On our most recent group trip to Mexico, Bill Esparza (Street Gourmet L.A.) started discussing his frustrations with L.A. taco blogs and how there has to be better criteria for determining which tacos warrant attention. With that in mind, he recruited me, Matthew Kang (Mattatouille), Javier Cabral (The Glutster) and Cathy Danh (gas•tron•o•my) to form the Taco Task Force. Mattatouille was in Chicago – somehow Alinea held more appeal – but the remaining task forcers set out to find the best Baja-style Los Angeles fish tacos.
There were certain factors I was interested in exploring at each stop, including the variety of fish and oil, whether or not the tortillas were house-made, and how much effort went into producing unique condiments. There was wide variation in each area. There’s clearly no formula for producing a superior fish taco, but there are certain choices that can help your cause.
Bill came up with five different categories he was interested in scoring. He wanted each of us to award a possible five points for the Grade of Key Ingredient, Condiment, Authenticity, Overall Flavor and Cooking. The amorphous “Authenticity” category had me and Cathy baffled, especially since Bill and Javier were the only two Taco Task Force Members who had traveled extensively in Mexico. Still, since this was the first time, and the Taco Task Force is a work in progress, we went with the five categories.
Taco Task Force Stop #1: Tacos Baja (fka Tacos Baja Ensenada)
Here’s the initial scoresheet, with B standing for Bill, J for Javier and C for Cathy and her fiance Vernon. Since I was the scorekeeper, my score is listed first.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 4, B 4, J 3.5, C 3.5 AVERAGE 3.75/5
Condiment: 2.5, B, 2.5, J 3, C 4 AVERAGE 3/5
Authenticity: 3.5, B 3.5, J 2.5, C 2 AVERAGE 2.875/5
Overall Flavor: 3, B 3.5, J 3.5, C 4 AVERAGE 3.5/5
Cooking: 4.5, B, 4, J 4.5, C, 4.5 AVERAGE 4.375/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 3.5/5
Taco Task Force Stop #2: El Taco Nazo in South El Monte.
Tony and Telma Garcia operate six Nazos around L.A., and they’ve been in the taco business since 1978, but their fish taco ($1.69) was disappointing and took a drubbing in the post-bite breakdown session.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2.5, B 2.5 AVERAGE 2.25/5
Condiment: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2.5, B 2 AVERAGE 2.125/5
Authenticity: 2.5, C 2, J 2, B 2.5 AVERAGE 2.25/5
Overall Flavor: 1.5, C 3.5, J 2.5, B 1.5 AVERAGE = 2.25/5
Cooking: 1.5, C 2.5, J 2, B 2 AVERAGE 2/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 2.175/5
Taco Task Force Stop #3: the flagship outpost of Señor Fish in Eagle Rock.
Grade of Key Ingredient: 3.5 C 4, J 3.5, B 3 AVERAGE 3.5/5
Condiment: 4, C 4, J 4.5, B 4 AVERAGE 4.125/5
Authenticity: 2.5, C 2, J 2, B 2 AVERAGE 2.125/5
Overall Flavor: 3.5, C 3, B 2, J 3 AVERAGE 2.875/5
Cooking: 3, C 2.5, B 2.5, J 3 AVERAGE 2.75/5
OVERALL FISH TACO SCORE: 3.075/5
Blog Comments
Jonathan Gold’s Picks for Where to Find a Taste of Baja in Los Angeles | Good Food
June 21, 2013 at 12:12 PM
[…] Jonathan Gold’s Picks for Where to Find a Taste of Baja in Los Angeles Posted June 21, 2013 by Gillian Ferguson | 202740 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.kcrw.com%2Fgoodfood%2F2013%2F06%2Fjonathan-golds-picks-for-where-to-find-a-taste-of-baja-in-los-angeles%2FJonathan+Gold%27s+Picks+for+Where+to+Find+a+Taste+of+Baja+in+Los+Angeles2013-06-21+19%3A11%3A59Gillian+Fergusonhttp%3A%2F%2Fblogs.kcrw.com%2Fgoodfood%2F%3Fp%3D20274 | 1 views] Tacos Baja Ensenada on Whittier Blvd. Photo: Food GPS […]
Hector Casanova
August 24, 2010 at 12:04 AM
Hello there, I am wondering if you guys still looking for that perfect fish taco, if you guys are, then come down to san diego and try my baja style fish tacos, They have been nominated best fish tacos by signonsandiego, and well as my award winning salsa. Let me know if this will be something you are interested in, I wont dissapoint for sure…. Thank you for your time
Rob G
July 29, 2010 at 3:27 PM
7 Mares taco stand on Sunset in Silver Lake has a good fish taco best paired with a shrimp ceviche tostada. Only eat at the Taco stand, dont go in the restaurant.
