Wilmington: Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo

It took me close to a year to finally try this place out. My homie Carlos had told me about this spot and praised the shrimp tacos. I never went mostly because this resturant is located deep in the east side of Wilmington between diesel  gas stations, dingy motels and lots of industrial traffic. I love grimy streets don't get me wrong, but sometimes when it comes to my food I get picky. I trusted my homie's opinion, but I just had not got around to hitting the place up. Last week at a Slanguage meeting, Carlos came by the studio and I asked him about the place;  a year later he still highly recommends it. I told him the reason I was leary about it but he mentioned that was a natural reaction because of location. When he first went  it was with Slanguage artist Steve De La Torre, Steve really liked the shrimp tacos and mentioned, " Only crackheads and Longshoremen know about this spot." I started laughing!

The community of Wilmington is home to the largest port on the west coast, there are also four refineries and plenty of other industrial based businesses. There is tons of traffic and movement in the area  With that also comes unwanted pollution and as every town has is,  "crackheads."  Despite the downsides the ladies and gentlemen who work hard all day need to eat, so that is where Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo comes in. 

Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo  is located on the corner of Pioneer and Anaheim St. Sahauayo is a city located in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. Typical Sahuayan food is carnitas, birria and Tacos al pastor.

The resturant was a nice decent size. We were greeted by the senora who owns the resturant along with her husband who is the cook. Carlos knew the lady from going there often, so she was real sweet with us. We sat down and ordered, I knew I wanted the shrimp tacos so I got two with the works. This place did not offer chips and which is a downside, but I was not too concerned. Carlos also ordered an appetizer called Queso Fundido or Cheese Fondue. I have heard of this dish before, but I never knew much about it. All I knew it usually was heated up in a metal pot and set down at parties and people would dip into it kind of like nacho cheese. After some reading on cheese fondue I read it was a popular party dish back in the fifties, sixties and seventies. The origins are said to come from Switzerland because it was a way to get rid of hardened cheese. The meaning of the word is actually French  fondre, meaning "to melt."  I was surprised to eat this item in a Mexican resturant, but am glad I did . The lady explained that they used a queso popular in Michoacan. She said that they were not able to provide customers with the actual fondue pots because of certain regulations being it is an actual fuel burner in the pot. 

Since there was no pot we had to dig in the cheese quick before it hardened but oh was it so yummy!

  The cheese came with a nice Pico-de- gallo, chips and tortillas.

 The best way Carlos suggested was to spread the queso on a tortilla and top it off with pico de gallo.  The choice was excellent, it reminded me of a really good quesadilla on corn tortilla since. I usually eat quesadillas on flour so this was a great alternative.

Now to the main item! I was very well pleased with these tacos they were so on point. First of all the corn tortilla is layered with beans which as Carlos pointed out not too common in shrimp tacos, that touch  gave it an extra kick. The shrimp is sauteed with spices and topped off with cheese, lettuce, cilantro, tomatoes and onions. Add some limon and take a bite of Jalapeno your tummy feels the goodness. Two tacos were really filling and cost around $ 2.50.

Do not be intimidated by the location ( like I was) or even the clientele and no there is no crackheads hanging around outside. The reason for that saying was because in there was another location with an outdoor patio that sometimes had that problem. They shut down the other location and have been successful at this spot.  They do close early since they cater to the lunch crowd in the area. Now go and try  this place out for yourself.

Tacos y Mariscos Sahuayo
1134 E. Anaheim St
Wilmington, Ca 90744
(310) 835-3534
9 a..m.  to 6 p.m.

Fotos Para Ti

Sometimes I do not have time to blog about every place I go eat, or interesting photo, but here is this week in photos from food to random happenings. Check it out!

 Ceviche from Agua Verde in Wilmington 

I taste tested it, and it is a different style ceviche were it is not as lemony as the traditional version it is a dryer version.  It is just as good, but I guess I prefer mine soaked in limon. I really enjoyed their salsa and chips, the salsa is not too spicy, but for some reason it tastes like it has a hint of bean flavor, very good though.

625 W Pacific Coast Hwy
Wilmington, CA 90744
(310) 549-1033

 

 

 This Sand Chick was seen floating around sola in the industrial part of Wilmington. There was originally a nice production across the whole fence, but it got buffed mysteriously and the only thing life was this lonely, but lovely Sand Chick. 

Senku Sushi

Jalapeno poppers and eel which were both delish! $1,50 beer too!

335 E 2nd St Ste 223
Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 680-1930

Budda loves coffee and donuts too! 

They hate 18th st so much they crossed this laundromat sign out because it said 18 min wash lol hilarious! 

Sandwich Saloon a San Pedro Classic, pastrami sandwich and some really good chili topped with cheese and onions. 

813 S Gaffey St
San Pedro, CA 90731 

(310) 548-5322

That is it for today I got to run, but as always keep posted!

Peace,

DJ

Birria por favor

It is a trip because just yesterday I mentioned "Birria Tepechi" in my last post, and today when I went to visit my mom she had a yummy plate of birria and nopales waiting for me. So it was a very pleasant surprise.

My dad picked up this birria at some market in San Pedro. I guess they have a cocina as well and sell it for 11.00 lb. It is kind of pricey, but it is great for special occasions or just a nice family breakfast or dinner.

Birria and my moms nopales fresh from her garden stir fryed with garlic, dried chili pepper and onions.


