Category Archives: food

Andrew + Rockaway Taco

By Ed Fladung | July 30, 2008

andrew floats

Super dialed-in güero hermano Andrew Field has opened up an authentic Mexican fish taco joint in Rockaway Beach (96th & Beach). It’s called Rockaway Taco and you can bet they’re the best tasting tacos you’ve ever had, outside of Mexico.

Andrew got a nice write-up from Soho Lunch, recently:

in any case. we had tofu tacos, fish tacos (beer battered talapia), and chorizo tacos. i ordered chips and guacamole and he actually cut up corn tortillas and fried them. i watched him make the guacamole himself. pretty impressive. it was cheap and good and made you forget about the projects behind you.1

All you New York sliders and Molluskonian trimmers, go out and support a surf bro on his quest to bring authentic mexican food to the hungry, cold water masses.

  1. Hey this chick doesn’t like capitalized letters either! ↩
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Sayulita Fish Taco

By Ed Fladung | May 17, 2008

Albert

If you’ve been to Sayulita, chances are you know what delicious goodness lies in wait, in the big haphazardly-built, blazing yellow building, fortified with wrought-iron signs, just off the square. Chairs, tables and old surf mags crammed into every single nook possible. In a town whose restaurants and businesses ebb and flow with the tides of the high and low tourist seasons, Sayulita Fish Taco is an integral part of Sayulita’s gilded prana. That is to say, Sayulita would not be the same without it.

Albert is the proprietor behind the famous yellow building and the delicious, distinctly traditional mexican fare. Always a smile and a good word, I’ve encountered him enumerable times out in the line-up, at ‘Rubber Dingies’ and ‘Enchiladas’, trimming his brains out with the ‘alma’ of an overgrown kid.

With a nice, twisted, sun-burnt sense of humor, Albert is the kinda guy with the ingenuity to rig up a user-controllable webcam so you can check out the front of his restaurant, never mind the ‘Mexican Waikiki’ otherwise known as Sayulita beach, just three blocks away, who’d want a webcam to check that out? He winks and says (and I’m paraphrasing, here) “Aw Yeah, it’s great. You can control the webcam and sometimes I move it to the other side of the pole, so you can see the big fiestas they throw in the town square”. The irony isn’t lost on Albert, that’s just the kinda guy he is.

Long after the snowbirds have all flown home, during the heart of the humidity riddled rainy season, you can still see Albert slogging in today’s catch as he sets his shop up for another day of fish tacos and cerveza. Albert has gone native.

SFT website | live webcam

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Tacos Mapaches

By Ed Fladung | November 2, 2007

marcia
tacos mapaches

After bowling, we headed over to our new favorite taco joint Tacos Mapaches. ‘Mapache’ is spanish for ‘Raccoon’. Tacos Mapache is in the Marina Vallarta area, across from the “Foam Party” club.

The cool thing about this particular taco stand is that in addition to some (slightly expensive but) hella good tacos, it’s the home to a family of 30+ raccoons that come at all hours of the day for masa treats (masa is the corn dough used to make tortillas). The raccoons actually live in a marsh reserve that is out back, behind the restaurant. They use the taco stand as a home base and free meal. So as you’re eating your tacos, you get to swat off several raccoons begging for food, sometimes they mistake your toe for a scrap. Then out comes the big bowl of masa and in come the entire family. It’s definitely worth the 20 or peso extra it costs us to eat at Tacos Mapaches.

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Pho

By Ed Fladung | June 17, 2007

marcia eats phoAs we came to the end of our stay in Vietnam, both Marcia and I were heavily addicted to Pho (pronounced “fu” like “funk” with the “nk”). Pho is a hot, slurpy, noodles dish usually served with some kind of meat. The broth is intoxicating. and it’s usually eaten for breakfast. We found a great joint called Pho 2000 (once patronized by Bill Clinton and with the framed photos to prove it!). We had pho in restaurants, we had pho on the streets. I had pho for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When we got back to Los Angeles, we even went to the pho joint in Silverlake. Since, we’ve returned to Vallarta, we’ve been trying to make pho unsuccessfully. If there was one thing I could have brought back from my trip, it’s a working pho recipe, all the book/internet recipes we’ve tried haven’t really worked. I ♥ pho.

