There’s deliciousness and there’s delicious irony on the menu at Mariscos La Playa. The deliciousness is more readily apparent. It’s part and parcel of virtually every item on the menu. You have to understand a little Spanish to grasp the delicious irony which is outwardly manifested in the form of a soup called “Caldo Vuelve a la Vida,” literally ” Come-back-to-life-soup.” The soup is a metaphor for the restaurant itself, the irony being that the restaurant itself came back to life in Albuquerque after a hiatus of almost two years.
Mariscos La Playa operated in the Duke City from November, 2006 through mid-2013. Located on Central Avenue just west of Atrisco, the colorful Mexican seafood restaurant received significant critical acclaim from every online and print medium in the city. Moreover, it earned popular acclaim among Mexican seafood aficionados. Large crowds typified lunch and dinner at Mariscos La Playa, the third instantiation of a Mexican seafood dynasty founded and operated by Luis Ortega and his family who also own two locations in Santa Fe and one in Española.
From a demographic standpoint, the original location was probably more ideally situated for the Duke City’s Mexican population. The new location–on San Mateo just north of McLeod–is in what long-time friend of this Blog (and charter FOG member) John L calls “Mortgage Heights.” It’s situated in a “challenged” (some might say “cursed”) location previously occupied by such tenants as the Prickly Pear Bar & Grill and before that Sabroso’s, both New Mexican restaurants.
Visit the restaurant during a busy traffic day and you’ll quickly discern why the location is so challenged. If you’re driving south on San Mateo, you’ll find that there is no direct right turn to the restaurant and traffic can be so dense and busy that you may have to wait for a while to turn in. Then there’s the phenomenon of the far right lane headed north. For some reason, this lane is as tightly packed as a procession of ants headed toward a picnic. But I digress…
As with its predecessor on Central and its siblings in Santa Fe an Española, Mariscos La Playa is one of the most colorful restaurants in Albuquerque–not on the outside which is pretty homogeneous, but in the two capacious dining areas which are arrayed in a vivid pageantry of color. From the vibrant ochre and sunshiny yellow walls to the painted seats, there’s something to catch your eye at every turn. The sound system is tuned to a Pandora genre featuring Mariachi music, most of which is festive and all of which is thoroughly enjoyable.
You’ll find the menu nearly as colorful as the restaurant. It’s a veritable compendium of mariscos with a few landlubber entrees thrown in for good measure. Menu items are listed first in Spanish with English translations directly below providing clear and detailed descriptions, including ingredients. As you peruse the menu, you’ll want to indulge in horchata served in a goblet larger than some aquariums. The horchata is among the best in town. By the way, the “H” in horchata is silent, so all the pronunciations of “whore-chata” are disrespectful and servers have told me they’ve heard them all too often.
20 January 2023: As with its predecessor, the service at Mariscos La Playa is impeccable with one of the most attentive and polite wait staffs around–a hallmark of the Ortega family restaurants. Better still, the wait staff makes sure there’s no surcease to the salsa and chips or the incomparable creamy avocado-based dip. The salsa, a pico de gallo, is at least as good as the very best pico served at other Mexican restaurants in New Mexico. The third “salsa” is a thin bean dip served warm. It’s somewhat watery–like the brownish broth at the bottom of a bean pot after the beans have been extricated–with small bits of mashed pinto bean. A few more beans and slightly less broth would make it even more delicious and certainly neater for your attire.
The avocado dip is indeed something special. It melds sour cream, ripe avocados, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos into a creamy concoction that you might dream about the evening after consuming it. The version at Albuquerque’s Mariscos La Playa is unfailingly creamy but varies in piquancy depending on the potency and quantity of the jalapenos added. It’s terrific on chips or as an additive to any entree.
2 August 2015: The start of a memorable meal might include tostadas de ceviche crafted from crispy (yet formidable enough to support handfuls of seafood) tostadas first layered with mayonnaise then heaped with either shrimp or a seafood combination, cilantro, onion and chopped tomatoes. It’s a colorful and delicious appetizer you can also have as an entree in which it comes as an order of three. During our inaugural visit to Mariscos La Playa’s new location, we found the ceviche de camaron (shrimp) in dire need of desalinization, but the ceviche de pescado (fish) has a just right citrus influence.
