Judging A Book By Its Title

On a recent business trip down to Corpus Christi I left my meal choice up to a coworker that was much more familiar with the local fair, and that was definitely the choice to make.  We made our way down to The Executive Surf Club near the bay, upon hearing the name all I could think of was people dressed up in stuffy suits and over priced food, but this place was far from that.

As you can see, this place lacked anyone is stuffy attire and even included a gigantic fishing lure as a decoration.  The laid back dive bar would have fit perfectly on a beach somewhere rather than downtown Corpus which has no sand anywhere near it but hey beggars can’t be choosers.

For my choice in libations I decided to kick back with a XX Amber, and it arrived in a cold bottle that helped ease back a long day of driving and work. 

For food I decided to rock some seafood, I mean when you are within a stone’s throw of the Gulf it just seems right, and in this place I decided to trust the experts and get one of the house specials.  For that I settled on their version of fish and chips, panko breaded filets that were full of flavor and crunchification that was like a party in my mouth.  The real rock star of the dish was the tartar sauce, it was not your standard tartar sauce mind you, but a Creole tartar sauce that added a twist to the usual mayo and relish dip.

The twist in the meal was the side of battered fried, fries dipped in a batter and then fried up giving it an extra dose of healthiness.  I actually was not a big fan of them, the concept was interesting, but they just didn’t have enough flavor to make them anything special.  Good thing the fish was so awesome I was able to ignore the short comings of the fries.

If it looks like a taco, and smells like a fish...

I am sure that I have said this before, but one of my favorite things about living in Texas is the abundance of Mexican food.  There is just something magical about chips and salsa and the wide variety of dishes that there are to choose from.

That being said, one of the best aspects of Mexican food is of course the cerveza.  Mexican beer may not be the best quality, but that is why we have limes, and boy do they go down easily.  In my blog post about brunch I gave you a hint about one of my favorite drinks, the Michelada.  This delicious beer drink is mixed up with tomato juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and spices…  Basically a bloody mary mixed up with beer, lime, and a salted rim.  This beautiful concoction works for every meal of the day from early in the morning to late at night, you can find one these in my hand if I wander into a Mexican joint or am sitting on a beach in Cozumel.

For dinner one night I wandered down to the local Taqueria Arandas, one of many of a chain that is found throughout Houston, Dallas, and a few places in between.  These restaurants are open early and close late, a good option for a cheap breakfast or a hearty dinner.

Like many other places around the Houston area, Taqueria Arandas rocks the double salsa, a robust red and smoother green.  Now in the past I have found these salsas to be irresistible (ok so maybe I have a slight salsa addiction issue) but this night they were a little out of control.  Don’t get me wrong this is a good sign, when a restaurant makes their salsa from scratch you tend to have a few variables once in a while so I would rather suffer a little (and have to drink more beer) in order to get some good fresh salsa.

Now traditionally my dinner at this place has been the Arandas Special (theory:  if a place is willing to stick their name on it they better do it right), a plate full of fajita meat, veggies including tomatoes, avocadoes, beans, and a pleasant surprise side of cactus. That’s right folks those prickly little plants you find in the desert make a tasty side dish, nopal as it is referred to in Spanish is a dish similar in texture and flavor to a green bean with a slight twist.

That was my plan as I walked into the restaurant, but that was stopped cold in its tracks by a sign hanging on the door for a new special reading, Chipotle Fish Tacos.  I LOVE FISH TACOS! They are quite possibly one of the greatest dishes ever invented, chunks of flaky fish grilled up with flavor filled up into a corn tortilla, topped with some garnishment, and a side of limes.

Chipotle is one of my favorite seasonings in food these days, a chipotle is a smoked jalapeno that goes from a ripe red (yes jalapenos are red when ripened not green) to a nice brown dried pepper full of all sorts of flavor.  It covered up whatever low quality fish may have been used in these tacos (let’s be honest we don’t want quality fish going in cheap street style tacos), and went perfectly with the onions and cilantro that were packed in these tortillas.  Squeeze a little lime on them and you can do no wrong.

Fish tacos and beer, as our friends to the south say “muy bueno”.  Oh yes, and to complete the opening phrase, first I must admit that I did not come up with this on my own but instead stole it from Fuzzy's Taco Shop in Dallas, so in conclusion:

... it's got to be a tasty dish.