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Chè

By Ed Fladung | June 14, 2007

Chethe Che spot

No not the south american revolutionary folk hero. The vietnamese sweet coconut flavored everything-but-the-kitchen-sink concoction.

Chè is served all over Vietnam and eaten pretty much all day long. Some vendors of Chè have a specific variety they sell, but the hard core Chè joints have like 30 different ingredients to chose from and I’d say I couldn’t tell you what half them are. Banana, semi-raw potatoes, soy beans, mung beans, 10 other different kinds of cooked beans, lychee, etc… The result is a plethora of different textures and colors served over crushed ice and flavored with a semi-sweet coconut liquid jammy. It’s all about the texture and if you’re a food texture junky like I am, it’s utter heaven.

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Las Carmelitas

By Ed Fladung | November 20, 2006

meta photography
MeganCaseyMarciaEdmundoSunset over Vallarta

Last night Marcia and I took Casey and Megan out to our favorite little big sunset vista restaurant joint in Vallarta, Las Carmelitas. It was great catching up with these guys again, they were last here in June and we all enjoyed the rather large margaritas and a wicked slightly cloudy sunset. The Arrachera was good as always and Casey and I traded camera shots as the girls snickered, men and their toys…

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El Diez

By Ed Fladung | April 22, 2006

The most slammin’ Argentian food in Mexico City. El Diez is located on “Alfonso Reyes” and “Cosala” in Condesa. I say, go for the Entraña Argentina. It’s the best cut of meat, Argentinian style. Swear to god, the best steak I’ve had in years. years, folks. If you’re in the Condesa, check out El Diez, named after Diego Maradona, the Argentinian futbol player. These folks take futbol seriously. and steak too. the bomb. Wine goes best with steak, so don’t be lulled into a false calm by the beer. go for the wine, the Trapiche Malbec is off the hook, ask for the large wine glasses, if nothing else, just for effect. Stick your nose in, get it in there and breathe in…..

disclaimer: When I wrote this, the wine was in full effect.

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The Yug

By Ed Fladung | April 22, 2006

If you’re a tourist in Mexico city and your a vegetarian, you are in luck, go to Yug Vegetarian Food and Buffet. It’s just off the Paseo de la Reforma on Calle Varsovia, just north of La Zona Rosa. Skip the upstairs buffet. Stay downstairs and eat off the regular menu. Yug has the most slammin Tacos al Pastor I have ever had. In fact, probably some of the best tacos I’ve ever had, period. and they’re veggie! An order of tacos al pastor and a green salad are perfect for two people. Don’t miss yug. It’s the bomb and you know this, maaaaaaan.

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Café del Mar

By Ed Fladung | March 31, 2006

Lisa.Eugeneground floor. Cafe del Mar

On Sunday as we made our way back from Guadalajara, we stopped in San Pancho, to represent at Lisa Candela’s opening art show at Café del Mar. Lisa’s good friend, Meagan, was showing also. I’m sure the people who patron Café del Mar’s gallery loved Lisa’s work.

Cafe del Mar is a study in how to maximize atmosphere with minimal materials. The place glows with ambiance, yet it’s nothing more then concrete, ironwork and simple wood framing, albeit with an amazing array of creative inspiration thrown in. Not to say that this restaurant is simplistic, it is most surely not. Rather, that it’s an almost perfect example of warm, organic minimalism. As only latin countries can do. You would never see this place in any other country or climate.

If you find yourself in San Pancho, please do stop in to Café del Mar and tell Amandine, I said “Hello”.