20 January 2023: Michael Gonzales, the genial proprietor of Rio Rancho’s Cafe Bella was once asked what he does with leftover bacon His response: “Leftover bacon? I’ve never heard of that type of bacon. Is it new?” If it’s true that men really are genetically predisposed to salivate at the aroma, taste or mention of bacon, male diners should order the Discada Norteña, grilled diced beef with bacon, onions, tomato and white cheese served with corn tortillas, lettuce, tomato and avocado. While all the ingredients go together very well, it’s the bacon that comes across as the prevalent taste–and that’s not at all a bad thing. This entree comes in portions for one or for two and is served in a flat, circular pan with a can of Sterno to keep it warm (at some point, turn off the Sterno or your bounty will cake up at the bottom).
If seafood had been intended to be boring, it would be available only in monotonous chain restaurants purporting to “speak fish” and cater to “the seafood lover in you.” It would mean Americans would be subjected solely to heavily breaded seafood with each item virtually indistinguishable from the other. Fortunately, there are many ways in which to enjoy seafood and Mariscos La Playa prepares them all very well. If you enjoy seafood combinations served warm–and this does not mean fried and breaded–there’s the mariscada caliente, a mixed grill of fish, shrimp, scallops, calamari and octopus.
2 August 2015: For an entirely different and remarkably refreshing perspective on seafood, try the mariscada fria, a mix of seafood (shrimp, octopus and scallops) tossed with lime juice, shaved onions and chile de arbol. Much like the amazing molcajete aguachile at El Zarandeado, it’s a dish that combines piquancy and tanginess to enliven very fresh and very well prepared seafood. The seafood items virtually swim in the lime juice just waiting for your fork to extract them. The presentation is interesting with the wide bowl ringed by sliced cucumber satellites.
20 January 2023: A vibrant, chilled seafood tower is a head-turning, commotion-causing event accorded reverence, awe and respect. Fashioned in a timbale, a round mould in which the seafood is layered artistically, the torre de mariscos is a thing of absolute beauty served in a triangular plate! Crowning the torre (tower) is a sliced ripe avocado sprinkled with cilantro a plenty. Below that are peeled and boiled shrimp with a snap of freshness, shards of fresh crab, sweet scallops and succulent squid. The melange luxuriates in a pool of tomato and citrus juices ameliorated by dark, exotic salsa negra. Neptune himself couldn’t have fashioned a more elegant exemplar of seafood. Sure, the torre is big and showy, but a single order is a cause for celebration. Mariscos La Playa offers this extravagance at a price even paupers among us can afford.
20 January 2023: There are several desserts on the menu. Sadly, no longer among them is the pastel tres leches (cake of the three milks). Flan and chocolate flan are still on the menu, but my Kim was in a chocolate cake mood. To me there are few things in the culinary world worse than the overly frosted cakes purchased at grocery stores. Our server assured us Mariscos La Playa sources its chocolate cake from a Santa Fe baker. Instead of an inch of frosting on top and half an inch of frosting in between layers, layers and the top were separated by a creamy, rich, delicious ganache. We didn’t ask for the name of the baker for fear we’d head up to Santa Fe to get a regular fix.
For seafood lovers, the two year absence of Mariscos La Playa certainly made hearts grow fonder and appetites more ready for a mariscos classic we hope never leaves Albuquerque again.
Mariscos La Playa
5210 San Mateo
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 884 1147
Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 20 January 2023
1st VISIT: 2 August 2015
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET: Discada Norteña, Horchata, Tres Leches Cake, Ceviche de Tostada con Camarones, Salsa and Chips, Mariscada Fria
Gil, I love your reviews, but i am so tired of seeing the word “capacious”. a quick search indicates that you have used the word in exactly 150 different reviews. there are many synonyms you could utilize instead. maybe they don’t sound as fancy as “capacious”, but overuse of that word makes it feel like that’s the only big word you know.
Thank you Word Nerd. I’ve never been accused of not knowing many big words so I’ll work on expanding my parochial lexicon. My favorite synonyms for “capacious” are “Brobdingnag” and “yawning,” but some readers found them confusing.
Please, and I’m serious about this, if you see me developing a word use pattern, let me know. Like you, I’d prefer to see words used creatively.
Maybe just get to the point and when compelled to use “capacious”, instead use, “big @$$ “. Just my $0.02… 😉
“big @$$”…Hmmm, the nuns at St. Anthony’s never taught me that word. In fact, I never heard it until the Penasco Panthers beat Escalante by 40 points and your school’s fans were murmuring and swearing about our “big @$$” win.
