The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada: Art, Tacos + Auto Repair

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Restaurant Sign Los Angeles

The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada serves just two tacos next to a Los Feliz auto body shop.

It takes confidence for a chef to only sell two items, and Joseph Cordova has plenty of it. After tasting his Baja-style fish and shrimp tacos on four separate occasions, it’s clear that his confidence is warranted.

Cordova debuted The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada next to a Los Feliz auto repair shop in September 2007. He previously owned a similar restaurant in Atwater Village, but due to a neighborhood dispute with the landlord, he was forced to find new location. Cordova grew up near Los Feliz, has always loved the neighborhood and thought he could make the long dormant space work.

To beautify the storefront, Cordova hired Ed Cristal, a friend and local artist, to create the underwater décor. It took a few months, but now the walls feature colorful tile work that resembles a coral reef, teeming with hand-painted Dorado. Behind the salsa bar, a cobalt blue wall hosts swaying seaweed.

Cordova owns a Hollywood art gallery called Gallery Chauvet, named for the caves in France that house the oldest known cave paintings – 34,000 years old. Thanks to the gallery, Cordova is able to showcase paintings from local artists who display “a sense of style, grace and beauty.”

Cordova lamented, “Baja style fish tacos originated in Ensenada, but they have completely bastardized the technique to please the American palates. Down there, they fudge and skimp. I won’t do that.” Cordova promises a classic Baja style fish taco, similar to how they were in Ensenada fifty years ago.

When asked where he learned to make fish tacos, Cordova said, “My mother is a gourmet chef in eight different cuisines. I can cook the pants off almost anyone, so when I discovered Ensenada style fish tacos, I was able to duplicate it and kick it up a few notches.”


Salsa Bar Los Angeles

To dress tacos, a 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 crunchy shredded cabbage and La Crema Magica (“the final ingredient”).

Cordova even created a sexy character named Sessy Salsa to appear on the sign and as a branding tool to explain the salsas. Cordova said, “She has an opinion on each salsa, which is an education on how hot they are, flavors and textures, and how they might affect your mouth.” Cordova appreciates how, given all the possible salsa bar combinations, “every single taco can have a different attitude or taste. They’re not just a food or a sensation.”

Tacos Los Angeles

Cordova and his crew lightly fry basa, a farm-raised white fish that’s flaky, but firm and sports a sheer batter coat. Cordova said, “I can use any type of good white fish I want, but this one has perfect texture and doesn’t taste fishy.” Agreed. Plump shrimp are similarly stellar.

I dressed my fish taco with Pineapple Kiss and Hot Guac, contributing nice chile heat. I treated a shrimp taco to Mad Mango and tangy Radish Relish. Both tacos hosted a Crema Magica streak.

The only component of the tacos that could possibly be improved is the packaged tortillas, which are grilled but still tend to break when loaded with salsa.

To drink, the back counter displays plastic jugs of fresh tamarindo, Jamaica and horchata, all ladled into cups by counterwomen. Unlike the sweet Mexican horchata, which is loaded with cinnamon, Cordova prefers a “Central American” horchata, flavored with freshly ground morro seeds from a calabash gourd, which provide a nutty flavor. Cordova said, “They provide depth of flavor instead of syrupy sweetness.” Agreed.

Desserts Los Angeles

Cordova’s artist friend Carla Choy bakes different dollar desserts daily, depending on her whim, including flavorful peanut butter brownies with chocolate ganache and pineapple empanadas.

In the past, I’ve spotted lemon bars. Cordova said, “Carla is an incredible artist and photographer whose real passion in life is baking. When they’re there, they’ll be there. When they’re not, don’t ask.”

Cordova is about to go into production on his salsas, which will be available for sale in-house and at local markets. He also hopes the Los Feliz location will be a prototype for future expansion. In the meantime, he has to settle for serving some of the city’s best fried fish tacos.

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Joshua Lurie

Joshua Lurie founded FoodGPS in 2005. Read about him here.

Blog Comments

I find the place fantastic the tacos delicious and Joseph and his staff to be incredibly warm and generous individuals. Plus the comedy night is a real jewel in the community.

I also tasted Mr. Cordova’s tacos, but like any chef he made the mistake of trying to kick it up a notch, i decided to test it, and he failed miserably.

First of all the batter doesn’t taste like the one we’ve done in Ensenada since at least 50-60 years ago, there’s something missing, the fish used in Ensenada it’s not any white fish, even more so, i am an oceanologist and can tell you that there are differences between a cultivated fish and one captured at sea.

The sauce… while it can be pretty easy to ‘sell’ a mild sauce as really hot in the US, the fact is that even the hottest sauce wasn’t even as half as hot as one in Ensenada, where we have choices between a mild sauce, a hot sauce and a pure chile sauce. His sauces are good, but are more apt for a hawaiian style fish taco than an Ensenada taco, a city where pineapples don’t grow, even mangos don’t grow, avocados aren’t grown in Ensenada but unlike the fruits, these are easily found at any market.

I must say the taco only with the mayo-cream mixture (crema mágica), cabbage and half a lime or lemon was good, but the sauces nulified the original Ensenada flavor. It became something like a bastard american version of the fish taco.

Too bad, i was expecting something really good to blow my senses while being away from my natal city, but Mr. Cordova’s cockyness was proven to be only a bluff, it would be as presumptuous as to have “the best burgers in the USA” in Ensenada, but maybe he should ask his mom, or better yet, ask the “secrets” to anyone at a fish taco stand at Ensenada.

Cheers

Raquel and Mike,

Now that I’ve eaten fish tacos in Ensenada, I agree that The Best Fish Taco’s is not representative of the original version. I still enjoy the lightly fried (albeit different) basa at The Best Fish Taco, but am no longer impressed with the unusual salsas.

Have you tried Ricky’s Fish Tacos down the street? Last I heard, he parks his cart on the weekends at 1400 North Virgil. Here’s a link to the Taco Task Force’s round-up of the best Baja style fish tacos in Los Angeles, including Ricky’s and The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada:

http://www.foodgps.com/taco-task-force-los-angeles-fish-tacos

I tried this version of fish taco , but definitely I love the fish tacos at Ensenada, I was born there and I missed the original flavor of our tacos and of course the really spicy hot sauce we used at Ensenada. I really appreciate the effort that Mr. Cordova put on his “recipe” but he had to surrender to the fact that his tacos are a half version of the real fish tacos in Ensenada. And of course and I do not think that the expertise american palates can be fooled.

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