Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tacos. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

Fish Tacos - King Seafood (Marathon Key)

Asking the locals where to go to eat is very much a mixed bag.  Sometimes they lead you to a place that has a food unique to that area, but may or may not meet your food preferences (see Pittsburgh restaurant putting french fries on everything).  Sometimes they lead you to a food unique to that area and it is just a bad idea (see Cincinnati Chili).  Sometimes they lead you to a place that was great once, but outgrew its cult status and became a sellout shell of what it used to be (see Big Texan Steak House).



Sometimes they hit the nail on the head and you find a great spot.

Walking into King Seafood is not all that impressive.  Two picnic tables out front, a fresh fish counter facing the door, a looooooong counter running the length of the rectangular building, and a cashier at the end of the counter.


A closer look reveals some wonderful things.  First, the restaurant is spotless.  There is no smell of fish whatsoever, and the hood above the grill and fryer is so shiny it creates a glare.  These are rare traits for any restaurant, much less a small local restaurant in a tiny fishing town.

The staff was all very friendly upon entering and was having some lively banter in Spanish with one of their obviously regular customers.  I took my phone out to take some pictures and the customer looks at me and says "uh oh, Facebook.  Facebook."  I gave him the thumbs up and went about my business.  He waves me to come over and points at his plate.  On his plate was some delicious looking yellow rice and humongous shrimp in some tasty looking and aromatic spices.  He picks up one of the shrimp and tells me to try it, then picks up a Yucca Fry and offers that to me as well.  I obliged and tried both.  Wonderful.

At this point, you can be pretty confident the food is gonna rock.  A local gives you the food off his plate and it does not let you down.  Order fearlessly my friends, as we will be happy munchers.

Of course, fish tacos are on the menu and I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't give 'em a whirl.

First, though, we had to look at some other food as well.  Altogether, myself, Rip, and Rachel ordered Blackened Fish Tacos, Fried Fish Tacos, Mahi Sandwich, Calamari, Fish Soup, Yellow Rice with Fish, Cole Slaw, and 3 sodas. All of this freshness and deliciousness for $60 including tip!  Pretty good value.

Calamari - light and tender.  Yellow Rice - aromatic, flavorful, and fresh. Fish soup and Mahi Sandwich got rave reviews from Rip and Rachel (I could not consume due to pork being in the soup and too much food in front of me to try the sandwich).

Now on to the fish tacos.  A well documented fact that I prefer grilled or blackened fish over fried fish on fish tacos.  The one exception is if you are using a flour shell and use a very juicy fish.  In this case, I find that for a variety of textures, you will definitely need to go with fried fish or (strangely enough) overcook the fish to give it some body.  Of course, if you wanted to use a tender fish, why overcook it?

So King Seafood uses flour shells.  They do something I have not seen since I left Adobe Gilas all those years ago.  They put the shell on the griddle and put shredded cheddar on the shell to melt it.  Creates an experience all its own and that is what made me an Adobe Gila's taco addict.

As for the fish itself, we ordered one order with blackened fish and one with fried.  This way, we were able to try both ways and judge what we thought of them.  The blackened mahi was plentiful, and cooking on the griddle, made my mouth water.  The fish, when fully cooked, was added to the shell and topped with fresh tomato and lettuce.  It was then rolled and placed on the plate with sour cream, cole slaw, and pico, with two lime wedges on top.  A beautiful presentation and a dish I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into.

the flavors were delicious after a little pico and tabasco was added.  I prefer Cholula or Pickapeppa, but that's just me.  Overall, a great fish taco and unique in the ways that it did not contain cabbage on the taco and the rolling of it made it difficult to add more ingredients to it.  A fish taco worth checking out.

The staff checked with us several times that we were happy and was very gracious.  Nice folks.  The food was spectacular as a whole and with people that friendly behind the counter, I can definitely see myself going back.

So we amble off with a light buzz and full bellies.  We get back to the homestead to find the sun going down. A few obligatory pics to show off that not only did we have a great meal in Marathon Key, but nature took pretty good care of us too.  Cheers!



















Monday, June 25, 2012

Mojo Grill, Fish Tacos, and Mojo IPA

The tunes of Steve Vai on the television, a painting of Stevie Ray Vaughn on the wall, fish tacos, and Boulder  Beer.  Doesn't sound like Ocala, Florida?  I didn't think so either.  At least, not until I found Mojo Grill and found many of my favorite things at a place other than my house.

Mojo Grill seems unassuming enough on the outside.  Part of a strip mall that does not scream "HEY YOU, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A BLAST IN HERE!!!," you could easily drive by Mojo Grill and never know you missed such a great place.  Do yourself a favor and do not miss this place.

Back to the tunes of Steve Vai.  Figuring that a place called Mojo Grill may do well with Boulder Brewing's Mojo IPA, I stopped on in around lunchtime and figured I could find something at a place with this type of name.  When I walked in, my first thought was "Man, I wish this was Friday night!"  On the televisions was the concert video of the Crossroads Guitar Festival featuring Eric Clapton, Joe Walsh, Mr. Steve Vai, and much more.  Add to that, the festive atmosphere brought on by the staff and customers and I felt like I was at a bar on a weekend, not lunch on Monday.    

To the menu.  Just knowing they had to have fish tacos on the menu, I searched them out and yep, there they were.  Also, I looked towards the kitchen and saw a sign saying "Try Our New Mojo IPA."

LUVIN' IT!

The fish tacos were great.  Described as "Mojo Fish Tacos - 2 blackened fish tacos topped with cilantro and chipolte slaw, served with rice and beans."  Nice tacos.  Served on a soft shell with grilled fish and very fresh slaw, I found this duo to be very refreshing.  I'm quickly finding that I can create a 2X2 Matrix (Thank you Cornell University) that can describe fish tacos on an axis of refreshing/savory and food truck/gourmet.  By this matrix, you can easily show someone what the spirit of the tacos is all about.  I think I will create this matrix and see where it goes.

I spoke to Rondo and Angel, the folks in charge and discussed some great hings we can do to help get these two great brands together (and give me an excuse to be here more often).  As it turns out, we are gonna set up some events on Friday and Saturday, August 17 and 18 to support these guys.  They have Live Music on the weekends and i can just imagine how great Mojo Grill is with live music going on.

Mojo Grill has immediately become one of my favorite places to go and i am looking forward to spending a lot of time here.  Cheers!!

  http://www.mojogrillandcatering.com/