All The Hungry Herald food and drink recommendations are based entirely on our own direct experience, and we can’t guarantee that your experience will be the same. We can only hope that it will be even better. Bon appétit!
The taco is a magical little thing that we at The Hungry Herald apparently hardly ever knew, and a few months in Mexico have let us know just how unacquainted we were. From bone marrow to manta ray, the things we’ve found tucked into tortillas so far have had us wowed and re-arranging our brains – which are great in tacos by the way, in case you hadn’t heard. If you’ve checked out our previous post, you know that we’re head-over-heels in love with the city of La Paz, and of the countless reasons for this, the tacos rank pretty high. We invite you to join us now for a brief tour of a few of this town’s taquerías, and the dishes they dish, that really made us smile.
Area code 664 represent! This Tijuana-inspired, Tijuanense-run roadhouse of a birriería/taquería offers something there’s no way we were going to miss out on. We’ve delved into the sublime slow-cooked meat stew that is birria in a previous post. At Tijuas, they slam some tuétano on there. Translation: bone marrow. Vee ordered a couple of decadent quesabirria doradas: beef birria and cheese with a generous helping of marrow stuffed into two tortillas and fried until golden, served with a rich, piping hot dipping caldo, or broth, on the side. I went for a plate of naked birria piled around a grilled marrow bone, also with its consommé. Just nuts. A sprinkling of onions and cilantro and a squeeze of lime came in to shine a light, while the bone marrow lent a fatty gravity to the proceedings that took the birria to newer depths of deliciousness. And that’s deep.
Fun anecdote. While we were trying to figure out what to have, the super-friendly owner came over and enthusiastically recommended we have something with cheese. After chatting with us for a bit, he then proceeded to get on his motorcycle, which was parked in the middle of the restaurant, and with a wave goodbye, he choppered right outta there. Totally unthinkable back home, totally charming in La Paz.
This stand, along with its small orbit of tables for onsite dining, comes to life at night, occupying the entire length of an otherwise nondescript alleyway. The main event on the menu: tacos de carne asada. Large, thin cuts of juicy sirloin known as sábanas (sheets) are charcoal-grilled to absolute perfection, chopped up and served on grilled tortillas with your choice of toppings, including shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado and cilantro. Holy smokiness. As Postal Employee Newman once said: “It’s the wood that makes it good”. That, and the chef of course.
We also had their papa rellena, a shepherd’s pie-like mix of mashed potatoes, steak, mushrooms, corn and cheese that was basically comfort food to comfort comfort food itself. Special mention goes to the outstanding service, which was above and beyond considering that we were there for a take-out order.
While we’re talking carne asada, this street corner taquería offers nothing but, and that kind of focus is usually a good sign. Classic, no-nonsense, beautifully grilled steak tacos served with a virtual salad bar of delicious toppings to choose from. Goes great with a couple of chelas (cold beers) from the Oxxo convenience store across the street. This is the kind of place where you can just sit back and watch the day – and the cars – go by. Speaking of cars, after making our tacos, the affable chef/owner left the kitchen and went back out into the street to help a couple of stranded motorists with some engine issues they were having. Tacos, transmissions, Felix does it all.
If Neptune were a taquero, La Paz is undoubtedly where he’d set up shop. Claro. A pebble-skip up the street from the water, this always bustling joint knows how to dish out the briny goods. The catch is big here: fresh fish, clams, oysters, Mexican seafood classics like ceviches, aguachiles, campechanas and molcajates, plus a large selection of tacos, tostadas, burritos, toritos – you name it – all literally stuffed with the sea.
From first-rate Baja fried fish and fried shrimp tacos, to smoked marlin tostadas that had us thinking of Estonian smoked eel (extremely high praise), to our very first exquisitely tender octopus tacos, everything we had was outstanding. The Grand Jury Prize goes to the torito de camarón, a sneaky little taco hiding a whole batter-fried green chile pepper plus melted cheese and featuring some of the best grilled garlic shrimp we’ve ever had. All of it freshly dressed however you like. Shall we throw in some great service and a perfect margarita to tie the whole thing together? Just yes.
Another fishtastic spot, this institution, boasting two other locations in Jalisco, has recently celebrated 30 years in business. And we definitely understand why such mileage. The amazing food, the decor, the vibe, the excellent service marked by a palpable pride on the part of the team – everything conspires to make this place a must-stop for any visitor to this fair city. As it says on the back of their T-shirts here: “No somos estilo La Paz, somos La Paz” (“We’re not La Paz-style, we are La Paz”). No arguments there.
