Food in Tijuana

[Phordphan]

I made a run yesterday. After Mrs. Robinson got done draining me dry, and after I dropped her off at the taxi ruta stand, I decided I'd go have a fish taco. I hadn't been in quite a while and I'd forgotten the exact location.

It's on the NW corner of 3rd and Negrete. Tacos Machatlan. They have fish, shrimp and tacos de marlin, which is a mish-mash of marlin, with spices and what-not (think tuna salad without the mayonnaise), put into a corn tortilla and grilled over charcoal. I didn't get a pic of them. I've had them before and they're tasty.

The pic is of a shrimp taco (nearest my hand) and a fish taco. They are huge and you can't get the tortilla folded properly around the filling in order to eat the taco. I usually pick out a few shrimp, or a couple of fish pieces, and eat them separately. Now the down side to this trip is that it was about 5:30 pm. They close around dusk, so even though business was still steady, it was not packed and you could tell things were beginning to wind down. That means that the odds of getting fish fresh out of the fryer go down, plus the oil has gotten dirty throughout the day, slightly altering the taste. It's usually so busy that the fry continuously, and keep the fish / shrimp in a pan, and use a sort of First-in-first-out inventory control method. The minor problem with this is that, if it's not super busy, you may get fish that's been sitting for a few minutes. It's best to go earlier in the day, preferably sometime around noon-ish.

Having said that, they were still very good. I enjoy local taco stands because it's fun to watch the people, listen to the strolling minstrels singing for tips, watch the controlled chaos of a busy taco stand. I enjoyed my two tacos, then hit the road for the border. Total damage was 34 pesos. I don't know how that's broken down. I assume 14 for the fish, 20 for the shrimp.

[ScatManDoo]

I've enjoyed many meals at Kim Mon over the years. They do noodle dishes, like chow mein, very well. I rate their fried rice dishes as just so-so. I didn't like the favor of their egg rolls. A better Chinese food restaurant in LZ, IMHO, is a restaurant with very good Cantonese dishes call El Cielo. I prefer chop suey and rice dishes, and for my tastes El Cielo serves better dishes than Kim Mon. El Cielo is located on the SW corner of Primera (1st St.) and Martinez. Just a few steps away from the Verario Hotel on Primera and Tito's Tacos on Primera. Martinez is the next North-South running street to the west after Nino Heroes. El Cielo's egg rolls are very good IMO and my favorite complete lunch dish there is their puerco chop suey for around $5. They use a cut of pork in that dish that tastes a lot like bacon.

Well, I managed to get their name wrong when I wrote nearly two weeks ago about my favorite Chinese food restaurant in LZ.

Yes, I've eaten numerous times at the two Chinese restaurants located on the cross streets at each end of the alley, but I think Rio Cielo is the best of the three.

And due to Mexican's disgust at the idea of eating dog, you'll find no crowds slowing down the service at any of Tijuana's chino restaurants this summer.

Rio Cielo is located on the SW corner of Martinez & Primera (1st street) - that's one block west on Nino Heroes. I actually got a picture of the restaurant's outside sign as I was standing in the street in between Tito's Tacos and the Velario.

My first lunchtime dish picture is of my favorite meal at Rio Cielo, the (pork) Puerco Chop Suey. Lunch meal #22 - 78 pesos (or $5.25 equivalent).

The next afternoon dish picture is what my Quasi wingman always orders, the Cantonese chicken. Lunch meal #2 - 60 pesos (or $4 equivalent). When I took the low angeled picture of both our dishes, you can better see how high the food is piled onto these lunchtime plates. One time I ordered the calamari, and it was pretty good also.

I'll complete this post with pictures of some of the pages from their menu.

[Jackie888]

http://m.utsandiego.com/news/2012/ju...rants-and-bar/

Hey, this restaurant on Constitution SE from the Playboy club made the list of top restaurants according to Anthony Bourdaine. I walk by it everytime I'm in town and never tried it. The name of this hole in the wall is the Kentucky Fried Bouches.

BTW Is Bourdaine married? Because I will bet that he made a visit to AB / HK before leaving.

[Captain Solo]

You mean Botana Fria de Camaron y Pulpos?

