Los Angeles : Tacos Baja Ensenada [Pics]

Knowing how PIGMON enjoyed his fish and scallop tacos at Maria's, last year, I knew that, at some point during our most recent trip, I wanted to take him to my other L.A. favourite for the same sort of thing, Tacos Baja Ensenada, on the city's Eastside...




one of the menu boards...


placing an order...


tacos de pescado


tostada ceviche de camarón


tostada ceviche de pescado


cóctel de callo


lunchtime entertainments

Having preceeded this meal with a bowl of noodles at Daikokuya, I didn't feel the need to order much more than fish tacos and a cóctel, but I thought, what-the-hell, and ordered a couple of tostatas for good measure. My standard order in the past has always included fish tacos and one of the various caldos, but on this day there was a bit of a wait for the caldos and I was feeling impatient, so I decided to stick with the basics... which was my bad, because, with the exception of the fish tacos, I found everything else that I had ordered to be entirely mediocre. Then again, we were visiting in the middle of February when T.B.E. seemed only to be using piss-poor tomatoes, and good-quality tomatoes are critical to nearly every standard menu preparation they offer. That said, I still love the place, but I will be sure to stick to visiting at the time of year when better tomatoes are at hand.*

Jonathan Gold’s 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants [LAWeekly]

“Getting It Done: Tacos Baja Ensenada, East L.A.” [Daily Gluttony]

Tacos Baja Ensenada Reviews [Yelp]

Tacos Baja Ensenada [Official Site]
5385 Whittier Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90022
323.887.1980

E.M.

* Revisiting Maria's for a fish taco, a scallop taco, and a cóctel just a few days after our T.B.E. excursion, I can say that I still prefer T.B.E.'s take on the Ensenada-style fish taco, but Maria's won out again in the cóctel department. [A photo of Maria's oyster cóctel from one of my previous visits.]