Daily Grill?

On Monday, I met a work colleague at the Daily Grill in Irvine for a lunch meeting. The last thing I expected to eat at the Daily Grill was Fish Tacos. My regular order at DG is an item on their Dinner menu, but not on their lunch menu (however, they will make it for you if you ask) - Joe's Scramble (three eggs scrambled with ground beef, spinach, onions, and mushrooms - heaven on a plate).

Listed under "Chef's Features" on a special menu printed on cardstock and handed out with the regular glossy menus, the first item was "Mahi Mahi Fish Tacos." The menu described two corn tolrtillas with pan-seared Mahi Mahi, cabbage, radishes, and cilantro tossed in a Chipotle Aioli. It was served with black beans and rice for $10.95.

It was a very good, and unexpected lunch choice that I would eat again.


Daily Grill
2636 Dupont Drive
Irvine, CA 92612

22 Locations

Baja Fresh

I have been eating at Baja Fresh since the mid-nineties when a location opened up in Westwood, California while I attended UCLA. One night a week, our fraternity would bring in Baja Fresh burritos for dinner and they were always a huge hit.

In 2002, Baja Fresh was sold to Wendy's for $275 million. These were the dark days for the chain when the fresh ingredients were replaced by a fast food model. The chain was sold to a private investor in 1006 for $31 million. There are around 300 locations operating today.

Despite having eaten about 100 burritos from BF in my career, I have never ordered their tacos. This weekend, I ventured out and tried one each of their fish tacos, one grilled and one "baja style." They were served in a combo with rice and pinto beans.

I found the grilled taco to be very good. The baja style fried one was not as good only because it did not stay crispy, it got rather limp and mushy. Both use mahi mahi and have cabbage, pico de gallo, and a "tangy avocado dressing."

A solid effort and if you get the grilled fish tacos, pretty good. Side note, at 250 calories/taco, they are a way better choice than my usual order, a steak burrito ultimo which has 950 calories.

Baja Fresh
Website

Lazy Dog Cafe

The Lazy Dog Cafe recently opened up in the former spot of French 75 at the Irvine Marketplace. The restaurant is a concept from the son of the founder of Mimi's Cafe (Chris Simms, son of Tom) and, like Mimi's the menu has a huge array of options (from lamb shanks to pizza to burgers to chicken and hummus salad).

The decor is a sort of Western ski lodge with dog pictures and themes everywhere. From the menu out front which is posted in the middle of an oversized fire hydrant to the beer taps which are dog bones hanging off of a fire hydrant.

I went on a Sunday morning with a friend, my wife, and our son. I was very tempted to order something from the brunch list, but in the name of academic honesty, decided to try the fish tacos.

The menu reads: AHI FISH TACOS
Seared Ahi tuna in warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, Island Salsa, and Horseradish Tartar Sauce. Served with steamed rice and black beans $9.95.

When the tacos arrived, they appeared rather large. Two big tacos with grilled ahi cubes, with the sauce, a healthy serving of shredded cabbage, and the salsa on the side. The steamed rice was just that and the black beans had grilled onions mixed in with them.

The tacos were relatively bland. The ahi was good, but rather bland. Rather than seared, it was fairly cooked through and there was no spice or detectable seasoning on the fish. The tartar sauce was very mild for having horseradish in it and with the amount of cabbage served in the tortilla, the taco was pretty boring. Not bad, just boring. The amount of "island salsa" given was barely enough to cover one of the tacos. I suppose that I could have asked for more, but I was caught up in the conversation and trying to take mental notes of the tacos.

A good salsa with some kick would definitely improve the tacos. After reading an industry news article about the menu, it appears that the tacos are a way to get more use out of the ahi which they buy for the Hawaiian ahi poke appetizer and Asian ahi tuna burger. While that is good food economics, it doesn't mean that the ahi cubes shouldn't be dressed up with some seasoning.

I will probably go back with the family because it is a solid, family-friendly, slightly upscale, casual dining place, but I will not be ordering the fish tacos again.

The Lazy Dog Cafe
Six locations in California with a Seventh coming soon to The Promenade in Temecula.
Website
13290 Jamboree Rd
Irvine CA 92602

Las Casuelas Nuevas

I have had a very long relationship with Las Casuelas Nuevas in Rancho Mirage, California. My family and I have been traveling to the Palm Springs area for holidays and weekends since the early 80's. Typically we all go to Las Casuelas Nuevas at least once a trip for the big night out. I have gone from the kids menu to the large house margarita and probably have eaten a metric ton or four of their chips.

