ten o'clock while exiting the freeway, I might have seen the place.

The shop is small, with a few tables, brightly colored walls, and looked very clean and smoothee-ish, if you know what I mean.

KM's husband had a recommendation for me; but I decided to try something a bit…. well simpler, for reasons that would become clear later on. I just went with the simple Torta de Lomo:

The sandwich took a while, but once I sat down and went to work, I found that I rather enjoyed this simple roasted pork sandwich.

The pork was moist, and had a simple, straightforward pork flavor, with a pleasant, almost "clean" finish…. you know what I mean; I didn't feel like I needed a shower and a nap (in that order) after eating this. The thinly sliced red onion added a bit of bite, the avocado rich-creaminess, the tomato a tart-acid presence. Overall, a decent sandwich.

A few weeks later, I was in the area again, and decided to try out the sandwich that KM told me her husband gets. The Torta Ahogada. Again it took a while for my sandwich, but what arrived looked positively monstrous….. good thing I didn't order the "Dinosaurio"! I really enjoyed the toasted and crusty bolillo.

The inner workings of the sandwich was just a decent portion of lomo, just like it should be…..everything else was on the outside……holes were cut into the top of the rolls and sour cream (crema agria) were smeared in and around the "pukas"(holes) , tangy and sour, this also added a cooling element when the hot sauce came into play. Pickled jalapenos added a bit more heat to the whole deal.

I had the notion of pouring the sauce over my sandwich; after all, much like getting a "double-dipped" at Phillipe's, it ain't the real thing unless it is drenched….after all ahogada literally means "drowned", right? I felt, well, much too civilized eating the sandwich. It also would have been great if the sandwich were made using a birote salado, but hey, sourcing bread from Guadalajara doesn't make much sense if you're only selling a couple of these a day. The hot sauce was okay, nothing particularly outstanding. I will say this, though I thought the bread at the El Gallito Tortas Ahogadas truck was outstanding, the pork here was better. If I recall KM's husband's family is from Guadalajara, and he enjoys these…so there you go.

I'd say the sandwiches at Tropical Oasis are decent, as good as any of your fine neighborhood sandwich shops. The service is a bit slow, but the two women working the place are very polite. Maybe not worth a special trip, but if you happen to be in the area and want a torta….this may not be a bad choice.

Tropical Oasis All Natural Juice Bar
417 Telegraph Canyon Rd
Chula Vista, CA 91910

Negro Durazo- Mariscos in Lemon Grove

May 9, 2011 Cathy Mexican Restaurants, Seafood, What Cathy Eats!

mmm-yoso!!! is not on vacation. Kirk and his Missus are on vacation. ed (from Yuma) is not on vacation and also not blogging. Cathy feels like she is on vacation and is blogging.

Since I appear to be eating all over this large County, I need to include a few more cities in my postings.

Just South of the intersection of Highway 94 and College Avenue is Broadway and Federal Avenues and Sushi Time which Kirk posted about in 2007. This location of Negro Durazo is right next door.

There is another location of Negro Durazo in Chula Vista and I think both locations are related to the Tijuana location. Seafood and Sinaloan is the easiest way to describe the menu and food here. You can tell by the condiments on every table.
The decor is more difficult to describe. There is a bar area to the left when you walk in and the sit down area becomes a dance floor later into the evening. There is constant music from the juke box. Happy, dancing music.

…Fresh chips, fresh salsa and fresh sliced lemons are brought to your table along with the menu.

The Mister and I decided to share a pescado (fish) ceviche tostada ($2.95). This was fresh made. The fish was firm and the lime based marinade had not completely settled into the fish or tomatoes or onions or cilantro. The flavors of each ingredient were crisp and bright. The serving size was very large. We enjoyed this very much.

…

The Mister chose "Popeye Shrimp" from the menu($11.45). A gratin of shrimp, cheese, spinach and bacon. This came with tortillas, rice and The Mister substituted steamed vegetables for beans. This dish was excellent in its flavor melding, because this restaurant is Sinaloan..so the topping was not a thick cheese turned into a sauce, but a mix of aromatics and spices which compliment the shrimp -a flavorful sauce made with onions, garlic, poblano chili, sour cream and Monterey Jack cheese.

The menu Board at the door had Daily Specials and I chose #1- Two Marlyn tacos with rice, beans and beverage ($7.45). I know the beans look pale and the taco shell looks burned. The flavors were good. Really good.

The tacos were filled with smoked marlyn which had been sauteed with green peppers, onion and tomatoes and placed into corn tortillas which were cooked on the grill (not fried). The refried beans had excellent flavor.

The selections at Negro Durazo are plenty. All seafood based. All fresh. All made fresh. It is nice to have this location closer to the East County.

Negro Durazo 6954 Federal Boulevard at Broadway Lemon Grove CA 91945 (619)240-7148

El Zarape: Chewing on Some of Don Chuy’s Chow in Yuma

April 30, 2011 ed fromyuma Mexican Restaurants, What Ed Eats -You too can be like Ed!, Yuma

Kirk and the missus are off to somewhere, Cathy has been blogging up a storm in their absence, but today ed (from yuma) wants to help them out by telling you and the rest of the world about an NEW/old Mexican restaurant in Yuma that's really good.

