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

SF: San Tung Takes on Wings

The end of last year I visited San Francisco to take my aunt from Indonesia around. We were staying my a good friend of my cousin's and on my first night she took us to San Tung, a popular Chinese restaurant in the Inner Sunset district.

She said San Tung is supposed to have really good chicken wings and my aunt likes chicken.
Chinese=cheap. Chicken wings=sound good to me. I hesitated a bit because the friend is actually a vegetarian, so she wouldn't really know if the place was good. It had a good Yelp rating, so I wondered if it would be up to snuff.

A really spicy pickled cabbage that's served at every table.
My aunt and friend both liked it a lot. I didn't try it at all (didn't I just say it was supposedly really spicy?).

Because the friend is vegetarian, we also ordered some eggplant in garlic sauce ($7.50)
Generous portion and it packs a punch of flavor. The eggplants were sweet and tender and the sauce was a little spicy and very flavorful.

What we came for: The Original Dry Fried Chicken Wing ($9)
For my sake, we didn't get the hot ones that night. The wings had a nicely crispy skin, and a sticky sweet sauce. I preferred it to Bonchon/Kyochon in LA since it's not as sweet, the skin is crunchier than Kyochon (tho maybe not Bonchon), but mostly because it is CHEAPER. For $9 we get a whole plate of big chicken wings, not a small basket of tiny wings for $10. The value proposition is much higher.

Noodles in Black Bean Sauce ($8): SKIP.
Seems like a lot of Yelpers liked this dish, but I didn't. I usually really like the Korean-Chinese black bean noodle, jjangmyun, but here the homemade noodles were doughy and mushy, the black bean sauce was bland. The list of beef, shrimp, and calamari on the dish was tempting but I don't think it worked particularly well. It was a big bowl of bland starch to me.

San Tung for the most part serves a solid Chinese meal, but it's really the dry fried wings people come for and it isn't all just hype. The crispy wings were quite good and I'll pay for these over Kyochon any day. But then, would I otherwise drive so far and wait for a table for wings?

San Tung Chinese Restaurant
1031 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 242-0828
www.santungrestaurant.com/menu.html

It's a Gal Chat: The Heyday of LA Times Food Section

Did you know there's an organization called the Culinary Historians of Southern California?
No? Interesting, right?

Of course, they don't just study gastronomical history among themselves. Here's what might interest you: This Saturday they are bringing the big name "girls" of the Los Angeles Times Food Section from the 1960's-80's together for a talk, and it's FREE to the public.

In attendance will be Betsy Balsley, Donna Deane, Rose Dosti and Barbara Hansen (whom I've had the pleasure of meeting and she's amazing).

Here's more details:

Saturday, April 10th, 10:30 am
Los Angeles Public Library
Mark Taper Auditorium, Downtown Central Branch
630 W. 5th St.

Free and open to the public

With over 100 work years of combined experience, the team of Betsy Balsley, Donna Deane, Rose Dosti and Barbara Hansen produced the Los Angeles Times Food section in its heyday beginning in the late sixties, into the 1980's. During this era the food section had 40 to 50 pages every week, with popular columns such as Culinary SOS and Borderlines and dozens of original recipes. Recipes were prepared for publication in a magnificent test kitchen. The LA Times Food Gals will reminisce about this extraordinary era of food journalism, the resources they had to produce a great food section.

A reception with themed refreshments will follow the talk at approximately 11:30.