We're looking for the best shrimp tacos in San Jose del Cabo at the southern reaches of the Baja peninsula. Our friend Connie pointed us toward the new marina along the Sea of Cortez on the north edge of town. We ended up at Mariscos La Playa, wherein Malena Arista Costellanos, shown here, was frying up a batch of tuna and shrimp tacos. We stuck around to try them, and found them darn good - plump, fresh and coated with a cornmeal, oregano, pepper, mustard and beer batter. The cafe's owner, Cuauh Temoc, said the tuna just had been caught in the sea we could readily see from our table. The tacos, however, practically were upstaged by the spirited pico de gallo, vibrant with onion, tomato and cilantro.
Mariscos La Playa has been open only about a month, one of the first small businesses hoping to capitalize on the residential and golf-course development about to spring up about the new marina, no doubt forever changing the small-town character of San Jose del Cabo. Nobody's said Donald Trump has his eye on the landscape, but one of the yachts already berthed in the new marina looks big enough to accommodate his entourage.
At any rate, as good as the shrimp tacos were, we weren't sure we'd found the right place. Our doubts intensified after lunch, when we wandered next door to another restaurant, La Marina, which until recently was George "Doc" Armstrong's La Playita Resort. The name and menu looked closer to what Connie had described. We'll be back.
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