Gypsy Jan - 12-4-2013 at 06:10 PM
Met a friend off the boat today (boat = cruise ship, friend doesn't mean the other mentioned "friends" from earlier posts).
His wife did not join us, she stayed aboard, sick with a cold (no, not the norovirus but a lot of people on the cruise got sick).
He was healthy and attributed it to drinking a "lot of good wine".
We asked if he wanted to do any sightseeing or shopping and he said, "God, no! I just want to sit someplace comfortable, talk and have lunch."
We headed over to Mariscos Bahia de Ensenada on Avenida Riverol, a couple of blocks up from Blvd. Lazaro Card##as where the buses bring the cruise
ship passengers into town.
We were early and had the comfortable sidewalk patio with tables, protected by awnings and vinyl curtains, all to ourselves.
This is the place for fresh, fresh seafood. If it is on the menu, but they don't have it fresh, they don't serve it.
Chips and fresh, not spicy, salsa arrived while we looked at the menu.
We ordered guacamole and oysters on the half shell to start. The guac was freshly made with that mellow rich taste of ripe avocados. The oysters
were were briny and sweet.
Friend ordered whole, grilled cabrilla and he was very pleased with it.
Hubby ordered a combo with shrimp, calamari and octopus and he raved over how good the octopus was. I snagged one of his shrimp and it was fairly
large, not butterflied but the vein was clean, no dirty stuff going down the back.
I had Lion's Paw scallops (Garra de Leon) prepared al mojo de ajo and it was delicious.
Service was excellent and when I sent back my glass of white wine because it was more vinegar than anything else, they promptly replaced it with my
alternate choice of red.
Now, a footnote about a subject I usually don't bother to talk about - the Ladies' Room. It is, in a word, spectacular. Motion sensors spring into
action as you enter bringing up bright overhead lights and theatre bulbs framing the maybe twenty foot long mirror over the sinks.
The toilets and faucets are motion activated and the paper towel dispensers automatically roll out the next section to replace what you have taken
off.
Sadly, I was told that the men's room is nowhere near as dramatic.
The whole day was full of great conversation and catching up with an old and dear friend, great food and great entertainment with the very slight
exception that one of the members of one of the strolling mariachi groups called us "cheap xxx" audibly under his breath as he turned away when we
declined his services.
Here is a link to the English language part of Mariscos Bahia's website: http://mariscosbahiadeensenada.com/eng/index.php
[Edited on 12-5-2013 by Gypsy Jan]
KurtG - 12-4-2013 at 06:51 PM
I've been visiting Mariscos for many years and have never had anything but very good seafood there. Most of the servers have been there for many
years and are very professional. A couple of weeks ago I sampled a medium bowl of their mixed seafood soup which had an ample amount of very good
shrimp, also had a good green salad and the total cost was $105MN. Kathy had her once a year treat of bacon wrapped shrimp, six of them on the plate.
Our total for both meals was around $24.00US. We live in an area with good seafood but that meal would have cost at least double here.
Bob H - 12-4-2013 at 07:24 PM
Happy to hear that this place is still as good as it used to be! We have always had great meals there!!
Thanks for the review!
Martyman - 12-5-2013 at 10:01 AM
It's the only place my friend Tahm eats in Ensenada. I've had better. Everything is too salty for me.