Tijuana: Mariscos Ruben and the Best Marlin Taquito

I like going to Mexico with Street Gourmet LA, just blindly following him to the places he's researched and discovered (hey it's a vacation). He has not disappointed yet.

On our last trip to Tijuana for Tequila Expo, he took us to one seafood truck that I can't get my mind off of. Mariscos Ruben.
Husband and wife team Ruben and Mirta Rodriguez have operated this Sonoran seafood truck at this very corner for the past 20 years and they employ quite a few staff working the "kitchen" in the truck.

There's a small tented area where patrons squeeze into plastic chairs and stools. Some of the locals are decked up in suits and fancy dresses, but good food has always brought people together.

Our meal started big.
A plate of Manitas de Jaiba (crab claws).These small crab claws are fresh and sweet and served with citrusy chile marinade.

The crab tostada was equally impressive.
Fresh crab meat topped with onions, salsa, and thick slices of avocado really brought out the sweetness of the crab meat even more.

But it was these babies here that I crave, that makes this place so memorable to me. Marlin Taquitos.
Meaty smoked marlin in chargrilled tortillas are topped with cabbage, homemade thousand island dressing, and another homemade secret sauce. There's the smokiness, the creaminess, and then there's the crunch. To put it simply, they're the best taquitos ever.

Ruben works a small charcoal grill behind the tented area. The wife high recommended we try another dish before leaving: Almejas Gratinadas (Clams au gratin, basically).
We watched as Ruben Rodriquez picked up foil-wrapped Pismo clams from the charcoal. One of the cooks then split them open and prepared the real deal for us.
Like a treasure box, the big clam shell is now topped not just with the tender clam meat swirling in its juice, but with octopus, shrimp, scallops, cream and monterey jack cheese. We can see why Mirta wanted to make sure we try these and we're so glad we listened.

Every now and again I find myself wanting to drive down to Tijuana. The main reason would be this place and their marlin taquitos. I regret everyday not making a pit stop on my way home that time.
If you're ever in Tijuana, make sure you stop by and check this place out.
No, wait, scratch that. If you're not in Tijuana, get in your car and drive to this street corner.

Other reviews for Mariscos Ruben: Street Gourmet LA, Food GPS,

Mariscos Ruben
Corner of 8th & Quintana Roo
Tijuana, B.C., Mexico

Open 7 days a week, 10am-6pm

Border Grill Truck: Curbside Ceviche

Food trucks and taco trucks especially are filling up the streets of LA ever since Kogi's success story. But the Border Grill truck rolled out bringing the food of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger that had already stood the test of customers in the Border Grill restaurants into the streets.

When I approached Ciudad for a donation for Bid and Eat for Haiti, they asked me if I had checked out the Border Grill truck. Why, no, I hadn't. I promised I would so per their invitation I stopped by for lunch en route to work. The truck was parked in front of LA Mart for the day.
I asked them to just give me whatever they want/think is best and ended up with a lot of food for one!

Peruvian ceviche ($5.00) - mahi mahi, lime, ginger, aji amarillo chile, pickled onion, corn, tortilla cone
Ceviche for $5? Nice. This was a good lightly spicy ceviche rendition with generous amount fresh and meaty mahi mahi. Also, being a corn-whore I really liked that extra touch. It was a bit too acidic for me to finish the whole thing though. In the end, I prefer my ceviche with leche de tigre sauce as the one I had at La Mar Cebicheria (in Lima - I thought the SF one was not as great) - a subtle tang and more focus on the fish instead.

Next I had two of their favorite tacos:
Yucatan pork taco ($2.50) - roasted achiote pork, pickled onion, orange salsa
crispy Baja fish taco ($3.00) - chipotle honey, creamy salsa fresca
Both of these tacos were great. The price point for tacos here are higher than other "taco trucks" and the portion smaller yet that higher price is worth it. These tacos weren't simply "put together." The ingredients are fresher, leaner, higher quality and you won't feel like as much as a grease pit as you usually might after a taco run. The condiments are well thought out and complement the main ingredient. I particularly liked the fish taco. The crispy breading held a meaty and juicy piece of fish. With the creamy salsa fresca? It's like fish n chips with a kick.

Dessert options here are still limited. I tried their Churro bites ($3.00) dulce de leche infused churros, cinnamon sugar, whipped cream
Unlike your usual crunchy churro, these infused churro bites are doughy. I liked the dulce de leche infusion but still preferred it crunchy outside like a typical churro.

I'm now a bit bummed about going to the truck before the Gold standard event though, since apparently there they served an amazing avocado and fried quinoa taco that both vegetarians and carnivores alike rave about.

