On our most recent group trip to Mexico, Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet L.A. started discussing his frustrations with L.A. taco blogs and how there has to be better criteria for determining which tacos warrant attention. With that in mind, he recruited me, Matthew Kang (Mattatouille), Javier Cabral (The Glutster) and Cathy Danh (gas•tron•o•my) to form the Taco Task Force. Mattatouille was in Chicago - somehow Alinea held more appeal - but the remaining task forcers set out to find the best Baja-style fried fish taco in L.A.
There were certain factors I was interested in exploring at each stop, including the variety of fish and oil, whether or not the tortillas were house-made, and how much effort went into producing unique condiments. There was wide variation in each area. There’s clearly no formula for producing a superior fish taco, but there are certain choices that can help your cause.
Bill came up with five different categories he was interested in scoring. He wanted each of us to award a possible five points for the Grade of Key Ingredient, Condiment, Authenticity, Overall Flavor and Cooking. The amorphous “Authenticity” category had me and Cathy baffled, especially since Bill and Javier were the only two Taco Task Force Members who had traveled extensively in Mexico. Still, since this was the first time, and the Taco Task Force is a work in progress, we went with the five categories.
Taco Task Force Stop #1: Tacos Baja (fka Tacos Baja Ensenada), a 10-year-old institution on one of East L.A.’s main drags with strung with flair limited to strings of seashells.
For his fish taco ($1.59), owner Martin Martinez decided to fry catfish in vegetable oil, which produced a thin, crisp batter and white fish that separated in moist sheets. The toppings consisted of rough-cut cabbage, house-made crema, diced tomato and hot sauce.
The bar featured delectable gueros (blonde chilies) dusted with chile powder, fresh-cut limes and radishes. The Glutster warned that gueros have the potential to be explosively spicy, but I ate around the seed cluster at the center of the pepper and managed to avoid springing the spice bomb.
Tacos Baja also features the rarely seen (in L.A.) Taco Cahuamanta ($1.99), a taco with crisp rows of manta ray that look like tank treads and taste like albacore. This delectable taco didn’t factor into the scoring, but featured more kick thanks to the tangy salsa and roasted bell peppers.
Here’s the initial scoresheet, with B standing for Bill, J for Javier and C for Cathy and her fiance Vernon. Since I was the scorekeeper, my score is listed first.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 4, B 4, J 3.5, C 3.5 AVERAGE 3.75/5
Condiment: 2.5, B, 2.5, J 3, C 4 AVERAGE 3/5
Authenticity: 3.5, B 3.5, J 2.5, C 2 AVERAGE 2.875/5
Overall Flavor: 3, B 3.5, J 3.5, C 4 AVERAGE 3.5/5
Cooking: 4.5, B, 4, J 4.5, C, 4.5 AVERAGE 4.375/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 3.5/5
Taco Task Force Stop #2: El Taco Nazo in South El Monte.
Tony and Telma Garcia operate six Nazos around L.A., and they’ve been in the taco business since 1978, but their fish taco ($1.69) was disappointing and took a drubbing in the post-bite breakdown session.
The pollack taco had an awful batter to fish ratio and on the surface, was completely indistinguishable from the shrimp taco ($1.99). It wasn’t until we parted the cabbage sea and cut through the thick batter with a plastic knife that we learned which was which. The clumpy batter and fish were both bland, and the cabbage, tomato, onion, cilantro and house-made crema completely overpowered the fish. Even the peppery roasted gueros couldn’t offer redemption.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2.5, B 2.5 AVERAGE 2.25/5
Condiment: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2.5, B 2 AVERAGE 2.125/5
Authenticity: 2.5, C 2, J 2, B 2.5 AVERAGE 2.25/5
Overall Flavor: 1.5, C 3.5, J 2.5, B 1.5 AVERAGE = 2.25/5
Cooking: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2, B 2 AVERAGE 2/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 2.175/5
Taco Task Force Stop #3: the flagship outpost of Señor Fish in Eagle Rock.
Señor Fish started on Figueroa in 1988, but the original location was supplanted by Via Mar. Alicia Ramirez opened the Eagle Rock branch in 1995, near Occidental College. You’ll now find branches in South Pasadena, downtown, Alhambra and Duarte.
Señor Fish hosts a board with eight different varieties of fish, which vary from day to day. For their fish taco ($2.50), they fry cod in vegetable oil. The oversized taco featured clumpy batter, but supported a finely chopped salsa and fresh condiments. The salsa bar was the day’s most impressive, hosting chilled bins of crema and five styles of salsa, including tangy tomatillo and smoky burnt-orange chile de arbol.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 3.5 C 4, J 3.5, B 3 AVERAGE 3.5/5
Condiment: 4, C 4, J 4.5, B 4 AVERAGE 4.125/5
Authenticity: 2.5, C 2, J 2, B 2 AVERAGE 2.125/5
Overall Flavor: 3.5, C 3, B 2, J 3 AVERAGE 2.875/5
Cooking: 3, C 2.5, B 2.5, J 3 AVERAGE 2.75/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 3.075/5
Taco Task Force Stop #4: The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada, which Joseph Cordova debuted next to a Los Feliz auto repair shop in 2007.
For his fish tacos ($1.50), Cordova’s cooks flash-fry flavorful basa (farm raised catfish) in canola oil and grill store-bought tortillas until crispy. Since the batter isn’t crispy, I liked the tortillas’ texture, but Bill and The Glutster said that simply isn’t done in Baja. This was clearly the most flavorful fish of the day, texture aside.