Las Casuelas (the original) was the first Mexican restaurant to open in Palm Springs (1958). Las Casuelas Nuevas (this location) was opened in 1973 and is claimed to be the first Hacienda-styled dinner house in America. I have never been to Las Casuelas Terraza (opened in 1979) or Casuelas Cafe (1992). The restaurant is like a large house with a big open pation (where we eat on this trip) and several rooms, each with a little different ambiance.

I ordered the Fish Tacos under the "Taco Platters" and selected one grilled and one "Baja style" (fried). For $15.25, the plate includes mahi-mahi tacos fried or dusted with achiote seasoning and grilled, rice and beans. The tacos themselves are the standard double-corn tortilla affairs with the fish, and then a smoky Chipotle Cream sauce and jicama cole slaw.

My wife had the chile verde and our friends had carnitas and fish tacos. I have had the carnitas and chile verde many times and had some orderer's remorse when the food arrived. The carnitas looked positively succulent and dripped with pork fatty goodness. I told our companions about our search for the best fish taco and we spent some time comparing notes on where they felt the best came from. (Note: if I get down near Del Mar, I apparently need to try the Brig).

Both of us that had the fish tacos were disappointed. To be fair, they were fine, and when ordered with good friends, sitting outside on the patio on the front-side of a long weekend in Palm Springs and with a HUGE goblet of margaritas to wash it all down, I am not sure that they could ever be bad. But, in the search for the best fish tacos, all of those outside influences must be ignored and the fish must swim on its own.

To that end, the Chipotle Cream Sauce was pretty good, the tortillas were good and the fish itself was prepared well. It was just missing something to make it qualify as the best. What that is, I can't tell you, but they fall within the ever growing pool of forgettable fish tacos that will do the trick if you need fish tacos and aren't looking to be wowed. The ulitmate question is always "will I order them again?" The answer here is no...that doesn't mean that I won't keep coming back to one of my favorite restaurants in the Desert, it just means that I will order something else and only enjoy being there rather than deconstructing the food.

Website
Las Casuelas Nuevas
70-050 Highway 111
Rancho Mirage, California 92270
(760) 328-8844

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

Wahoos Fish Taco

First a disclosure: I eat at Wahoo's almost once a week because my 2.5 year old loves their fish tacos and rice and beans. I love Wahoo's Kahlua Pig and Carne Asada, but until yesterday had never ordered a fish taco. Also I know the founders of Wahoo's and think it is a great company.

With all of that said, I don't have such wonderful things to say about the Fish Tacos at Wahoo's

The menu is not very descriptive, it merely lists "fish" as a potential filling for the tacos. I ordered a #2, Two Tacos. Then the series of interview questions begins...the order taker will ask if you want your fish spicy or regular (I chose spicy), beans black or spicy cajun white beans (SCWB, but black for my wife and son), and rice brown or white (brown for all of us). I also ordered my favorite item on the menu, Mr Lee's Chili Sauce (described on the menu as a blend of red chilis, garlic, and ginger). A moment on Mr. Lee's...

Mr. Lee's is my favorite type of hot sauce. I put Tabasco or Cholula on my breakfast eggs, Tabasco Chipotle on my Macaroni & Cheese, and Sriracha on anything remotely Asian. Mr. Lee's is better than all of these because of the garlic and ginger. I like Mr. Lee's so much that I once ordered the 12 oz. size to take home (which did not end well because the spicy chili oil ate its way through the styrofoam container and ended up all over my refrigerator). I also have attempted several times to make it at home and have not gotten there. One of my favorite food bloggers, elmomonster (who also writes for the OC Weekly and Chowhound) equated it to an Indonesian Sambal which, after testing other Sambals, I now agree. See here

So on to the tacos. The corn tortillas are standard and doubled up, the fish is white, flaky, and pretty mild, and the tacos are topped with shredded cheddar cheese, shredded cabbage, and a red salsa. I covered my tacos in Mr. Lee's (and my rice, and my beans, and my chips, and my fingers, etc.) and proceeded to see what the signature dish at Wahoo's would taste like. I think that I was expecting a lot and I think that I was let down because a) I love Wahoo's b) I love the carnitas, asada, and Kahlua Pork at Wahoo's and c) I love fish tacos. They weren't bad, but by no means were they good. I may give them another try for academic honesty, but I really just don't think there's anything unique here.

I'll keep going to Wahoo's and my wife and son will keep ordering the Fish Tacos, but I will be ordering my other favorites and of course, drenching everything in Mr. Lee's.

The website for Wahoo's says that they use Wahoo or Mahi-Mahi in their fish tacos. I did not inquire which was being served that day. It also shows that they have locations in California, Colorado, Texas, and Hawaii.

www.wahoos.com