The place is bright, breezy and cheerily done up with super cool metallic fish and seafood lamps hanging all around plus an impressive marlin bust jumping right out of the wall, striking reminders of what the menu is all about here. And that would be fish and seafood antojitos done right. We can confirm that the fish and shrimp tacos as well as the manta ray burritos are superb, but please, we beg you, if you go, try the choyero. Plump grilled shrimp, ooey gooey melted Chihuahua cheese, green peppers, smoked marlin and chunks of back bacon in a fried tortilla. Goodness gracious. This was yet another halt on our taco trek that had us checking ourselves. Again, just yes.
You may think that talking about yet another fish place is overkill, but when in Baja, we’re sorry, it’s not. This is the home of the eponymous fried fish taco, and the ones we had at this stand were a home run. Walking by one day on the sidewalk, we noticed a crowd of people gathered around while a family of five was working the stand, one member tending a boiling cauldron of hot oil wherein the magic was happening. The main event was fish tacos, and we wanted in. Dos, por favor.
Having dressed them ourselves with all the classics and then some, courtesy of a small glass condiment cupboard on the side of the stand, we dug in. It was love at first bite, and we now understood what all the fuss was about. The fried fish simply beer-battered us upside the head in a way that would give any London pub a run for its money. A cumulous cloud in fresh fish form had been fried to absolute golden crisp perfection and placed in a tortilla. The fish-to-batter ratio was just as we love it (i.e., all about the fish), while the fresh shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, smooth avocado cream and fresh lime – with a few spicy onions thrown in for unfettered fun – just got the whole thing dancing in the street. Good lunch.
Manta ray, anyone? We passed this place several times before finally giving it a try, and each time we did, we would eye a little paper sign on the wall advertising their tongue tacos. It turns out they’re amazing and tender beyond belief, but what we weren’t prepared for was an item that we would have rushed to try earlier had we simply Googled one of the words on their sign outside.
Caguamanta, hailing from the state of Sonora, is a tomato and chile-based stew of manta ray, shrimp and vegetables that can be enjoyed in taco form. As the name suggests, it was originally made with caguama turtle, which is now endangered so shrimp is thankfully used instead these days. Ours was just delicious, loaded with a generous helping of nice chunks of ray with a texture somewhere between skate wing and swordfish. This taco had a grandmother’s touch written all over it and was quite unlike anything we’ve had. Unicos indeed.
A guacamaya is a macaw, and, like its namesake, this place is bursting with colour. Very tasty colour. We stopped by for a quick afternoon beer, but things got a lot more interesting real fast. The beers were quickly converted into the first micheladas we met in Mexico, and let’s just say we hit it off right away. A simple Google search of this cocktail can get perplexing as it has countless variations, but you’re generally looking at super cold blonde beer meets freshly squeezed lime, a proprietary house blend of salt, chile pepper, spices and sauces (which can mean anything from Worcestershire to teriyaki sauce), maybe tomato or clamato juice but not always, the whole lot served up on ice in a spice-rimmed glass. Ours came with a spice-dipped straw for some deluxe swizzling, and Vee had the mango with habanero version. Whatever they put in those things, all we can say is that we now understand. Suddenly, we had the feeling we’d be staying longer.
After sampling some of the little accompaniments that came with our drinks, including an impressively spicy grilled serrano pepper whose fumes got us right in the eyelids with every bite, the juices were officially flowing and tacos now had to happen. The volcán de arrachera was a fried open taco-not-taco boasting a joy-inducing crispy tortilla, volcanically gooey cheese and juicy grilled skirt steak that had Vee repeatedly using the Lord’s name in vain. The chuleta taco, a char-grilled pork chop taco served with an adorable tiny chop on the side, was so smokily wonderful that we ordered another right away. And all we wanted was a beer. Oh, what a michelada can do to a day.
Come taco time, La Paz did us right, but it didn’t stop there. From freakishly fresh seafood and bar-raising grilled meats to outstanding artisanal coffee and deliciously dangerous drinks of the night, this place tickled our tummies at virtually every turn. Please stay tuned for more posts on the matter, and until then, just know that there’s a guy frying pork with a shovel in this town. And yes, it’s amazing. ¡Hasta luego!
2 Comments
You guys really made your adventure so marvelous for us to read & enjoy the excitement you provide us. Hope everything is as you expected or even better. Continue feeding us your culinary experience & travelling. Big hugs to both of you.
Thank you so much, Réal, for your wonderful message and precious support! It went straight to our hearts! Cheers and big hugs to you too!