The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada was the only restaurant that allows customers to dress their own tacos, which is standard in Baja and rang true for the Street Gourmet. The well-stocked salsa bar hosts bowls of shredded radish relish, Pineapple Kiss (“tropical refreshing bite”), Hot Guac, Mad Mango, Mango Less (“all of the passion – none of the mango”), Mild (“delicious, but wimpy”), plus shredded cabbage for crunch and a dispenser of La Crema Magica (“the final ingredient”). None of the salsas is particular stellar, but they are unique options.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 4.5, J 4.5, C 3.5, B 3.5 AVERAGE 4/5
Condiment: 3.5 B 2.5, C 3.5, J 4 AVERAGE 3.375/5
Authenticity: 2.5 J 2.5, B 3.5, C 3.5 AVERAGE 3/5
Overall Flavor: 4, C 3, J 4, B 3.5 AVERAGE 3.875
Cooking 3.5, C 3, J 3, B 3 AVERAGE 3.125/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 3.475/5
Taco Task Force Stop #5…postponed. Ricky’s Fish Tacos was going to be our final fish taco stop, but Bill checked Ricky’s Twitter account and it read, “HOLA EVERY 1 & SORRY!! UNXPCTD TRIP, RFT CLOSED TODAY AGAIN. WILL OPEN NXT SAT & SUN. THNX 4 UR UNDERSTANDING. C U LATER…” We’ll have to return to Sunset Junction on another day.
So far, Tacos Baja has an oh-so-slight edge on The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada, with Ricky’s Fish Tacos on deck. That means our final determination about the best fish taco in L.A. will have to wait.
UPDATE – December 23, 2009 After enduring rainouts and vacations, every participant in this round of Taco Task Force visited Taco Task Force Stop #5 - Ricky’s Fish Tacos - which debuted earlier this year near Silver Lake’s Sunset Junction.
Ricky is an Ensenada native who grew up making fish tacos from cazon and angelito shark. Those varieties of fish would be prohibitively expensive to source in the U.S., so he opted for basa. Ricky fries his fish to order in a light batter that’s seasoned with salt, oregano and mustard. The fish taco ($2.50) achieved a near ideal balance, with flaky white fish, a crisp, thin-sheathed crust, just enough crunchy cabbage and judicious streaks of crema, in this case a mix of mayo and milk. Ricky also makes a spicy, just right salsa from tomato, jalapeno, onion and garlic. The tortilla may be floppy and pulled from a bag, but it held together well and didn’t distract from the key ingredients. Ricky’s Fish Tacos was our unanimous selection for best Baja style fried fish taco in Los Angeles.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 4, J 5, C 4.5, B 3.5 AVERAGE 4.25/5
Condiment: 4.5 B 4, C 4.5, J 4.5 AVERAGE 4.375/5
Authenticity: 3.5 J 5, B 4, C 4 AVERAGE 4.125/5
Overall Flavor: 4, C 4.5, J 5, B 4 AVERAGE 4.625/5
Cooking 4.5, C 4.5, J 5, B 4.5 AVERAGE 4.625/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 4.4/5
Here are other reports on the experience from Taco Task Force members:
gas•tron•o•my
The Glutster
If there’s a great Baja-style fish taco in L.A. that we missed, please leave your recommendation in the Comments section below.
Related Posts
- Taco Task Force: Birria
- The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada - Los Angeles, CA - Friday, February 22, 2008
- Tacos Salceados – Tijuana, B.C., Mexico – July 18, 2009
- Sky’s Gourmet Tacos - Los Angeles, CA - August 14, 2005
- Tacos El Poblano – Tijuana, B.C., Mexico – July 16, 2009
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Great job Josh.There are kinks to be worked out but not a bad debut. The ranking system put TBE and BFTE too close, I would agree 100% on the ranking of our stops, but points were too close.
I would call TBE a 2.5 to 3 star taco when compared to the benchmark Tacos El Fenix or stand in front of El Aguila in Ensenada, which would be 4.5-5 star tacos.
The authenticity category wasn’t defined properly, so we’ll tweak our methodology.
Overall, I enjoyed mt TBE, and am vexed that Ricky was AWOL!!
I was anxiously awaiting the results when I read the tweets about the postponement on account of Ricky’s. What makes an authentic fish taco? What is the authentic fish used in Mexico?
No love for Sky’s Taco?
I should have clarified that these are all Baja-style fried fish tacos.
Aaron,
Bill could better define authenticity when it comes to Baja style fish tacos. In Baja, they typically use shark, but that variety of shark isn’t available in Los Angeles.
pheew…finally finished my wrap up!
quite the extensive post right?
on to tacos de birria then? right? ha ha
Tacos de birria it is, in 2010!
WOW nice work, i must say that only Ricky’s tacos look like fish tacos from Ensenada, the next time i’m at LA i’ll see if i can eat at Rick’s place.
By the way here in Ensenada there’s not a lot of love for the fish tacos in from of El Aguila, since they aren’t that good, when in town look for the fish tacos at 5th Avenue (Avenida Juárez) in the corner of Castillo Street, there’s the best fish tacos i’ve tasted in all my life, they have another place. The second place to eat would be at Espinoza Street and 6th Avenue (a mere 3 street walk from the first place), there are a couple more but i could tell you later ;-).
Mike, thanks for the Ensenada fish taco recommendations. I’ll follow them on my next trip to Ensenada.