In the past 13 years, El Mar Azul has gained quite a following in Highland Park.

According to Felipe, he sets up at 6 a.m. to begin “preparing my secrets.” Felipe heads the kitchen and Rosie works the “front of the house.”

El Mar Azul sells five varieties of seafood tostadas: crab (jaiva), shrimp (camaron), abalone (abulon), octopus (pulpo) and a mix of all four (mixtiada). There are also four varieties of Cocktails: shrimp, octopus, abalone and mixed. In the past year, they’ve added a fifth tostada, clam (almejas).

Every tostada is good to great, but my favorite is the most basic, Tostada de Camaron ($2). A fried corn tortilla disc known as a tostada is topped with creamy cole slaw, relish and “secrets,” then fanned with plump shrimp and capped with slices of fresh avocado. When given the option of “con chile” or “sin chile,” ask for chile sauce. A few squirts from a squeeze bottle added yet another boost of flavor. The tostada had it all, saltiness, creaminess from the cole slaw, firm shrimp and spice from the chile sauce. With a squeeze of lime, two or three tostadas form a perfect meal. That’s not a word I toss around haphazardly, but I can’t imagine an improvement on the dish.

Tostada Mixtiada ($3) features the same base of cole slaw, relish and “secrets.” The meal-sized tostada is then heaped with faux crab (actually fish), cubes of tender abalone, hacks of surprisingly supple purple octopus tentacles and more pristine shrimp. Crowning the towering achievement in cuisine are astounding strips of avocado.

Coctel de Camaron ($5) was classic, a cool mix of diced onions, cilantro, plump shrimp and what was most likely clamato and tomato juice. I was given a choice of galletas (crackers) or tostadas, to provide texture. I opted for salty tostadas. After devouring all the shrimp, I drank the ambrosia-like nectar like water.