Mariscos El Toro Truck

*** Update. This truck is gone.....

A bit over two weeks ago I mentioned seeing a Mariscos truck in the parking lot of the 76 on the corner of Convoy and Balboa. During a recent lunch, I had the sudden urge to "fill up my tank", and just so happened to stop by the 76 (how convenient, eh?). And yes indeed that very same truck was parked a few feet from the water and air station at the 76.

 

After filling up, I pulled my car to the front of the convenience store side of the gas pumps. There isn't much room here, so it's a wonder this truck can do any business at all. Just by coincidence there was a gentleman waiting for his order. The fellow in the truck bellowed a welcome, and seemed pretty busy. I struck up a conversation with the guy standing outside, and he told me, "they serve the best fish tacos I ever had here....." Then he grabbed his burrito and left.... well wait a minute.... if this place made the best fish tacos, why'd he order a burrito?

Oh well, I'd already placed my order, so I'd let the chips fall where they may.....

The very friendly guy came out of the truck to hand me the staple freebie of Mariscos establishments..... the cup of oceany consomme.

 

The consomme looked much too light and watery, but wasn't too bad.... nice shrimpy flavor, and scorching hot as it should be.

The usual creamy salsa usually provided for Mariscos was missing, but there was a habanero based salsa that looked like water....but was pretty spicy, as was the typical salsa roja, which had a very strong Chili de Arbol heat.... very upfront.

 

Soon enough my food was ready. Had there been more room, this would've been one of those "eating on the hood of my car" posts, but there really isn't much eating space. So I took my tacos with me back to the office.

 Here's the line-up from left to right; Tacos de Pescado (Fish Taco), Camarones a la Diabla (spicy shrimp), and the Gobernador (of course).

 

These really seemed to pale in comparison to what other Mariscos trucks deliver.

The Fish Taco ($1.50), was just totally covered in Pico de Gallo......

 

The piece of fish was pretty small, and it lacked a decent crunch. I was wondering about the lack of crema, until I bit into it...... they had smeared the crema on the tortilla and placed the piece of fish on top of it.

It just can't compare with this from one of my favorite stops:

 
Which is also cheaper......

The Gobernador ($3.25) was also a bit disappointing.

 

Unlike the versions I enjoy from Mariscos German and El Pescador, this lacked the wonderful cheese melted on the tortilla, which protected the tortilla from falling to pieces. This made for a rather soggy experience. There was pretty much more onions than anything else, the veggies and the shrimp were on the over-cooked side, camarones tough and vegetables lacking crispness. No, this was not bad by any means, but not in the class of a good Gobernador. It was also fairly small for the price.

The best item I tried on this day was the Camarones a la Diabla ($3.25):

 

Even though this seemed a bit small for the price as well, the shrimp in this was done well, not perfect, but good enough. It also had a sneaky slightly smoky heat. I took a bite, then added the Habanero Salsa and Cebollas (pickled onions and habanero), and ended up breaking into a pretty good sweat.

To me, El Toro isn't quite in the same class of the good Mariscos Trucks, they are still pretty much the only show in this part of town. I'll probably drop by again if they make it past the next couple of months to see if the food gets better. We need more offerings of this type, and the gentleman running the truck is very friendly.....

Mariscos el Toro

Currently located at the corner of Convoy street and Balboa in the parking lot of the 76 station.

I was told their hours are Monday thru Friday from about 930 to 330.

Comments

[Dennis]

Hi Kirk, I was too full to get anything but was filling gas at this station and remembered your post a week ago. Thanks for checking them out!

[kat]

looks good from here!

[Kirk]

Hi Dennis - This place needs to work on their food a bit.

Hi Kat - I guess I'm a bit spoiled since we have access to better places.

[Janfrederick]

Oh man. I'm in the mood for Mexican food. I'm meeting my wife at Rudy's in Solana Beach to try out a torta de cabeza. I tried out their street tacos the other day and determined that their lengua and cabeza were the best of the bunch. And when I saw they offered those in torta form, I vowed to return.

I've had better versions, and these cuts of meat are hard to mess up, but it is more convenient for me than Chula Vista.

Note: I wasn't thrilled with the carnitas. The taste was fine, but I prefer mine a bit more crispy. And the pastor seemed a bit too sweet for my tastes.

[janfrederick]

Update: My wife had to fast for lab work this morning, so she was starving and made me take her early. We just got back. The bread was really good, and it came with just beans, cabeza, onions, and mayo. No lettuce, tomato, or cheese. Let's just say we scarfed these pot roast on a bun sandwiches. Succulent!

[bill]

No thanks to un-de-pooped shrimp.

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - I think well prepared cabeza really brings forward the flavor of the cow.

LOL Billy! I never knew you were so picky!

[bill]

Did I not mention. My dad is a shrimper in Houston. I get the best and regarding seafood I am very picky. Such a snob I am regarding Gulf shrimp. LOL

[Pam P]

that picture of your favorite fish tacos is absolute divine food porn! thank you, thank you, thank you.

And it hits harder because I am 2000 miles away from getting my hands on them anytime soon :)

[Kirk]

I'll remember that Bill!

Thanks Pam! I do hope that you'll be able to get some good fish tacos soon.