Take the Matter into Your Own Hands

Fish Fridays are the law of the land (for Catholics, at least) during Lent. And what better way to advance this blog, than to enjoy a lovely FT on a Friday. I did just that today with my wife and daughter at Avila's El Ranchito in Laguna Niguel.

With my ususal order "off the table, " I snuggled up to a 2 order combo of fish tacos and rice and beans. After having helped myself to a strong serving of chips and salsa, I was looking forward to a new FT adventure. The FTs are delivered in simple form with mahi mahi covered in shredded green cabbage, loosely wrapped with 2 flour tortillas. No cheese, no sour cream, no sauce (truthfully, I typically order FTs with the sauce on the side and I remained true to this here).

The fish was very lightly battered and fried, but light and fresh. However, the fish tasted very plain and, in my mind, needed a little somethin' somethin'. Furthermore, without the sauce (basic tarter sauce) the tacos were on the dry side. Fortunately for me, I love Avila's salsa (chalk full of white and green onions) and proceeded to add a heap to each taco. This made the meal. The salsa added flavor and moistness (is this a word?) and drove my lunch over the finish line. I gobbled them up with the same passion and determination that Larry H. Parker has for delivering settlements to his clients.

Overall, Avila's FTs are simple and slightly plain unless, that is, you take matters into your own hands.

B

27941 La Paz Road, Suite E

Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

949.349.9100

http://www.avilaelranchito.com/

Discovery

My experience today at Papa's Tacos in South Laguna Beach was the type of experience I imagined I would have when we started this blog. For me, this blog is as much about discovering new places to eat, as much as it is to find the perfect FT. And I feel like I found a great little "discovery" in Papa's Tacos.

For my entire life , I have driven through South Laguna and passed by Papa's Tacos, located along the eastern side of PCH. It has a very small and unassuming storefront, marked only by a relatively small rectangular sign. I noticed for the last 10 years or so, which I interpret to mean that it must be doing something right. Especially since it is not located along a heavy pedestrian portion of PCH and survived with only metered street parking. Many times have I wanted to stop to peek in and sample, but I had never done so...until today. With my daughter in hand I adventured in to Papa's for a Saturday lunch.

The first thing you notice when you walk in is how small it is. The entire place was about the size of a NYC hotel room (read: small). The counter and kitchen make up 2/3 of the entire store with enough room for 4 worn, wooden stools that were positioned along the large windows facing PCH. The menu offered the standard mexican faire: burritos, enchiladas, tacos, tortas, etc. So I ordered a fish taco, a carne asada taco and rice & beans and settled in with my daughter on one of the stools go wait for our order.

The FTs arrived in a strofoam to-go container. They were healthy in size and consisted of sliced mahi-mahi fish wrapped in 2 medium sized corn tortillas. Melted cheese, cabbage and a small amount of chopped onions (which likely made their way from the carne asada taco) topped off my FT. It was fantastic! The melted cheese on the mahi-mahi along with the errant chooped onions made for a great taste. The fish was very light and flakey but hearty, if that is possible. I saved the hot salsa to the second half of my FT which turned out to complement the FT quite well. The rice and beans (and carne asada taco) rounded out what was a great lunch.

After lunch, I chatted up the owner. He told me that Papa's Tacos has been there for 19 years but he had recently taken over ownership and management. It must have been very recent given that when I was there the cook was "training" him on using the register.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, from the food to the dining experience in the restuarant (my daughter even behaved well eating lunch on my lap!). I highly recommend Papa's Tacos and I know I will be back.

Papa's Tacos

31622 Coast Highway

Laguna Beach, CA 92651

(949) 499-9822

www.papastacos.com

SIlverware Needed

I love being surprised, which is why I really enjoyed my most recent visit to Opah Restautant & Bar in Aliso Viejo. As I made the short drive to lunch, I have to admit that The Year of the Fish Taco was not at the front of my mind. What I was thinking about was my go-to Opah order: Macademia Crusted Mahi-Mahi. At the risk of undermining this blog, let me put in a little plug for what I consider the best item on the menu! I can almost taste it now (eyes closed, glands salivating)...the sweet, crunchy exterior, the soft, flaky, Mahi-Mahi....whoa, what happened...where am I?

Sorry, back to the FTs. So let's face it, anyone who has been to Opah a few times can agree that fish tacos are not what you think of from this small, but upscale OC restaurant chain (locations in AV and Irvine). In fact, I almost didn't open the menu... thinking I already knew what I wanted. But, just before it was my turn to order, I glanced at the menu and spotted "Fork & Knife Blackened Fish Tacos." I knew what to do.

These FTs were different than the typical ones I have had in the past. First, as stated in their name, these FTs required utencils. But don't think for a second that utencils make these FT's not worth the effort. Don't judge a book by it's cover.

The lunch portion includes a pair of grilled, blackened Mahi-Mahi FTs covered in cabbage and sprouts and flanked by a healthy portion of a fresh papaya and cucumber salsa. The flour tortillas were spread on the inside with a roasted tomato butter. What made this dish was the combination of all of these things together. The sweetness of the papaya was the best part. Unlike most tacos I eat (fish or otherwise), which I douse in the hottest hot sauce available, these left a tangy taste in my mouth.

It is hard to compare these FTs to their hand-eaten brethren that you find at most Mexican or Mexican-inspired restaurants. Overall, I enjoyed these FTs and would encourage ordering them...presuming you have tried the Macademia Crusted Mahi-Mahi.

Opah Restaurant & Bar

26851 Aliso Creek Road, #C

Aliso Viejo, CA 92656

(949) 360-8822

Tacos & Co

Tacos & Co is a small chain of mexican food restaurants that I have been to many times (because their location at Bristol & Jamboree) is central to everything. They have five total stores and I have not been to any of the others ones. My regular order at Tacos & Co is the carnitas and I have always enjoyed them.

