Tacos Ensenada

Tacos Ensenada
2171 Huntington Dr
Duarte
626-359-4959

Tacos Ensenada has been on my list of places to try, since I saw LA Magazine's Top 10 Mexican Restaurants. Interesting to see that a Mexican restaurant I review, La Casita Mexicana, was also in the Top 10.

My favorite place for fish tacos is Tacos Baja in East LA, so I'm trying to find other fish tacos as good, if not better than Tacos Baja. How did LA Magazine miss Tacos Baja, as one of the Top 10 Best Mexican restaurants in LA?

Anyways, Tacos Ensenada is a very small restaurant with a few tables inside and one table outside. It's most to go and I heard they get very crowded.

Let's start with the shrimp taco, $1.99. WOW, was this good. The shrimp was very fresh, the batter was light, crunchy, and flavorful. There was a ton of shrimp in this taco. The toppings; tomato, onions, that white sauce was very fresh and added a wonderful flavor. What I liked the most is the contrast between the coolness of the white sauce, and the spiciness of the salsa. Just an awesome taco. This is among the best shrimp tacos I have ever had.

What wasn't the best was the fish taco, $1.59. The toppings were exactly the same as the shrimp taco and they were great. But, the fish, which is basa fish, was rubbery and the batter was soggy!! No crunch, no freshness, nothing. Maybe the fish had been sitting under heat lamps for too long. Maybe the oil wasn't hot even, when they fried the fish. Whatever the reason, this fish taco wasn't good. I kept thinking; I could have gotten a better fish taco at a chain!!

Service is ok. They were super friendly or welcoming, just going through the motions.

I may give Tacos Ensenada another chance, but even if they fish was fried correctly, I can't see it beating my old stand by, Tacos Baja.

Update Nov. 8, 2011

I went back to Tacos Ensenada and the samething happened, great shrimp taco but a mediocre fish taco. I posted much better pictures, but nothing has changed from my original review. Though I will add, every Tuesday the fish tacos are 99 cents! Still not as good as Tacos Baja.

Ricky's Fish Tacos

Ricky's Fish Tacos
4006 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles
http://twitter.com/RickysFishTacos

There are taco stands all over LA, matter of fact, there used to be a blog that reviewed taco stands. Not sure if that blog is still around. But I found out about Ricky's fish tacos and decided to give them a try.

Ricky's usually sets up on weekends, any time from 1-5pm. Check their twitter account for the most up to date information. This address is a wireless phone store in the Silverlake area of LA.

This is an Ensenada Style fish taco stand. They serve only fish, $2.50, and shrimp, $3, tacos. The tacos are fried to order.

The first taco pictured is the fish taco, with fresh cabbage, salsa and that white sauce. The fish is covered in a light batter, pretty crispy. The cabbage and salsa are fresh. The tortilla is a store bought tortilla.

The shrimp taco was also covered with the same batter. Good sized pieces of shrimp. Again fresh toppings.

Service was good. If you're worried about the cleanliness of the tacos, Ricky is the only person who touches the food. He has two other guys who handle the money. Speaking of money, this is a cash only taco stand.

There was nothing great about either taco. They weren't bad. But they were the best I've ever had either. When I went there wasn't a long line but I've heard people have waited in line for 30 minutes or longer. I don't think these tacos are worth the 30 minute wait.