Mariscos German

I grew up with sidewalk vendors/carts/food trucks in Taiwan. Street food = awesome taste:cost value (for the most part). I've heard people poke fun or turn their noses up at the idea of eating from a "roach coach". Suckas didn't know what they were missing until the recent food truck craze popularized street eats. So apparently now it is "cool". Can you see me rolling my eyes right now?

Mariscos German has been around long before the craze and have a huge fan base, so this is likely to be old news for many. Fish tacos, fresh seafood tacos, ceviche, tostadas, & complimentary seafood soup can be had at super low prices. Best bang for the buck is the $1 fish taco, which I daresay easily ranks in San Diego's top 5. You could either fill up on that, or have something more interesting.

Marlin Taco - smoked marlin, bell peppers, onions, celery & cheese

Seafood tacos at Mariscos German kick ass. Choose your (shell)fish and they'll stir-fry it up for you with bell peppers, onions, and celery and then dump it all into two toasty soft corn tortillas w/ melted cheese. Tacos of note: Marlin and Gobernador(shrimp). From experience, the smoked marlin may be a hit-or-miss, though usually it's a hit. This is my favorite taco from the truck because it is such a mouthgasmic experience. Hell, it's my favorite taco in San Diego. That marlin tastes like bacon from the sea and with each bite of the taco, your tongue will get hammered with a huge spectrum of taste and sensation. The play of sweet/savory from caramelized veggies and marlin coupled with the rich creamy mouthfeel of the cheese are complimented by the marlin's smokiness and bacon-like umami. Eat fast enough (before they tacos get soggy) and you'll be able to enjoy the texture contrast of the taco filling and the lightly crisped tortilla exterior.

Grab a handful of napkins and a fork. You're gonna need 'em.

After a heavy hitter like the Marlin taco, I like to have something light and refreshing:

Seafood combo tostada

Mariscos German serves various kinds of ceviche-topped tostadas. Each one comes with a nice big hunk of avocado too! The tostada is pretty huge and is a lunch entree in itself, so if you're not a big eater, I would suggest sharing with another person.


Oh, and don't forget to pick up your free cup of seafood veggie soup. It's good stuff.

Uncouth Gourmands

Hola! New posts are going to start rolling in soon. In the meantime, scope out Uncouth Gourmands, a new food portal that has popped up in LA. Ran by three playful and media-savvy ladies, this is sure to become a big hit. What's even more awesome is the fact that the growing UG network spans across America! Searching for good eats in major US cities has just been made even easier.

Yes, I am fully aware of this thing called "Yelp". I am not a fan of Yelp. My reasons are many, so if you truly are curious about why I'm such a hater, just e-mail me and I'll send you an essay response.

Soon to come: Celestino or Drago Centro, possibly Pie & Burger, Afghan Palace.

Lastly, I've been cleaning up the blog layout and decided to scrunch up the blog listings into two links: LA/OC and SD. While I would love to proudly display the work of all food blogging enthusiasts on my home page, it can get rather hairy. Sorry folks!

Dim-sum catch-up in Taipei

I'm baaaaack! No. Just kidding. But in the meantime, here are some photos to drool over. Can't believe I never posted them after Xi Men Ding...and of course any Taiwan related post requires a shout-out to the lovely Miss joanh, author of internet sensation The Hungry Girl's Guide to Taipei.


This set is from a quick catch-up w/ my father's college pal's family near the Taipei train station. It was actually an ambush, really. They wanted to set me up with their daughter. What a cutie! But sorry, girl, Roger is taken!

Quick shots in jpg_small, ISO 800. Not all dishes are pictured....again. G'damn I've been slackin'.


Enjoy:

I want to see this every time I walk into my kitchen.

Dim-sum ain't dim-sum w/o shumai.

That's duck.

STUFF.

These come in various fillings of your choosing--shrimp is my fav.

Too tired to write more. Those of you who still swing by here, thanks for your continued patronage. Another photo set from Taiwan coming soon!

Crushcakes

Okay so after Charlie and I wrapped up lunch at Santa Barbara Shellfish Co., we headed to Crushcakes where we were greeted by a QTpie behind the counter and a jaw-dropping display of cupcakes. To be honest, I didn't even really notice her until after I gave the display a good once-over...

Gotta prioritize, ya know?



Got a bunch of stuff. Not all are pictured or listed:

Buttermilk Crumb Cake - moist buttermilk cinnamon swirl cake with brown sugar cinnamon frosting.
Strawberry Blush - fresh strawberry cake topped with rosy pink strawberry frosting.
Peanut Butter Cup - chocolate cake with creamy peanut butter frosting topped with ganache.
Chocolate Chocolate - rich dark chocolate cake smothered in dark chocolate frosting.
XYZ(I forgot) & a better version of the Hostess' CupCake

With a 2.5hr drive back to LA, I dunno how I made it without eating them all. For real, I show zero constraint when it comes to desserts. Will of Eclipse Chocolat fame can attest to that...so can my UCSD pals who've all seen me destroy a dozen donuts, a whole choco-cake, a whole batch of brownies, or big bag of Oreos in a single sitting.

It's a wonder I can still see my abs. Not that I'm bragging, of course. I'm just sayin'.

Alright, so two of them didn't make it home for an afternoon tea photoshoot:

Survivors

I anticipated the Peanut Butter Cup to be my favorite:


I mean, how could it not blow you away? I never pass judgment based on presentation when it comes to food, but this little guy totally had me sold. That is, until I took a chomp out of each of the four. PBCup was good, but nothing terribly remarkable, though the chococake was almost on par with my man Will's. The biggest weakness the PBCup has is the lack of PB flavor. If Crushcake can fix it, then we have a definite winner whose taste would match its perfect construction. On the other hand, Buttermilk Crumb Cake is a real sleeper. I did not expect such rich and decadent creamy/milky flavor from the cake. Holy **** it was like licking an angel. Choco-choco, however, did not wow me as much. It was a pretty standard chocolate cake/frosting combo. Maybe if some ganache were thrown in (kinda like Will's @ Eclipse) it would win more points.


Yes, the Buttermilk Crumb Cake blew my mind, but the winner of the tasting is Strawberry Blush. Almost too close to call, though. Stawberry blush packed a big whallop of fresh strawberry taste. I really dig that. Each bite tasted of the sweet aroma of fresh berries. Seriously. The cake is almost as rich as the Buttermilk Crumb Cake, but had a good touch of strawberry to it. Slap on that delectable strawberry frosting and Crushcake's got a signature cupcake. (No idea why their actual signature cake is the red velvet Crushcake. The thing was so unremarkable.)

I'm all for big bold flavors, but the thing is, I eat desserts in massive quantities. The Buttermilk Crumb Cake is just too heavy in such binging sessions and palate fatigue would creep up way too early. Out of a potential dozen Crushcakes, I'd likely buy three of their best flavors in sets of four. Four BCCs would just be too much even for me. Lastly, Stawberry Blush is just such a refined cupcake. It's "light" and yet it'll smack your mouth around with strawberry. A real culinary marvel. When the weather turns cold, though, I'd bump the BBC to #1 and wolf them down with some french roast vanilla blend coffee.


Will, you've finally got a worthy competitor!




Crushcakes Cupcakery
1315 Anacapa STreet
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805.963-9553