Good Mexican: Mariscos La Jolla
After a nice leisurely bike ride up the San Diego coast we happened upon Mariscos in La Jolla. While Tyler was skeptical initially by its appearance the food turned out to be awesome. Even though they specialize in seafood, the rest of what we tried was great as well. If you’re in the Bird Rock area and are craving some Mexican, we would totally recommend Mariscos.
T: This place was a great find! I was skeptical at first.
A: skeptical?!? you likened it to a retirement home!
T: ok, in my defense, it was completely empty, and the menu used lots of navy blue text. I don’t know why retirement style restaurants always use navy blue text. If you’re wondering what a retirement style restaurant is, just think of any place you’ve been where you’re 2 generations younger than any of the other patrons. That kind of place. This was far from that, and it was extremely tasty.
A: true dat. both of their salsa’s were good. normally the salsa fresca, for lack of a better term, can be questionable at most establishments, but here… mmm mmm mmm! delish. my one qualm was that the chips were obviously fried at too low of a temp and were soggy/oily.
T: salsa really is one of the most important aspects of a Mexican restaurant. One of my favorite parts of eating Mexican is that there is instant gratification of tasty chips and salsa, almost immediately upon sitting down. If the restaurant can’t make a decent salsa, it really sets a bad tone for the rest of the meal. Particularly since I love to use the salsas on the rice and beans.
A: take notes people – first impressions matter! so did you enjoy your chile verde burrito as much as you enjoyed the salsas?
T: I did, and I wish we had a picture of it. The tortilla was very soft and delightful. Not at all dry or cardboardy. The pork was cooked to perfection- very tender and moist, and the salsa verde they used on the inside was tangy and reeeally tasty. It was a huge and meaty burrito, but was good enough that I damn near ate the whole thing. Actually I think I did eat the whole thing. Mmm. Ok, so I’m going to give a preliminary rating of Mariscos… we’ve only been one time, but I’ll give them a 4.7/5 in the Mexican restaurant arena. I thought their food was better than 95% of the mexican we eat in San Diego.
A: i have to agree. i’m so frequently let down by pretty much everywhere other than Ortega’s in OB, but Mariscos rose to the occasion. Now, the service was a bit slow… our server brought out each dish, one at a time, as if she couldn’t carry more than one thing, but i don’t think that is her normal gig. i think her normal gig is going to high school. anywho, the food was great. my fish was perfectly cooked and utterly moist. if i were to have eaten as it was served i might have thought it to be under-seasoned but with the addition of salsas it was freaking rocking! i give Mariscos a 4.3/5. they rocked it. we will definitely be going back, if i have anything to say about it.
T: Even if you don’t have anything to say about it we’re going back. Whatchu think about that, woman?
A: i think you is right on, hommie!
I don’t believe I’ve stumbled across Mariscos before. Or I guess I may have and didn’t know it. We’re all about finding the best Mexican in SD so we’ll definitely have to check it out 🙂
recipe girl, i would still say ortega’s in ob is better mexican but i have only been to marisco’s once!
Ok, I know this is painting with a wide brush… I couldn’t help but to keep thinking about your comment on finding a good Mexican restaurant. Why is it that I love Mexican style food but finding a good Mexican restaurant is sooooooo hard to do. I can take you to a really good fish camp, steak house, Italian to die for and a wonderful but not stuffy French restaurant but I’ll struggle to take you to a really good Mexican restaurant. I just don’t get it…but I’ll keep looking.
Happy to hear you stumbled upon a winner. Cool.
peace
fm
This sounds wonderful. Sounds like something that would be fun to try making at home!
This looks great, I’m jealous! It’s such a shame that here in London Mexican food is scarce, to say the least.
I just can’t believe that you’ve been living off of cheesecake for that long and now you’re just eating out?! Get with the program, young lady!
Sounds good! Is Ortega’s the tiny place with three different salsas?
DId you se what RR threw together in like 30 minutes today?
Pull my finger?!
I’ve searched and searched this area for good Mexican food and it stymies me that there is such a dearth of it. Did you ever eat at El Ranchero before it went under? That was some good eats. Any other places you could recommend in this area?
Yeah, isn’t that an unexpected little place? Very old school.
Seriously folks I was born and raised San Diego. Let me introduce you to some fantastic Mexican food. My wife and I buy and cook strickly organic. When we want good Mex we only trust #1 Mayahuel’s on Adams ave it is the best in San Diego #2 Rancho on Sunset Cliffs Blvd. #3 is a toss up cause Mayahuel’s dominates hands down just thinkin about them makes me grab my car keys. Since I reside in La Jolla I really enjoy Mariscos in Bird Rock and Amanda needs to realize that Ortegas has less quality ingredients then Ortegas yuck. Oh man but Mayahuel’s Mole will blow you away.