Sadly, El Zarape is no longer operated by Don Chuy. It is now run by the Duron family who have some excellent asada, but, still, I miss this previous El Zarape

When I moved to Yuma over 10 years ago, I thought the best Mexican restaurant in town was El Zarape, which featured the cooking of Pepe Jimenez. Within a few years, Pepe had gone off to open Los Manjares and El Zarape fell on hard times. Two or three different owners couldn't make the somewhat inconspicuous restaurant on Eighth Street a success. Food quality went downhill. The restaurant finally closed after the Great Recession hit.

Recently, however, it has looked like the restaurant was open again, and finally in March, I stopped by to see what was going on there now:

What I discovered was that one of Pepe's chefs had decided to open his own place here, his daughters (who had been the best servers at Los Manjares) waiting the tables.

I also immediately discovered that El Zarape (officially named, El Zarape de "Don Chuy") is serving some great Mexican food at good prices.

For breakfasts – served all day – El Zarape has such standards as huevos rancheros ($5.50):

This was perfectly prepared. The two eggs over-easy fit on top of the crispy corn tortilla perfectly. The Ranchero sauce had just a hint of sour tang that played off the natural sweetness of the eggs beneath it. The frijoles were good as were the breakfast potatoes.

Don Chuy aims to please, and will do breakfast plates "al gusto" – as you like them ($5.50-$7.25). So one morning, Tina decided to combine carnitas, nopales (cactus pads), and egg. It looked like this:

Similarly, the restaurant will make breakfast burritos containing pretty much whatever you want for $3.50. Since the carnitas, cactus, and egg combination was so tasty, we had it in a burrito as well:
Another treat here are the quesadillas. To be honest, most quesadillas I've eaten in my life have been unimpressive, often greasy or soggy. Not here – the perfectly prepared quesadillas are grilled to perfection, the edges of the flour tortilla crispy and crunchy:
And you can get the quesadillas with meat and cheese fillings. This one has carne asada:

Great Asada, wonderful melty cheese, perfect flour tortilla.

A range of tortas ($4.50) are also available. Among other choices, you can get grilled chicken:

Or al pastor:
When you open them up, along with the meat, you will see guacamole, chopped tomato, chopped lettuce, chopped jalapenos, cilantro, and on the bottom bun, a thin smear of frijoles:
During the week, El Zarape also has daily specials ($5.50 at lunch) such as decent chicken mole:

A textbook example of carne en su jugo:

The beef was tender, the bacon flavorful, the beans beany, and the broth rich and complex.

One day, I had outstanding costillas de puerco en salsa chipotle:

Even better than the version at Pepe's. Big chunks of pork on rib bones in smoky and spicy chipotle sauce.

The regular dinner plates also offer some outstanding dishes. Tina has fallen in love with the carnitas ($8.99 – like all dinners, it includes beans, rice, and tortillas) Here is an order packed to go:

There's more meat underneath the pico de gallo. Zarape's carnitas tends to be rich and tender, more on the roast pork rather than crispy side on the carnitas scale.

El Zarape is also one of the few places in town that regularly has birria de chivo ($9.50). None of my pictures of the dish is worth the electrons it would take to post here, so to give you an idea of the birria, here is what a couple of the chunks of goat meat looked like in a little of the broth:
The chile rellenos ($8.99) are also good, as you can tell from this picture:
The camarones a la diabla ($10.99) is an excellent rendition of this classic dish. As Dave pointed out, the muy picante sauce was nearly pure ground dried red chile, wonderfully spicy and deeply flavorful. Mouth filling hotness that did not overwhelm the taste of the shrimp, but rather emphasized it:
The machaca ($7.99) is the best in town:

I was going to say that the full beefy flavor was in your face – but actually, it was in my mouth. Really good. The beef ranged from tender chewy to slightly charred, its meaty textures complemented by the green pepper, onion, and tomato pieces that were not overcooked.

As you can tell by all the photos I've taken, I like this place. While it does not have a menu quite as extensive as Mi Rancho or Los Manjares, there are plenty of choices for everyone. With the exception of the watery house salsa, I have enjoyed everything I have been served, and the prices are as good or better than anywhere else. On top of the constant great value, some items have been truly outstanding – the best in Yuma.

I also like the family aspect of the place. The family cares about the restaurant, the food, and the customers. On Sundays, when Don Chuy's granddaughter helps out, they even have the youngest assistant waitress in town (and she's good):

El Zarape de "Don Chuy," 1905 W. 8th St., Yuma, AZ 85364, (928) 782-7279. Open daily 6:30 AM to 9:00 PM.

Mariscos Monday: Mariscos Godoy

April 11, 2011 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Seafood

**** Mariscos Godoy has closed

I guess it's about time I did a post on Mariscos Godoy. Among the places Masa Assassin recommended to us when we ran into him a couple years back was Mariscos Godoy. Still, until late last year, we'd pass Mariscos Godoy every so often, always say, "man, we gotta check that place out one of these days." Finally, last fall, the Missus was craving Pescado Zarandeado, so we decided to drop by Godoy…….