strretgourmetla
April 16, 2010 at 8:47 AM
Hey, Mike. I will definitely have a look at la 5ta/Castillo as well as your other rec, but the stand in front of El Aguila has been around, I wanna say for more than 15 years, off the top of my head. I believe it’s longer, but they are popular, always busy, and they get much love from me and anyone I’ve taken there. They are the only other one I’ve been to, counting many, that use cazon besides El Fenix. Angelito is used at the cheaper places and I believe cod was used by the Mercado Negro stalls.
But, the El Aguila stand, an excellent selection of salsas, perfect cooking everytime, nice balance of seasoning in the fish and batter. Tender in, and a light crunch on the outside.
Mike
January 3, 2010 at 2:04 AM
WOW nice work, i must say that only Ricky’s tacos look like fish tacos from Ensenada, the next time i’m at LA i’ll see if i can eat at Rick’s place.
By the way here in Ensenada there’s not a lot of love for the fish tacos in from of El Aguila, since they aren’t that good, when in town look for the fish tacos at 5th Avenue (Avenida Juárez) in the corner of Castillo Street, there’s the best fish tacos i’ve tasted in all my life, they have another place. The second place to eat would be at Espinoza Street and 6th Avenue (a mere 3 street walk from the first place), there are a couple more but i could tell you later ;-).
Joshua Lurie
January 3, 2010 at 8:48 AM
Mike, thanks for the Ensenada fish taco recommendations. I’ll follow them on my next trip to Ensenada.
Teenage Glutster
December 22, 2009 at 10:13 PM
pheew…finally finished my wrap up!
quite the extensive post right?
on to tacos de birria then? right? ha ha
Joshua Lurie
December 23, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Tacos de birria it is, in 2010!
Adam J. Karp
November 17, 2009 at 10:39 AM
No love for Sky’s Taco?
Joshua Lurie
November 17, 2009 at 11:20 AM
I should have clarified that these are all Baja-style fried fish tacos.
Aaron
November 17, 2009 at 7:13 AM
I was anxiously awaiting the results when I read the tweets about the postponement on account of Ricky’s. What makes an authentic fish taco? What is the authentic fish used in Mexico?
Joshua Lurie
November 17, 2009 at 11:23 AM
Aaron,
Bill could better define authenticity when it comes to Baja style fish tacos. In Baja, they typically use shark, but that variety of shark isn’t available in Los Angeles.
Food GPS » Blog Archive » Taco Task Force: Los Angeles Fish Tacos Admin China
November 17, 2009 at 4:24 AM
[…] is the original post: Food GPS » Blog Archive » Taco Task Force: Los Angeles Fish Tacos By admin | category: fish | tags: each-stop, exploring-at-each, fish, make-chicken, […]
Streetgourmetla
November 17, 2009 at 12:30 AM
Great job Josh.There are kinks to be worked out but not a bad debut. The ranking system put TBE and BFTE too close, I would agree 100% on the ranking of our stops, but points were too close.
I would call TBE a 2.5 to 3 star taco when compared to the benchmark Tacos El Fenix or stand in front of El Aguila in Ensenada, which would be 4.5-5 star tacos.
The authenticity category wasn’t defined properly, so we’ll tweak our methodology.
Overall, I enjoyed mt TBE, and am vexed that Ricky was AWOL!!