You obviously never heard my Tia Josie – who was a cook there… I’m sure she said, “Make sure you make enough frijoles, that bis @$$ Garduño boy always comes back for seconds!”
😉
We ventured to Mariscos La Playa for lunch. The place was jammed. Hopefully a good sign for a location that has seen several restaurants fail.
We had the oysters on a half shell. They were good but we like the Gulf Coast oysters at Pappadeaux more.
We also had the Filete Marinero (Tilapia fillet wrapped in foil, stuffed with scallops, shrimps, octopus and cheese), Lonja de Pescado (Red snapper fillet grilled with a special mustard sauce) and the La Playa Combo (bacon wrapped shrimp, fried shrimp, coconut shrimp, and shrimp cooked in butter and garlic.) The seafood was all uniformly excellent. The tilapia and the red snapper were done quite right. The octupus with the former was tender and tasty, and the mustard sauce on the red snapper enhanced the flavor profile of a very good fillet.
We can now see why they were voted the best seafood in Santa Fe for years.
Go for the seafood. The sides are not up to much. But that’s OK. It leaves more room for the stars of the dishes.
Tried their Camerones Maneados-shrimp tufted with cheese and wrapped with bacon. They were good but I liked the ones at Viva Mexico better. NLP used two smallish shrimp in each one. Those at VM had one big fat shrimp, As I recall those at VM were also cheaper.
Also tried MLP’s Pescado Posteado- Fried red snapper with chipotle sauce. The fish was good but the chipotle sauce unremarkable. At ~$15 it seems either a bit small or overpriced. It came with two very large sides–rice and corn–which were unremarkable and added nothing to the dish.
We’ll likely good back to see if we can see why they’ve been rated best seafood in Santa Fe for a dozen years.
If this venue didn’t have a name, I would’ve called it De Colores (of or made of Colors; as sung by my Favorite Greek http://tinyurl.com/o4gqbhf ) as Gil’s 2nd pic hints at near the bar. The adjacent space off the patio is more splendiferously vibrant as especially being filled with the furniture of carved out and painted seafigures which, I am told are from Guadalajara, which is in Mexico and not just a song of which all of us know the first four words as exemplified by this guy of several years back http://tinyurl.com/k8pjf96 !!! Not only are the booths offering eye-candy and privacy, but they add to the festiveness of the mariachi music that accompanies your meal. (I personally find it a bit grating to have “music of the day” when dining in a New Mexican place. Oh well.)
– An ample Camera, color, music, and a preponderance of seafood entrees sans Red or Green chile is what my perception of the epitome of a Mexican vs New Mexican restaurant is all about. Don’t know how that came about over the years, but it is what it is, correctly or incorrectly…regardless of the cutely diminutively packaged Camarera-senorita I lucked out in having vs one of the guys!!!
Per Gil’s recommendation, I had the Discada Nortena…indeed a tasty melanage of flavors, but I’m hoping a tad much saltiness was a momentary slip of the day. (BTAIM, had delicious Huevos per leftovers today!) Interestingly, I found that the thin plate of metal sitting on 3-4 legs to accommodate a very hearty version of Sterno, was called a ‘comal’ by Elena which is in contrast to my image of a cast iron plate for the making of tortillas let alone on top of una estufa de leña cocina de Sears, e.g. http://tinyurl.com/pdfyjtb. While fruitlessly searching for NM Green Chile offerings while living in Vegas, before Garduno’s came to town ala the Maloof’s Fiesta Casino, I enjoyed exquisite house margaritas at the premier Lindo Michoacan. They claimed/featured a similar furniture. They also had an ample Senora kneading/rolling masa to use on her 2-3 foot, diameter cast iron “comal”, that rotated(!), to put out fresh tortillas. Dang I forgot to check if MdP had LM’s Fideo soup…which I likened to Lipton Noodle soup with a splash or two of Hunt’s Ketchup!
– Bottom line: Must get back to try some seafood dishes to possibly find out why “Mexican cuisine” relies heavily on seafood (unless explained herein), given e.g. Guadalajara and Michoacan are hundreds of miles inland. (Dang, didn’t see any Fried Clams/Lobstah Rolls on the menu!)