As I drove up today, I saw a huge sign advertising fish tacos for $1.99 hanging out in front of the store. On the wall menu, I saw both grilled fish tacos and Sonora fish tacos (fried) offered. I ordered two grilled fish tacos with rice and beans. Each one was $1.99 and the rice and beans was an additional $0.99.

There was a small mix-up with my order and I only received one taco (as pictured) with the sides, but they quickly rectified the mistake and brought me out my second taco within a minute. The tacos are standard in their construction; double corn tortillas, yellow-tinged chopped up and grilled Tilapia, mixed-cabbage slaw (very crunchy), crema, and diced tomatoes. I tasted the first one without any additional salsa and found it to be a very good fish taco. The best part of it was the crunchy cabbage mix which was much more toothsome (although pleasingly so) than others. I couldn't detect what the mysterious yellow seasoning on the fish was and forgot to ask. I will be back to sample the Sonora style tacos and will ask then.

My overall review is positive. The tacos were above average, incredibly well priced, and the cabbage mix was really pleasingly crunchy.

They have great nachos and give student discounts as well (though my student discount days are growing farther and farther away at an alarmingly rapid rate).

Tacos & Co
3601 Jamboree Road, STE #6
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Good coupons on their website here

George's Mexican Food

It was 2:00 pm and I hadn’t had lunch. I was running around trying to get my two year old son a Thomas the Train crossing arm that he desperately wanted and that took me far from Irvine to the mean streets of Westminster (and incidentally, if you need ANY model train paraphernalia, go to http://www.arniestrains.com/). On my way back to the freeway along Edinger, I saw the bright sombrero of a grinning man beckoning me to come in to George’s. Despite it having a drive-through, I parked and walked inside to better feel the ambiance and enjoy the fish taco as George would have me do it.

I walked into the empty restaurant (although there were several cars in the drive through) and perused the menu. I have to admit that there were so many good looking menu options that I wanted to order a torta or a carnitas burrito, but, this is the year of the fish taco, so I soldiered on and ordered the 2 item combo with two fish tacos and rice and beans for $5.49. I inquired from the less-than-friendly lady behind the counter what type of fish was used in the tacos and she informed me that it was Tilapia. For those that don’t know, Tilapia is a freshwater, tropical, white fish that is a bottom-feeder like a catfish, however, most are farm-raised and good for you since they are low in fat and high in Omega 3 and 6’s.

I watched as the cook took a Styrofoam, 3-part “picnic” plate and piled up refried pintos in one part, Spanish rice in another part, and prepared four corn tortillas on a steam press. She waited for a cook in the back room to produce two 5 inch fried filets of fish through a pass which she then placed into the double tortillas and added a white crème freche (or Crema) sauce, a shredded cabbage mix, and pico de gallo. She added two lime sections and a handful of chips and handed me the plate.

Upon inspection of the fish, I found that it had a thick, bright orange breading that appeared to feature several spices and that the fish inside was somewhat slimy and had shrunk from the crispy outer shell. The tortillas were larger than most and the filet of fish in each taco was much larger than most.



The overall flavor was ok. Nothing special. I found the consistency of the fish within the breading (the sliminess) a tiny bit off-putting, but overall, it was a mediocre fish taco. The chips were above-average and the rice was one of the few Mexican rices which I actually ate and found to be tasty (no doubt from the overall fat content since it appeared to be completely covered in oil). Overall, it was a passable lunch and well priced, but left me thinking that I should have ordered a carnitas burrito…

I checked out their website and it says that they have been doing it for 25 years. I found their website to be pretty impressive for a drive-through Mexican food place. My only criticism is the opening video where a clearly Caucasian voice says, “Our food is Bueno and picante!” with no attempt to add any sort of accent and with a funny way of saying “bueno.” They should have told her to roll like the newscasters who speak perfect English until they pronounce a Spanish word and roll their r’s into oblivion. They even have a twitter feed and online coupons. Now if they could only improve their fish tacos…

George’s Mexican Food
6581 Edinger Avenue
Huntington Beach, CA
http://www.georgesmexicanfood.net/index.php

Steelhead Brewery, Irvine, CA

Tonight I sampled the fish tacos at Steelhead Brewery in Irvine. The menu features: 'Three corn tortillas wrapped around our beer battered Alaskan halibut, topped with cheese and shredded cabbage, served with guacamole, salsa, black beans and wild rice.' $13.95

The tortillas were small and marginal. Of the 3, one was blue corn and 2 were yellow. The fish was the same fish from the fish and chips and had a delightfully crunchy exterior. The fish itself was relatively tasteless...not in a bad way, just very flavor neutral. Our waitress suggested I add some of the chipotle tartar sauce served with the fish and chips. I complied and her reco and found it to be a great addition.The sides of beans and rice were marginal, but ultimately unnecessary since the 3 tacos were very filling.

My Bombay Bomber IPA was a great foil for the richness of the fish and very hoppy in its finish.

We need an overall ranking system and categories.

Next time here I will try the grilled fish tacos.

Our waitress suggested the following:

Aloha Grill in CM

Eat Chow in CM

Catalina Fish Kitchen in CM

Steelhead Brewery
4175 Campus Drive
Irvine, CA 92612-2618

Welcome to THE YEAR OF THE...

Three of us were sitting around drinking and talking about the fact that one of us had ordered the same dish all year (tamales) in search of the best one. We had a few more drinks and debated what dish we should chose for 2010 and declared 2010 the YEAR OF THE FISH TACO.

Ground rules: There are none. We will simply order fish tacos at as many establishments as possible and provide a review of each. Perhaps as the year moves on we will select certain awards to give out and we will definitely come up with a ranking system for the fish tacos.