Lobstery and Delish-y

What do you get when you cross a family reunion on Cape Cod, leftover lobster and a budding young chef? Why lobster fish tacos of course!

Had Max had more time to plan, I'm sure a stellar Baja sauce would have been whipped up. Until then....

4 out of 5 fishies.

Marfa Marfa Marfa!

Back from a Big Bend and West Texas Spring Break road trip and I'm all sick and sniffly. So as I work my way through this large box of Kleenex, let me tell you about the fish tacos I had in Marfa and the sights I saw in the land of wide open spaces.

Driving through this region is like nothing else. You can drive for hours and see few signs of life. The landscape is beautiful, but the terrain is often rugged with random rock formations jutting out from the desert. Your eyes are always peeled for a cowboy or a javelina. I kept thinking back to the Karl May western books I cherished as a child and found myself lost in the peace and solitude the area had to offer.

Big Bend National Park is really really big; as in almost as big as Rhode Island. The terrain is varied, with the Chisos Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert and the watery U.S. / Mexico border of the Rio Grande to explore. But even with its sheer size, please don't just stick to scenic drives. The park is best explored by foot (or canoe!). So many hikes to choose from can be a bit overwhelming, but you can't really go wrong in the diverse beauty the Park has to offer. Listen to the silence of the desert, try to spot a mountain lion in the Chisos Basin and gaze in wonder at the Blue Heron sitting on the river's edge.

Then there are the little towns, like Terlingua, a former mining boomtown that went bust when the mines closed down in the '40s. The town is now home to park employees and river guides, as well as a smattering of artists and others who were drawn to the laid-back lifestyle this region provides. As for the ghost-town feel, the place is slowly reviving, with new buildings going up that make creative use of the crumbling walls of old ruins.

And no trip to this part of the world is complete without a stop at the McDonald Observatory. Some of the clearest and darkest skies in North America are found here, as well as some really big telescopes. Buy tickets to one of their Star Parties and the biggest laser pointer you've ever seen will help guide you on a tour of the night sky, pointing out constellations, planets, and galaxies. And afterwards, you get to play astronomer as you peer through various telescopes (my favorite targeted the Orion Nebula).

But let's get back to the quirky little towns of this region and specifically Marfa, TX. A dusty little West Texan town filled with New Yorkers and hipsters, you might wonder how a place like this came to be. Well, it's mostly due to one of the world's largest installations of minimalist art. Throw in a little bit of James Dean lore (Giant was filmed here) and some mysterious lights and you have Marfa. This place, with its quirky eateries (be sure not to miss Marfa Burrito) and "hotels" is on its own schedule, which the locals make up as they please. There is even a grilled cheese place that is only open 9:30pm to 2:30am on Fridays and Saturdays. Talk about limited hours! 

I promised to tell you about my fish tacos here, and the story begins with the idiosyncratic nature of Marfa. Craving some pizza after days of camping food, we headed to the Pizza Foundation, only to be told that they were out of dough and wouldn't have more for three days. They do know that dough is made up of little more than flour and water, right? And it's not like they weren't expecting the Spring Break crowds. Finding another place that was open on a Monday (this town is pretty dead the first half of the week) proved to be a challenge, but we were successful at last and settled down around the bar at Jett's Grill located at the Hotel Paisano. The hotel's claim to fame is that James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor and the rest of the Giant cast stayed here during filming. Our barkeep was frazzled with all the orders she had to keep up with (it's apparently hard for this tiny town to be sufficiently staffed during busy times), but the Margarita she mixed up for me was delicious and refreshing. And when I saw tilapia tacos on the menu, I felt as if fate had brought me here.

For $12, one pan seared tilapia fillet is split onto two flour tortillas and topped with cucumber, cabbage, avocado and a spicy aioli chipotle sauce. The fish was perfectly spiced and the flavors stayed in the palette for quite some time. The toppings were simple and tasty. The sauce was piquant, although not plentiful enough. All in all, a might tasty fish taco was had in Marfa, TX. And the slowness that is West Texas and places like Marfa? I probably won't be purchasing a pair of cowboy boots and moving to these parts, but the respite was sure appreciated.

Jett's Grill @ Hotel Paisano
207 North Highland Ave.
Marfa, TX 79843
(432) 729-3669

http://www.hotelpaisano.com/pages/jetts.html

4 out of 5 fishies.