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Veggie Pron

By Ed Fladung | March 14, 2006

I love Leeks!

veggie pron

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Bai Sri

By Ed Fladung | February 18, 2006

Andrew Christian adrian ma-sha bernard

A homie of ours, Adrian, opened up Puerto Vallarta’s first authentic thai restaurant. and true to his intentions, the food was most certainly authentic. To have a thai restaurant in Vallarta is great, to have one that passes for authentic is heaven. can i say the word “authentic” again, just one more time, authentic. thank you.

So the posse headed down, on thursday night – Andrew’s night off, to Vallarta to check out “Bai Sri”, in it’s first week of operation. The food was definitely a little slow to come out, Marcia’s chardonnay was red and my Tom Yum Gong came with chicken, they are definitely ironing out the “first week” kinks. But man, when that pad thai hit my lips, i knew I was home. Marcia got the red curry and believe me when I say it felt like I was sitting in my favorite little thai restaurant on Hollywood Bully, in Thai Town LA. Melvung would be proud.

Thank you, Adrian, for a wonderful dinner. we look forward to come back, week after week, as you ply us with the best thai food to be had within a 2 hour plane ride. you rock!

The photos above mark the return of my little canon sd 110 and are of us messing around as we got plastered waiting for the food to arrive. Adrian is the boss in the middle.

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LA Restaurant Tour 05.

By Ed Fladung | December 18, 2005

marcia likes pad-thaijocelyn lee.tegen fraker.tony nazemi'm a dir-ty robot.

Los Angeles was great. not so much a vacation, more a reality check for my “state of affairs”. getting things in line was the order of the day. Marcia and I got to eat all the good food we’ve been missing. in fact, it occurred to me, while uploading all the images to Flickr, that most of them are of us eating at various restaurants. So here’s to the places we chowed down:

Palms Thai Restaurant, Hollywood Ca. the pad-thai is always a safe bet and the palms doesn’t let you down. The Tom Yum Gong soup was especially good. I always save the delicious thai iced-tea for dessert, since well, it’s sweet enough to be one.

Starbucks, corner of Highland and Franklin, Hollywood Ca. yeah, i know Ima sell out, i’m writing about Starbucks on the internet. how un-couth. of me. it’s a convenience thing, my man. and a good place to people watch. and the double tall cappuccino is the bomb.

Electric Karma, 3rd street, Los Angeles Ca. the vegetable korma is insane. one of the 3 best indian joints in LA (i know i’m gonna catch hell for that one). The slick looking younger guy in the leather jacket wasn’t the best waiter, but the food is on point.

Ita-Cho, Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles Ca. Best non-sushi japanese in the world. yeah, the world. the grilled peppers. gomaei. lotus root. yellowtail sashimi and last but not least the karaage flounder, holy balls. get the cold sake, the one in the light blue bottle, and have it served in the wooden box. classic.

The Griddle, Sunset Blvd. Hollywood Ca. best to go before 9:00am, before the In Touch / US Weekly crowd get there. The service is awful but the food is the jammy. Best bacon on the planet and the “poached y papas”, an eggs benedict style dish is too. oh and don’t forget to share one lemon raspberry pancake for your table, you won’t regret it.

Urth Cafe, Melrose west of La Cienega, West Hollywood Ca. the best place in LA for a sandwich, salad, soup and tea. the butternut squash soup was perfect. the place can get glitzy, go at night, wear a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, see, now your famous!

The “I don’t know the name of the japanese BBQ restaurant” restaurant, La Cienega Blvd. West Hollywood Ca. best smores in a restaurant i’ve ever had. wait. the only smores in a restaurant i’ve ever had. oh and the sapporo drafts for a buck, make this place a perfect happy hour retreat.

The 101 Cafe. Franklin Blvd. Hollywood Ca. just down the street from my house, the perfect place to roll out of bed and go for breakfast. keep it to the week days though, this place can get crowded with all types of hipster trash. i stick to the eggs and toast. the waffle wasn’t so nice. don’t let that stop you, the 101 is stone cold classic

and last but not least:

Dough Boys, on 3rd, Los Angeles Ca. always one of my first stops in LA. the bread is amazing. the french onion soup isn’t a meal, it’s 2 meals. the salads are big, chunky and funky. the hot chocolate is perfect for LA’s blend of winter. did I mention the bread?

