La Cocedora de Langosta - Ensenada

Suddenly, Ensenada seems to be teeming with wonderful new restaurants. They all have talented and creative chefs using the best and freshest of our locally available ingredients. We consider ourselves very lucky to be living in an area just discovering its great gastronomic resources. We suspect that, someday, Ensenada will be a true “dining destination”.

Yesterday day took us (Bajabound2005, Bajamigo, Sylens & Mr. Sylens, Beachbum1a and Dorbaja) to one of Ensenada’s newest (yet oldest) restaurants, La Cocedera de La Langosta. The sign out front says “desde 1968”, but they just opened in mid-May of the year. Prior to that, we think they were housed within the fish market.




Now they are located in a lovely new building on the road that runs directly behind the new ProTurismo office on Blvd Costero, a stone’s throw from the Fish Market.

Chef Favio prepares a variety of ceviches in two styles: Traditional and Del Compadre. The chef treated our table to a dish of the Especial Del Compadre, which was a combination of shellfish. The Del Compadre Ceviche has sliced jalapeños, red onion, cilantro, and chopped black olives. It was served with crispy tostadas and was absolutely divine.

The ceviche:



Next up was a clam pate served with a few slices of fresh baguette. Very different and delicious. Then came mussels escabeche. Just smelling it was enough. Perfectly cooked mussels (served out of the shell) in a tantalizing sauce that one wanted to just pick up the bowl and drink it (a couple of us did)!

Mussels Escabeche:



Then we ordered different things: oysters on the half shell (big and juicy), chocolate clams on the half shell with cucumber, jalapeño and can’t remember what else. Lobster burritos (3 to a plate!). Oysters Rockefeller: big plump oysters served hot and topped with spinach and bread crumbs with a sauce that required a few more slices of that fresh baguette. And there was the Platillo del Dia – the special of the day which included the full boat of clam pate, mussels escabeche, rock cod (cooked to perfection) served atop a bed of basmati rice, fresh steamed asparagus, roasted golden beets topped with dill flowers. That also came with dessert, which was supposed to be mango mousse (that we were all dying to try) but ended being vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup (no one sent it back!)


Chocolate Clams:



Platillo del Dia:



The bill for six of us, including wine, beer and sodas, was $1297 pesos (or $101 USD). And you can see, we had LOTS of food. And, yes, they take credit cards!

Of course, they do have lobster, served any way you’d like, but none of us ordered that (other than the lobster burritos, which were sweet and tasty) so we cannot speak to it. We’re sure it is certainly as well prepared as anything else we did have the opportunity to taste.

The service was very attentive, and the wait between courses somewhat “leisurely”. However, virtually everything is prepared fresh, and the ambiance is warm and comfortable, so we enjoyed the experience.

La Cocedora has a great selection local wines that you don’t see in stores like Costco or Comercial. In fact, we’ve only seen them in fine restaurants or local wine events. La Contra, inside Restaurant Del Parque (623 Montezuma) also carries these boutique wines. The wines at La Cocedora are available also for retail purchase at very reasonable prices (my favorite white wine, Estacion Porvenir) is just $140 pesos.

And to top it off, La Cocedora also has a retail fish market inside the restaurant offering the freshest of fish and seafoods. So bring your ice chest!

The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday, from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. The Pescaderia is open daily from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Directions: Take Blvd Costero to the intersection where you turn to go to Immigration (Pemex on the right). Make a hard left (almost a u-turn). There is a paid parking lot right there. Park in that lot (and take your ticket in with you because they validate). Once you’re in the lot, the restaurant is about half-way through the lot on your left.

The manager, Jonathon, speaks excellent English, as do most of the waiters should you need any help deciphering the menu.

Their website, www.lacocedoradelalangosta.com, is under construction but should be up and running soon. In the meantime, you can find them on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/friends/?added&ref=tn#/profile.p...

View of the Ensenada Harbor, Saturday, June 20, 2009



Next week, we'll be visiting another new pearl in Ensenada with Udo Winkler and Mrs. Udo!

and the oysters on the half shell!

Great Review BB, I wish I could have tried more when I went but their were only 2 of us

About the rice tasting homemade..... that was meant as compliment, the rice coming out of my wifes kitchen is a high benchmark

Saludos, Masa

Tell her to take charge of her life. It only happens once.

My crew enjoying the ceviche from Cocedora de Langosta