Guest Review: This fish taco blogger's mom heads to Mexico

As the mother of a dedicated fish taco blogger, I felt I had to do my part and eat some fish tacos during my recent trip to Mexico, the land of the taco. My husband and I went on a New Years cruise and one of our stops was the port of Cozumel. I not only had a chance to explore this town but also to eat genuine Mexican delicatessen.

We decided to check out Palmeras. Located right by the beach in front of the main ferry pier, the restaurant's Caribbean style wooden structure and French tile roof were very inviting. Its location offered a spectacular view of the Caribbean sea and what I hoped to be a solid promise of a new culinary and fishy adventure.

Our fish taco plate (~$10) came with three tacos. The strips of blackened fish were wrapped in soft flour tortillas. I could not distinguish what type of fish was served; however, I noticed that the filling included a mayo-based creamy sauce, guacamole, salsa and shredded lettuce. The latter ingredient surprised me, as cabbage is traditionally served in fish tacos. The taste of the meal was good but not as extraordinary as I (naively perhaps) expected from the Mexican tavern. However, the entire experience of sitting outdoors on a gorgeous January day, while looking at the blue ocean and drinking Mexican beer was indeed priceless.

Av. Rafael E. Melgar
San Miguel, Cozumel 77600
Mexico
(987) 8720532

http://www.restaurantepalmeras.com/

3 out of 5 fishies.

Just stick with the fried clams

I recently spent a day in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Having once lived nearby, I was seriously craving some delicious seafood, preferably in one of the restaurants overlooking the Portsmouth Harbor. So we headed to Surf, home of the Raw Bar and super fresh seafood. Now I was planning on eating my much missed fried oysters or clams and perhaps some ceviche, but when I saw a fish taco on the menu, I knew I had to sample that as well.

The fish tacos ($14) came three to a plate with a side of Jasmine Rice. The flour tortillas were filled with seasoned fried haddock, a house mango salsa, guacamole, napa cabbage, cheddar cheese and sour cream. The litte fish bites were oh so tasty. But the tacos as a whole... well, they didn't really taste taco-ey. Maybe it was the overwhelming taste of the sour cream or the choice of cheddar cheese, but I just didn't feel like I was eating a fish taco.

However, the lightly fried calamari tossed with parmesan in a cherry pepper vinaigrette, spicy scallop ceviche and the lightly fried Ipswich sweet clam sandwich (served on a grilled potato roll with spicy mayonnaise) were all delicious - so much fishy goodness. So stick with those and skip the fish tacos.

Surf Restaurant
99 Bow St.
Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 334-9855

http://www.surfseafood.com/portsmouth.html

3.5 out of 5 fishies.

This fish taco blogger trades the Little Apple in for the Big

New Year's Eve brought me back to New York City and I was introduced to another fish taco establishment. Nestled in the heart of Nolita, Tacombi has quite the interesting hipster vibe. The first thing you notice when entering the warehouse/garage space is the perma-parked vintage VW bus with a pop-up roof. There is a surf-shack style open kitchen in back, folding tables and chairs scattered throughout and the place is decorated with stringed lights and tropical potted plants. The name Tacombi is a play on the words "taco" and "combi" (van). Orders are taken at a counter and made up at the bus which gets its fixins from the kitchen in back. The atmosphere may be campy and theatrical, but it does evoke being at a Yucatan beach shack. Tacombi was indeed originally a taco stand in Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya.

The taqueria had a number of fishy options for us to sample: Crispy Fish (beer battered fish, chipotle mayo, cabbage slaw), Seared Veracruzana Fish (seared fish, roasted tomato, caper and olive salsa), Pescado a la Plancha con Pina (seared fish and grilled pineapple salsa), Crispy Shrimp (beer battered shrimp in a salsa borracha), and Seared Shrimp (seared shrimp in a salsa borracha). Served on small tin plates, each double tortilla'd taco ran around $4-5 and had enough filling to make two. Outside of the pineapple salsa version, which they were out of, we sampled all they had to offer. Some fishy tacos were better than others. While most were a bit on the bland side, the Crispy Fish was indeed crisp and tasted freshly fried. The only thing that did not work was the overly strong mayo taste of the sauce. What really made a positive impression on us were the non-fishy tacos such as the Al Pastor (marinated pork and roast pineapple) and especially the Maiz y Poblano (sweet corn, poblano peppers, cotija cheese). But unfortunately for Tacombi, it's the fishy tacos we are reviewing.