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Roots live music

By Ed Fladung | November 1, 2005

For the past two friday nights Andrew has been having live music at Roots. The band is called “Frijoleros” and they are a boyfriend/girlfriend (husband/wife?) duo. They are like one part traditional mexican duo, one part manu chao inspired world travelers. Very modern mexican folk music. 2 voices, a guitar and a stand-up bass. All soul. I recorded a little audio:

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art, food & friends

By Ed Fladung | October 29, 2005

the ladies get their talk on

Wednesday night, we met up with Lisa and Megan and we all headed down to see Mark Callanan, who had invited us out to a gallery in Vallarta that he was showing at. It turned out to be an art walk, unfortunately we showed up fashionably late at around 9 or so, just as the galleries were closing up. His piece in the show was awesome as always, a photograph of a fern that was abstracted almost to the point of looking like an explosion of fireworks. beautiful.

Mark CallananMegan and Lisa perusing art booksMarcia and the blue nichos

Miguel showed up also, in rare public display, we were most certainly blessed with his presence, always good to see the man. After a while of checking out the gallery we talked a bit and sauntered over to “Si, Señor” a relatively new restaurant (I think), a few blocks down from “Cafe Des Artistes”. Whoever did the interior/exterior design did a hell of a job, it’s a beautiful restaurant, very well designed and crafted. But the food wasn’t so hot. Mark and I both had the Azteca soup and the Chiles en Nogada. The Azteca soup was actually quite good and it was on that high note that I was so disappointed with the chiles. The Axteca soup had an amazing broth with hints of guajillo chile or some other kind of chile, it was like crack as I slurped it up, um waiter can I have more broth? The Chiles en Nogada is a traditional dish serves all around mexico around this time of year, and it’s usually like pizza, even when it’s not so good, it’s still pretty good. It’s got a ground meat base, stuffed in a roasted poblano chile with a slightly sweet walnut cream sauce and pomegranate seeds on top. This version of it, though, had a sauce that tasted like melted strawberry ice-cream and the meat filling had fruit chunks in it. I had two or three bites out of hunger and had to put it down. Mark didn’t even get that far, he was the smart one and had it sent back (and hence not charged). I was the dumb one with the $18 charge for un-eaten Chiles en Nogada (yes, 18 bucks, did the chile have gold leaf? no). Oh well.

Megan and LisaMark Callanan rocks the irish grin.yers truly.

Past the food it was a nice night. It was great to finally connect Lisa with my homies Mark and Miguel. All Quality Peoples for sure, and a slight shame that it took me this long to connect them. When talented people come together, good things always happen. Us artists gotta stick together. I hope we start doing this on a more regular basis.

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barcelona tapas

By Ed Fladung | October 18, 2005

vallarta. night.kids at Barcelona TapasAlejandra and Marcia at Barcelona Tapassangria can be fun.

Saturday, Marcia and I absconded to Puerto Vallarta for the night to have dinner with her friend, Alejandra, who was in town for the weekend from Guadalajara. We went to ‘Barcelona Tapas’ a pretty well known, highly regarded restaurant, just a few blocks off the melecon in downtown Vallarta. The food was hit and miss, for the most part it was a hit. The Spanish Tortilla was insane. Next time I go back, I’ll take three orders. The roquefort salad was also the bomb. The sangria? eh, it got me good and schnockered, but for some odd reason they put vodka in it (oh let me see, to get the tourists drunk quickly?) well, it did it’s job, but I’m a sangria purist, no vodka, thank you.

All in all, it was a great meal and not very expensive. I give Btapas a big thumbs up and it’s a nice romantic place with a great view, so bring your girlfriend and tell the waiters that the guy who ‘got the cork out of the wine bottle by only using a napkin” sent you.

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