Tacos Fenix in Ensenada, Mexico

I've never had a good experience with fish tacos in the past. I'd always hear people raving about it, but I could never understand why. Still, those were all from places in California, whereas this dish was born south of the border in Ensenada, so I figured that I might as well get one while I was here. And oh man, did these things taste a world apart from those nasty ones back home. When I first bit into this one, I practically yelled to myself, "Oh my God, this is soooo f*ckin good!"

Sure, some of it might have been fueled by the tequila sitting in my belly. But seriously, I was so surprised by how light and airy it was. It was completely different from that nasty stuff in the US where all you can hardly taste the fish. In this case, one could actually taste a piping hot and fresh fish surrounded by a thin, crunchy, and non-intrusive batter, surrounded by a corn tortilla and dressed with one's choice of shredded cabbage and salsas. Yum - that went down the hatch in the blink of an eye, as did the deliciously fresh and firm shrimp taco that I got, battered the same way as the fish.

OK now I finally see why people go nuts about fish tacos. It's just interesting how totally different it was when I had it just a number of miles north in the US. I'm definitely coming back here next time I'm in Ensenada...I have cravings for it already, and I just ate! Note that this place was not to be confused with the larger Tacos Mi Ranchito El Fenix one block north of here, as this little stand was on the southwest corner of Juarez and Espinoza.