So in summary, come check out the hipster vibe, eat some non-fishy tacos and wash it all down with hibiscus tea, spiked horchata or (my favorite) watermelon lime sangria. This place is worth a visit.

Tacombi
at Fonda Nolita
267 Elizabeth Street
NYC, NY 10012
(917) 727-0179

http://www.tacombi.com/

3.5 out of 4 fishies.

This fish taco blogger is once more pleasantly surprised in Kansas

It was that Christmas time of year again and so I headed west to Manhattan, Kansas for the Holidays. My mom was quick to bring to my attention a newly opened Mexican joint that had a fish taco on the menu for me to try. Taco Lucha is located in Aggieville, home of bars and cheap eats for the students. And this newly opened eatery seems to be quite a hit already, as even with most students out of town, the lines were long. The place is happy and bright, steeped in the imagery of the Mexican Luchador tradition and decorated with colorful wrestling masks, assorted lanterns, and bright green bar stools.

We started off with a margarita (tasty although a bit on the watery side) and a bowl of freshly made guacamole. The fish taco was of the classic variety - grilled tilapia, pico de gallo, cabbage, and cilantro lime creme served on a flour tortilla. On the side, a bottle of homemade smoked habanero sauce to spice things up. For $2.75 each, the tacos are priced to please the student budget. The fish was flavorful, the creme delicious, the cabbage crunchy and the addition of the habanero sauce tied it all together beautifully. For 50 additional cents you can add cheese, guacamole or pickled escabeche to your taco. Seeing as Taco Lucha is brought to you by the same owners as the previously well-reviewed So Long Saloon, I should not have been surprised to find such tasty fishy morsels in this Kansas town.

Taco Lucha
1130 Moro
Manhattan, KS
(785) 320-5255

http://www.tacoluchamanhattan.com/

4 out of 5 fishies.

Where's the fish?

Flying through DFW and wishing the Urban Taco I stopped at had fishy options on their menu... their chicken tinga and al pastor tacos were quite tasty and only $3 each (not bad for airport prices).

This fish taco blogger heads down to Texas

Howdy from west Texas y'all. Not being a native, I cannot eat pulled pork sandwiches and steak fries on a daily basis, so I recently headed to Fuzzy's Taco Shop for somewhat lighter grub. This self touted "Baja Style" joint had three fishy tacos on their menu - fish (grilled or tempura), shrimp (grilled or tempura) and crawfish. All tacos come on your choice of corn or flour tortillas, served soft or crispy (c'mon, that's just wrong). The fixins are lettuce, feta cheese, a garlic sauce and tomato. Now I thought everything was supposed to be big in Texas, however that seems to compete with the fact that everything in Lubbock has to be cheap to keep the college folk happy. Instead of substantial pieces of fish, these tacos come with a piddlee'o amount of little nuggets of fish. But at $1.99 each, can you really complain? The tacos are still quite large in size, with a lot of filler to bulk them up (mainly consisting of lettuce). The tempura batter is just a fancy way to say fried, and the fish underneath was decent, but nothing to write home about. The grilled shrimp was bland and to be avoided. However, the crawfish tacos were quite tasty - lots of flavor and a surprising sweetness to them. The garlic sauce in the tacos was boring and watery, but the feta cheese (a surprising choice) added a lot of flavor. And you can spice up any taco with their very hot habanero hot sauce. So get down to Fuzzy's Taco Shop (see here for its many locations) and cool the seat of your saddle. And be sure to get a strong and palatable $4 brain-freeze Texas-sized margarita while here!

2102 Broadway
Lubbock, TX 79401
(806) 740-8226

http://www.fuzzystacoshop.com/index.html

3 out of 5 fishies.

This fish taco blogger turns lobster red at the Jersey Shore

After too much sun and beach lounging, we strolled along the shore on our way to Surf Taco. Having read somewhere that this surf-themed, casual restaurant serves up fresh coastal cuisine, I knew we had to sample their fishy fare. Tacos are around $5 for one and we ordered two different fish tacos on the menu. Their signature Surf Taco is cod battered in tempura, topped with pico de gallo, a white cilantro sauce, a ton of shredded cabbage and a squeeze of lime. The blackened mahi mahi comes with seasoned grilled fish and the same toppings as above. We got both tacos "Baja style" which was supposed to amp up the seasoning by adding two more sauces to the mix. Both tacos are served on a 6" four tortilla and come with homemade chips and four fresh salsas to choose from (mild, verde, baja and hot).

