Fish Tacos
Fish Tacos: why is everybody obsessed with them?
Because they’re the perfect summer snack, duh!
What makes a great fish taco?
For me, it comes down to 3 important components:
- The fish – I’m actually not a huge seafood person. I like a lean, white fish that is mild in flavor. Most places use cod but halibut is my favorite.
- Tortilla – I prefer a corn tortilla over a flour one as I find the corn ones have more flavor. Regardless of which kind, it is mandatory that they are grilled and warm, not raw.
- The sauce – It’s all about the creama sauce for a fish taco. The sauce ties everything together and can make or break a fish taco.
Before we review the places we tried fish tacos from, you can check out the videos of the different eateries here!
Here we go!
Central:
Central was the first restaurant we went to and their fish tacos were delicious! I remember thinking after eating them “how the heck am I going to pick a winner?!”. All the components you want in a fish taco were there. Pico de gallo, pickled onions, and savoy cabbage.
The fish itself were huge pieces of beer battered cod! Anything deep fried is obviously delicious but I found I couldn’t even taste the fish as they were so deep fried. But again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! More of a westernized version of fish tacos.
The only other small critique was I found it to be missing a lime wedge. I feel like freshly squeezed lime juice over fish tacos are a must!
However, their creama sauce was to die for – it was a green jalapeno baja sauce. And they smothered their tacos in it which definitely definitely gave them a “wow” factor.
El Taquero
The second place we checked out was El Taquero. I wasn’t too familiar with this restaurant so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But boy was I pleasantly surprised. The food is super authentic, inspired by Mexico City.
The fish was baked basa, which initially I was a little nervous about as I don’t like when seafood tastes too “fishy”. But it was actually so moist and tender.
In terms of presentation, these tacos were the open faced style. They didn’t have a whole lot to them which I was nervous about because you want all the standard toppings. But the restaurant actually had a salsa and topping bar. You could add as much pickled vegetables and home made salsa as you desired. They also had different home made hot sauces to add as well. Definitely love how they let your customize your toppings. However, I wondered if one should have to add all these additional bells and whistles to make the tacos better or if they should be good how they come?
YLW Tacos
This was our first food truck that we reviewed for my food challenge series which was super exciting. It’s located in an area in Kelowna that you wouldn’t maybe know about, but it was super busy regardless! These guys know what they’re doing.
First off, loved the fully stocked hot sauce selection.
The basa was prepared in little deep fried nuggets. Not sure if I preferred it that way but definitely great bite sized pieces!
The tacos were garnished with a ton of cilantro – gave it a lot of freshness and brightness.
Presentation wise, these tacos were prepared open faced style. The tortillas however were actually quite thick. Great as it keeps the taco fillings together, but makes it a little tortilla heavy. For me, I didn’t love it but for others, this could be a positive. Totally preference though! However, the tortillas are made on the spot which is awesome. The fresher, the better!
For taste, the tacos were super flavorful and spicy. I think tacos need a little bit of a bite to them. Mexican food right!
So which fish tacos were my favorite?
I’ll remind you again that this is totally dependent on preference! All the tacos were delicious and I would eat ANY of them in a heart beat.
But if I haddddddd to pick one……
!!!!!!!
!!
El Taquero!!!!!
Why were they my favorite?
I found El Taquero’s fish tacos to be the most authentic. The fish tasted so fresh. No trying to deep fry the heck out of it or pour a whole bunch of toppings on top. They were super classic but still flavorful. And I loved how they gave you the option to customize it with the topping and salsa bar.
But ALL tacos were good! Kelowna has a lot of great fish taco options.
Stay tuned to August’s #stuffwithsvetfoodchallenge….. sangria!
Sangria is one of my favorite alcoholic beverages and there are a lot of good ones in Kelowna. Follow along on my instagram to see the fun!
-Jenna xoxo