I am salivating. I think they go for 70 pesos small to 150 pesos large. Do us a favor and take pictures of La Perla's menu.

I just hate the stupid band who plays at ear-splitting volume while I eat. Last Friday there was another free band playing in front of La Perla like they did not have enough music. The policias were hassling the free band near the popular tacos stand on Ninos. I hope they take them to Tijuana jail so they can entertain the murderers and [CodeWord127].

The mariscos guy on Constitucion at the school girl corner made a salad of shrimp, octopus with salsa to go for a street girl. The full plate went for 70 pesos. I can order something similar. That street girl was young and hot. The mariscos guy was saying she could be had for mere 200 pesos. She took the plate to a hotel door where she ate it with her padrote.

[Jackie888]

I want to recommend the shrimp and octopus appertizer plate from La Perla. I was having their combo shrimp / octopus combo yesterday and the waitress brought out this appetizer plate. It looked hugh! Definitely prepared for more than one person.

[ScatManDoo]

I'll bite. What are they?

They all look a lot alike. 6 and 7 might be camaron.

Can you compare and contrast these with the fish taco place on 5th and Negrete? (Memory's a bit fuzzy. I know it's Negrete, I think it's 5th. It always has a crowd of locals and the fish is very good).

Sorry for the slow answer to my quiz PhordPhan. And I can't compare because I don't remember going to a fish taco place on 5th & Negrate. This last trip I made to Tijuana four days ago I tried going to the taco stand on Madero & Second that you recommended, but I'm not if I ate at the one you recommended.

Now back to my photos and earlier quiz regarding Tito's and the place next door to Titos:

At both Tito's tacos and the restaurant in the big building next door I ordered one (fried) fish taco and one camaron gobernador. My best description of the gobernadore is a grilled shrimp taco with cheese. At this time, in December, the fish taco cost 12 pesos at Tito's and their camaron gobernador, which is very filling, ran 38 pesos.

Both tacos at the place next door sold for less. The fish taco was still 10 pesos and I think the cameron gobernador was maybe 25 pesos.

While both were tasty, the Tacos at Tito's contained about twice as much fish, and were thus the better value.

Getting both tacos on the same day at Titos was too much to eat at one time (even though the two tacos arrived five minutes apart).

I've included a few exterior pictures of both places.

Prices likely have risen on all of these seafood tacos. From my early morning stroll past Titos on Sunday, they've raised the price of their basic fish taco up by one more peso to 13!.

[Phordphan]

Where was this pic taken?

[GolfSexRroll]

I love the handmade flour tortillas they serve at El Torito Grill in the USA. I was wondering if there is a bakery in Tijuana that makes them. Not the flat pressed tortillas they sell in the street, but the puffy fresh baked on the "stone" ones. Any help?

[Jackie888]

BTW the bakeries around 1st street arent too bad. I got a couple of giant muffins this last weekend for under 10 pesos that some of the SG had to help me finish. Its an alternative to Mexican meals that tend to be enormous and greasy. And its cheap. Sure breaks the ice with the girls better than your typical "how much for a fuckie-suckie. ".

[Phordphan]

Some of these pictures are dishes served by Tito's Tacos.

The other fish tacos pictures are from the place right next door (which also serves non-fish main courses).

Can you guess which side-by-side restaurant each dish comes from and what each taco contains?

I'll bite. What are they?

They all look a lot alike. 6 and 7 might be camaron.

Can you compare and contrast these with the fish taco place on 5th and Negrete? (Memory's a bit fuzzy. I know it's Negrete, I think it's 5th. It always has a crowd of locals and the fish is very good).

[ScatManDoo]

Some of these pictures are dishes served by Tito's Tacos.

The other fish tacos pictures are from the place right next door (which also serves non-fish main courses).

Can you guess which side-by-side restaurant each dish comes from and what each taco contains?

[ScatManDoo]

Thank you Dickhead for starting a food thread, since I am currently a regular member and I cannot start any threads.

Why not begin with some pictures of Tito's Tacos. Here are two pictures of their sidewalk menu that I took this winter, soon after they raised the cost of their flagship fish tacos from 10 pesos to 12 pesos,

[Dickhead]

Personally I have not been in Tijuana for many years but some poster wanted a thread on this. Here ya go.