Mariscos German (San Diego)

[kalypso]

Ask anyone what San Diego's culinary claim to fame is and most likely you'll hear "fish tacos". After all, it is the city that gave rise to Ralph Rubio and his chain of fish taco joints. But Mexican's were making fish tacos long before Ralph was born and fish tacos are nothing really new. Since crossing the border has gotten more difficult over the years, so has the quest for decent local fish tacos not birthed by a chain restaurant. It's a quest that can take one into some neighborhoods where the territory is definitely downscale, but the eats are not.

One local fish taco gem is Mariscos German, located at the intersection of Ocean View Blvd. and 28th St. in Barrio Logan. It's hard to miss, the building is shaped like a fish and the jukebox blares ranchera and norteño music; there is plenty of parking. Order at the counter, grab a seat and they'll bring your order to you. The menu is strictly seafood with a huge variety of fish tacos, from plain to fancy, tostadas, quesadillas, coctales of every imaginable combination and combo fish plates.

The basic fish taco starts with a base of tilapia and builds from there...

While the basic fish taco was good, the others are better. The tiny bay scallops were buried under the rest of the taco, but the portion was generous and they were sweet and tender with a slight crispiness around the edges, the result of a few minutes on the flat top grill.

Things start to get really interesting when shrimp enters the picture. Tacos Gobernadores contain lots of sauteed shrimp and are topped with a small mountain of onions and peppers that still retain a nice, crunch but have had some of the bite removed by a quick flash in the saute pan.

Proving that you don't have to actually light the fire to enjoy shrimp, Camarones Agua Chile is a variation on ceviche. Whole shrimps are shelled, split, cleaned and arrive at the table swimming in a spicy, acidic watery chile broth, hence the name agua chile, or literally chile water. This version came as a tostada and benifited some by resting for about 10 minutes before eating.

And finally, the shrimps make a fine filling for a standard quesadilla

But back to tacos, the most spectacular taco they serve is smoked marlin, or, as it is on the menu, smoked marlyn. Rich, meaty and every so satisfying the smoked marlyn is the taco to order here. It tastes more like carnitas than fish and comes with the same mound of crisp sauteed onions and peppers, but with the unexpected addition of crescents of celery.

If tacos, tostadas and quesadillas are not your thing, try a coctale, Mexico's version of the seafood cocktail. Though it's not on the menu, the Vuelve de Vida, or return to life cocktail, will be made if requested. This is the small one...

...and it was packed with shrimp, a ton of oysters, scallops and octopus. It was accompanied by Mexican saltine crackers, a bottle of ketchup and was gone in a flash

All tacos come with a small styro cup of seafood broth and a whole, unshelled shrimp. The broth is deep and flavorful, the same can not be said for the shrimp. They are sometimes a little mushy, probably due to all the long simmering in the broth.

In addition to the restaurant at 28th and Ocean View, Mariscos German operates 3 taco trucks serving virtually the same menu. One is located at 35th and University Ave in the City Heights neighborhood. The others are located in the south bay closer to the border.

Go. Eat. Enjoy.

Edited April 9, 2008 by kalypso (log)

[rjwong]

Que bueno, kalypso!! Muchos gracias!!

How many were in your group? You didn't eat all that by yourself, did you??

What was that white sauce over the cabbage in that basic tilapia taco?

Is German the owner's name? I was thinking all sorts of things when I first saw the name of the place.

Were you first surprised how difficult it was to find a non-chain fish taco restaurant?

Uno mas, muchos gracias!

[mizducky]

Hiya, kalypso! Long time no type!

I'd driven past that place a number of times, always thinking the vibe of the building was begging for further investigation. So I'm glad you checked it out so thoroughly, so that now I know I have to go there--preferably with a bunch of people so we can try all the dishes you pictured.

I'd wondered about the name of that place too. I was aware that there are sizeable communities of ethnic Germans in Mexico, descendants of several different waves of immigration, but plead ignorance as to how their various heritages show up in the cultural/culinary mix. (Or in the names of people, places, and things ... )

[kalypso]

Que bueno, kalypso!! Muchos gracias!!

How many were in your group? You didn't eat all that by yourself, did you?? 