Not to long ago I had birria as well with a friend. We went to a favorite spot of theirs called "Chalio" which was also featured in the same LA Weekly review as " Birria Tepechi"
I enjoyed that spot as well the birria was off the hook and the ambiance was great with it's dope old school booths and decor. The waiter was sweet and flamboyent too which made you feel welcomed.

We also drank some yummy and refreshing Michiladas! sooo good


Sorry to all you vegeterians, but goat meat prepared like this is traditional and awesome love it.

Chalio

3580 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90063

(323) 268-5349

Bloggers Meet and Geet:Monday Jan 26 2009

Come join us in the first blogger meet and greet of 2009. I went to my first blogger meeting last summer at Senor Fish in Little Tokyo and it was great. I got to meet some of my favorite bloggers and made great friends. Pachuco 3000 hosts these meetings here is the info he wrote...

Again this is a simply a meeting for bloggers who are or have a Latino/Chicano/a slant/twist/p.o.v. for support purposes and to get to know each other. We are not alone in cyberlandia no more. We welcome active bloggers or new heads to cyberlandia. We are not an advocate group nor do we have all the answers (nor necessarily want to give all the answers) to people who are 'thinking' about getting into blogging. In the recent past some politicos and others pushing an agenda have found our meetings and treated us like we were an organized target group (ha!) that needed to be 'let know' about their project and asked for our support. Lets try to avoid that or keep it to a bare minimum this year. I feel we have had lots of great times and conversations at these juntas with simply the bloggers who come to share and meet others. It has been a pleasure to meet you and hope we continue to share and grow in the new year. Hope to see you at Phillipe's on the 26th.



This meeting is going to be held at famous Philippe French Dip, believe it or not I passed by it many times but never been there. I am looking forward to checking this place out. Random Hero is excited about pie and coffee which sounds comforting too!


Philippe The Original
1001 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles CA, 90012
located 1 block north of Union Station, Olvera St. and the Hollywood Freeway at Alameda and Ord St.
7 P.M-?

http://www.philippes.com/

Othai

This quaint little Thai food place located in Echo Park was quite tasty.
In my many adventures in LA I usually stop for Thai food in Hollywood of course in it's home base Thai Town, but I really enjoyed the food in a less congested part of Sunset.

The place was very friendly, it was a nice size with a small outdoor patio overlooking the parking lot on to Sunset.
I started off of course with a Thai tea my favorite, I drank this tea many times and sometimes it can taste better then others this one was perfect very creamy and yummy.
For the main course I decided to stick to the classics since it was my first time there so I ordered Coconut soup with shrimp,mushrooms,ginger and lemon grass.
The food came with good timing,the soup came in the steamy classic pot burning ready to reach my hungry tummy.
I had this soup many times at most of the Thai places I gone to but this one sure hit the spot, this was actually the first time I had it with shrimp though and they didn't cheap out on the shrimp either so that made it that much better.
Thai tea

Coconut soup with shrimp


My friend decided to get the chicken Pad Thai which is another classic dish, it was equally good and was quite filling, I like adding the peanut bits they provide and red pepper flakes.
Overall this place is nice, the prices are average not expensive somewhere around $8.00 to $10.00 for the popular dishes.
Like any Thai place should be the portions are big enough to share, you might even have left overs to take home for lunch the next day!


Othai
2202 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
2134136316

Desierto

California is a huge state, we sometimes forget there is life outside of Los Angeles and the surrounding cities. I took a few shots of random things in a couple of small desert towns about 3 hrs 30 min from Los Angeles.


This is in the town of Brawley Ca it is a nice quiet little town approximately 210 miles southeast of Los Angeles, 126 miles east of San Diego, and 30 miles north of Mexicali, Mexico. According to the city web page Brawley was incorporated in 1908. As I was walking around it was pretty dead and it seemed like the good mom and pop places to eat where closed on Saturday the bad thing was I forgot my camera so I had to borrow one so I was not able to get to many shots but when I go back I will be sure to take more.


This building below was nice and historical looking it looked like at one point it was a theater or a dance hall. I tried to find some history online but it was not much. I did find a site that said the theater was damaged in a 1979 earthquake and from the looks of it it seems like that was the last time it was used read more

120 N Plaza
Brawley CA



Foster's Freeze below is thee classic ice cream spot to got to, I found it right behind the old theater, with locations around California I got to say the banana ice cream shake is the best thing ever! Real banana chunks milk and ice cream very yummy...
Fosters Freeze
130 N 5th St , Brawley, CA
Phone - (760) 344-7566

for locations closer to home view




Calipatria Ca is located about 15 min from Brawley you can drive through it and not even realize it as much as I wanted to take tons of pics I was very limited sorry folks I will post more soon.

This place below was a trip it was a donut shop slash Mexican restaurant slash pizza place all in one if you notice the sign above the restaurant also says avenue arcade could there be an arcade in there as well?? only If I hadn't been lazy and stayed in the car darn I could of found out!
Donut Avenue
138 E. Main St.
Calipatria, CA 92233
(760) 348-2700



Caldo De Res y Tamales a su orden yum! by the way this is the desert okay and it gets to be like 110 degrees or more in the summer,now we all know that our lovely Mexican parents love to make Caldo De Res on the hottest day!! this fits perfect yessss!



Now this structure was across the street from the Mexican Donut/Pizza/Arcade place I guess they could not keep up with the competition..