The surf taco was decent - the fish and trio of sauces were tasty, but the batter lacked crisp and the cabbage quantity was quite overpowering. The mahi mahi taco was underseasoned and bland, and the fish quantity close to non-existent. The salsas were quite palatable and fresh, but the verde was overly sweet and to be avoided.

94 Brighton Ave.
Long Branch, NJ
(one of nine locations)
(732) 229-7873

http://www.surftaco.com/

2.5 out of 5 fishies.

Fish tacos in the Big Apple

I recently returned from a most lovely long weekend in New York City. In planning for my trip I had included Empellón's soft shell crab tacos in my culinary itinerary (in addition to amazing chocolate almond croissants at Ceci-Cela and fabulous pumpernickel bagels at Ess-a-bagel - lest you think I only enjoy fish tacos) after having read a most stellar review of them. However, I neglected to find out that they are only open for dinner and were booked into at least the following week. Oops.

Thankfully I was steered in a different fishy direction and headed to Hecho en Dumbo. The place started as a pop-up in 2007 operating several nights a week out of a local cafe in Dumbo, Brooklyn (so no, it's not named after a famous flying elephant) before moving across the river to the East Village and opening a restaurant in 2010. The decor is tasteful and spare in its industrial-chic vibe consisting of exposed brick walls and a wood-plank ceiling complete with steel air ducts. Matching the contemporary Mexican atmosphere, the food is appropriately urbane. The restaurant specializes in antojitos, otherwise known as small plates, so expect dainty portions and inventive cuisine.

The $11 Tacos el Alcalde on the menu sounded pretty amazing - a mélange of smoked sable fish, braised Spanish octopus, and fresh Gulf Shrimp, folded into a trio of flour tortillas with red and yellow pepper, tomato, red onion, queso fresco, and garnished with crisp fried Fish Chicharrón.  The three bite-sized tacos came fully stuffed with fishy goodness. They were amazingly flavored and juicy and had lots of spicy, smokey Spanish flavors. They were even better once you topped them with any of the accompaniments - a spicy red tomato salsa, a green tomatillo salsa, or pico de gallo. As for the house made tortillas, they were springy and perfectly salted. The only thing that was missing for me was a creamy sauce to hold the mélange together.

So if your travels take you to New York City, do check this place out. And be sure to sample other goodies on the menu, such as the chile relleno de atun and tostadas de ceviche, both of which were mouth wateringly delicious. The cocktails list definitely merits sampling as well, with only boutique tequilas on the menu. At $10+ each, the margaritas are a bit pricey, but they go down oh so smoothly without the gross sourness typical of cheaper swill. My fresh grapefruit and Cazadores tequila Paloma ($12) was both refreshing and potent.

354 Bowery

New York, NY 10012

(212) 937-4245

http://hechoendumbo.com/

4.5 out of 5 fishies.

This fish taco blogger goes home for the holidays.

The parental units moved to Manhattan, KS a few years back, so heading home for the holidays now means heading six hours west to the Little Apple. Being curious if this Midwestern town could offer up some fishy goodness, I set my mom on a mission - find out who serves the best fish tacos in town. Her investigations led us to the So Long Saloon. This drinking establishment is located in the heart of Aggieville, the name given to campus town by the locals. The centerpiece of the place is the beautiful and lovingly restored mahogany and maple bar. As for the decor, it is a strange collection of Dia de los Muertos skeletons (all decorated with some Holiday cheer this time of year). Upon checking in on foursquare, the following tip popped up on my screen: "get the fish tacos - you won't regret it." They can be found on the Appetizers & Fancy Goods portion of the menu. For $2.50 each, you are served a deep-fried flour tortilla filled with seasoned whitefish, spicy slaw and cheddar cheese. A side of salsa comes on the side. The fish was flavorful, the slaw was tangy and the salsa had a nice little kick to it. Although certainly not traditional, these were some tasty fish tacos. And they went down well with the local brew - a Tallgrass Ale.

Aggieville
1130 Moro
Manhattan, Kansas
(785) 537-9292

http://www.solongsaloon.com

4 out of 5 fishies.