Border Grill Truck
http://www.bordergrill.com/bg_t/bg_twel.htm
Twitter: @BorderGrill

Crispy Tripas at Rambo's Taco Truck

Kogi fanatics missed out on a real LA taco truck gem when they waited in the hour-long line just one block away from Rambo's Tacos in Eagle Rock.
For only $1.25 per taco (no tax, as Taco trucks should do) and no line, my choice was clear.

Tripas (tripes) at Rambo's have a crunchy outer layer while still chewy inside. They're topped with hot, hot red salsa. These are the things to go for at Rambo's both the sauce and the meat.
I did hear they have off days with their tripas, but on my visits there they have always been excellente. Inconsistency is a vice, I know, but when they're having a good day the tripas are soo good, definitely worth a try.
They do run out of tripas though, so go early for them.

If you missed out on the tripas, they also have cabeza for some fatty cheek meat (below), or the regular carne asada and carnitas.


Rambo's Tacos
Corner of Eagle Rock and York Blvd
(approximately: 4250 Eagle Rock Blvd)
Los Angeles, CA 90041

Late Night Taco Run in Pasadena: El Taquito

What better way to follow up a movie involving French cuisine than a stop at a taco truck?

Spurred by PK's post about the El Taquito taco truck in Pasadena and the fact that both Kung Food Panda and I both work in Pasadena and haven't been (!!), we stopped by to grab dinner after the Julie & Julia screening at the Arclight.

Street parking at that time of the night on Fair Oaks is aplenty and we easily found a spot next to the Nishikawa Auto Services, where El Taquito parks throughout the night.


We got our tacos and condiments and went home to garnish, food-style and photograph - and eat. I opted for the less-spicy green salsa, of course, cos I'm still in training.

El Taquito has some pretty interesting options (although it lacks Rambo's crispy tripas) including tongue, cheek, chicharron, etc.

What I got:

Cabeza (cheek)


Lengua (tongue)


Carnitas


All the tacos are nicely grilled tortillas generously stuffed with tender and flavorful meats (or offals). The cabeza was especially tender.
At $1.20 apiece (tax included, did you note that Kogi?), El Taquito is perhaps the best, cheapest food you can get in Pasadena past 11 pm anyday.

El Taquito Mexicano Truck
510 S. Fair Oaks Ave (in Nishikawa Auto Services parking lot)
Pasadena, CA

Kogi Taco Truck at The Doheny: The Wait, The Food

Kogi, the Korean taco truck, has gotten a lot, and I mean A LOT, of buzz. Various bloggers have reviewed it, and even Jonathan Gold has tried and liked it. I had a bite of their taco a few months ago at The Brig but didn't really have enough to say much about it.

A couple of months ago, the Kogi truck was to be parked in front of The Doheny and if you RSVP you get to check out that exclusive private club also. I've been wanting to check out The Doheny and give Kogi a real try, so I RSVPed through DigLounge.

When we got there we had to line up to get a stamp from The Doheny, which was supposedly needed to order food from Kogi. The Doheny line took about 30 minutes. Then we lined up for Kogi ... for almost another hour. When this guy 2 places ahead of me started ordering, he started talking to Caroline about he just came to LA ... the guy right in front of me commented about how this is what's so great about Kogi - how they talk to their customers. (OK, I do think talking to your customers is very cool. But ... I've been starving in the cold for 1 1/2 hours *cough*)

Finally we get to order! They were unfortunately out of the Kogi sliders :/ so I opted for the hot dog among other things instead. Of course, we had to get some of the kalbi tacos:
OK. This Kogi sauce is pretty darn good - not that spicy but quite flavorful. The meat was also noticeably better than what I had in front of The Brig a few months back. One is definitely not enough.

We also got the Kogi hot dog and tofu taco that they were offering that night:

Since the sauces are the same, I won't say much more about them. Of course, I like the kalbi taco the best. I'm a meat eater all the way. I guess at this point I wished there was more 'variety' not just with the meat but the sauce as well. But on the other hand, hey, it's a taco truck?

Kogi also usually offers a vegetarian item. This time it's a vegetarian taco with pomegranates.
It was a bit too tart for my taste - I'd stick with my kalbi tacos.

We went into The Doheny after, but unfortunately they only had a special "Kogi" menu featuring soju, so I didn't get to see the true feat of what was rumored to be the best bar in LA ... Oh well.

So. Kogi. Yes, yes, I like it. I like it quite a bit. I mean, if they were at UCLA back when I was going to school there, I would've gone every day. But an hour-plus line? I don't know man, I wouldn't want to wait an hour and more for them. I get cra~nky when I'm hungry! :P

I think because of all the hype, the line is too long for what this truck is meant to be - a place to get some good bites after a long night of drinking - not a place to wait in front of for an hour in the cold LA smog ...
Hopefully with their new truck addition, the lines will be much shorter next time I hit them up!

Kogi
All over Los Angeles.
For their schedules, follow them on Twitter!
http://kogibbq.com/