And haven't stopped……. It was always, "well, I'll do a post on this place on another day", until I just stopped taking photos because I had so many. And while not every meal was stellar, we've always enjoyed ourselves, in spite of mariachi band and the one time there was a real band, and we were on the table right in front……

The restaurant itself looks much larger than it is. You'll realize that when there's a live band playing.

We prefer coming for an early dinner, when the place is less hectic.

The menu itself is humongous…… it rivals some Chinese Restaurants in size and scope.

Everything here starts with Chips and Salsa.

On the occasions when the chips arrive hot, I really enjoy them. To the point that the Missus has to force me to stop…. but I can't eat just one. It is also served with a ceviche that seems to be made with bone scrapings. The Missus loves this.

And of course you can't forget the little cup of consomme.

The flavor fluctuates from day to day, but on most visits it just soothes me and puts me in a better place. Honestly, if you were a cheapskate and just wanted a taco, this could be a meal.

Anyway, in trying to organize all of this stuff, I realized that I could probably be typing 'til sometime next week. Not everything is been great, but there are a few things I noticed. For coctele's, ceviche, aguachile, and tacos, go somewhere else. For us, it's mostly the grilled and fried that keep us coming back. I'm going to try to be as concise as possible, so here goes.

First there was the Pescado Zarandeado, ordered by the pound. I have personally witnessed the Missus finish off a 2 pounder with a couple servings of corn tortillas solo…..

If you order this, go with the snapper if it's available. Nothing else is quite as good. Lightly marinated, then broiled under high heat, the snapper is moist, there some chile flavor, but you can still make out the flavor of the fish. Those grilled tortillas with frijoles are good when grilled right; but I've had a few that was like eating toasted cardboard.

This is what the end result usually is after the Missus has had at it.

When we bring friends to Godoy, we usually order the Langostinos Aji Ajillo, a chili-garlic-butter preparation.

I think the photos speak for themselves.

Grilled creatures they call Squat Lobsters. As with the fish, this is what things look like in the end.

It's not cheap at close to $25 bucks, but most folks who've we've taken to Godoy have this when the go back.

There was one dish I really wanted to order at Godoy. The Pulpo Zarandeado ($14.50), the grilled octopus. The Missus however, is not a big fan of pulpo, tako, or whatever you want to call it. This dish however, has changed Her mind.

She now craves this; and we have to make trips down to Chula Vista just for this. There have been occasions when the pulpo has been very tough, and once it wasn't cooked properly, the marinade still a bit pasty. But most times it's mildly smokey, salty, with a touch of sweetness and spice. The texture is toothsome without being tough. We ignore the sauce, which just over-powers the flavor of the pulpo.

One of my favorite dishes is a recommendation from FOY (Friend of yoso) Candice Woo. She told me that I just had to have the Toritos ($8.95).

Think of these as glorified jalapaneo "poppers" if you will. Yellow waxy peppers, not usually spicy, but you'll get a surprise once in a while, are stuffed with smoked fish (Marlyn), breaded, and deep fried. No need for the tartar sauce on this. Salty and smokey, a nice savory front, combined with the crunch of the breading…… man this is good.

So I found it odd that I didn't care too much for the Tacos de Marlyn…. the smoked fish taco.

It was too salty for me.

One day, the Missus decided to take advantage of the 99 cent taco Tuesday and order two tacos. The first, the fish taco wasn't very good.

The fish had a mealy and dry texture, and tasted fishy.

On the other hand, the other 99 cent taco was the Manta Ray Machaca.

Though on the salty side, there was a nice oceany-savory flavor that was very pleasant.

Thus, on our next visit, I ordered the Manta Ray Machaca plate ($11.95):

Though I'm not a big fan frioles refrito, refried beans, in this case a smear of the beans in a corn tortilla helped to smooth out the flavor of the I assume dried and re-hydrated manta ray. A squeeze of lime was the perfect cure to any saltiness. The flavor of the green peppers and a bit of tomato added nice layers of flavor to the dish. Still, I couldn't finish this dish…. and it tasted even better the next day!

We didn't care as much for the Pescado Frito. Think of it as Fish McNuggets if you will.

The batter on this version of "make your own fish tacos" was very crunchy, but there was a large amount of "dark" portions, and the fish tasted a bit muddy.

When we first visited Godoy, we were enamored with all the photos of aguachile.

But try as we might, we've never found a version we enjoy here. There's not enough heat, and not enough acid for my taste.

It's not like we never tried……

And I've had my share of Cocteles and Campechana, and found them to have too much clamato, and not enough acid for my taste.

I enjoyed the smoked fish stuffed potato more than those dishes.

And we've really only scratched the surface of the menu at Godoy.

One of the other reasons we keep coming back, is that even on the busiest days, the folks here are as nice as can be. I guess it's now on the rotation as I never know when the Missus will want some pulpo….

Mariscos Godoy
651 Palomar St
Chula Vista, CA 91911