What was that white sauce over the cabbage in that basic tilapia taco?

Is German the owner's name? I was thinking all sorts of things when I first saw the name of the place.

Were you first surprised how difficult it was to find a non-chain fish taco restaurant?

Uno mas, muchos gracias!

←

I have to credit my friend Alex for discovering this place. He was actually driving down University Ave. and stopped at their taco truck for a taco. He thought they were great and kept going back, which is how he found out there was a real brick and mortar restaurant. I had a picture of that somewhere but for the life of me cannot find it. The building looks like it could be straight out of Mexico. And it's a hoot to be driving down a city street in SD and see a building shaped like a boat and not have it be some contrived, quasi-retro thing.

There were supposed to be 5 in our group, but one of our more adventursome and heartiest eaters called to say he woke up with the flu and couldn't join us, so 4 of us split all the food you saw in the photos. The tacos use a pretty standard 5" tortilla but, as you can see, are more than generously filled. The quesadillas are enormous and the small coctale was awfully big - and filling.

The white sauce on the tacos was more like crema than mayonaisa and it acted more as a lubricant than flavor additive. If you look closely you can see that all the tacos actually have some white cheese on the very bottom (on top of the tortilla), buried under all the goodies.

German is not an uncommon given first name in some parts of Mexico, like Sonora and Sinaloa. I've had a few employees named German over the years. It would be pronounced something akin to "Hair-mon". There was a fairly sizable German/Mennonite immigration into northern Mexico in the 1800s, and I am told there are still pockets in northern Mexico where German is still spoken. It's where the Mexican beer brewing tradition comes from, which makes sense since most Mexican beers are based on German models. It wouldn't be inconceivable that the use of German as a name came out of that period and the German immigration.

In San Diego it's not really that hard to find a fish taco that isn't produced by a chain restaurant. It's a pretty common menu item down here. South Beach Bar & Grill in Ocean Beach was recently featured on Food TV as having the best fish tacos in the U.S., and they are good. The problem with fish tacos in SD is not finding them, it's finding good ones that aren't overly gringoized or yuppified. You can get them with almost any kind of fish, breaded and deep fried, broiled, grilled or sauteed, in a corn tortilla or flour tortilla, with cabbage or with lettuce, with crema, mayo or even chile flavored Ranch dressing (which, BTW, is pretty dang tasty).

The fish and seafood tacos at Mariscos German are excellent because some enterprising chef, restaurant owner, contest entrant, or foodie hasn't over thought them. They're simply decent fish or seafood, prepared with care served in a corn tortilla with fresh vegetables as garnish, sauteed or raw. The flavors don't compete for dominance with each other so it makes for a nice, well balanced flavor profile. These probably aren't the absolute BEST fish tacos in San Diego, but they're worth seeking out and probably would make most top 10 lists. An added bonus is that after you've had fish tacos you can drive a couple of miles over to 25th and C and stop at Panchita's, one of the best panaderias on either side of the border.

The best fish tacos I've ever had were in Guadalajara at a street stand, nothing in SD comes even close to that place, not even Mariscos German

[kalypso]

Hiya, kalypso! Long time no type!

I'd driven past that place a number of times, always thinking the vibe of the building was begging for further investigation. So I'm glad you checked it out so thoroughly, so that now I know I have to go there--preferably with a bunch of people so we can try all the dishes you pictured.

I'd wondered about the name of that place too. I was aware that there are sizeable communities of ethnic Germans in Mexico, descendants of several different waves of immigration, but plead ignorance as to how their various heritages show up in the cultural/culinary mix. (Or in the names of people, places, and things ... )

←

You should definitely stop by, they also do food to go. The crowd is mostly Mexican but there is a growing anglo customer base. I'm not sure how this place got it's name, whether it was because it's the owner's name or something else.

Fish tacos don't really send me over the moon. I'm on the trail of a pozoleria in Chula Vista; I find pozole and the Mexican soups more interesting. There's also a menudo place in CV that my friends Alex and Pat are raving about. I'll pass on the menudo, but I understand this place does some other things pretty well too. Plus my friend Pat (who lives in CV) just found another seafood place she things might even be better than Mariscos German. So it looks like I'll be off to explore CV over the next few months.