Mariscos La Playa

4420 Central, S.W.
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 839-8081
MAP
Albuquerque is now home to a popular Santa Fe Mexican Restaurant that has done very well there for a long time. Mariscos “La Playa” Restaurant offers very authentic tasting Mexican-style seafood dishes with a very colorful beach atmosphere throughout the dining area. Eating here reminded me of watching food television shows that are on location in Mexico, and this restaurant may be the closest you will get to tasting good seafood on the beach without traveling a couple hundred miles.

After being seated you are started with a bowl of corn chips, crackers and two dips, a chunky chopped salsa (medium hot) and creamy guacamole (reminded me a lot of a chowder soup, loved it). My first visit here I tried Steak and Shark Fajitas ($13.95) and Fish Tacos ($10.45). The first impression from these entrees was the size, you are given a larger portion than what you will find at a majority of Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque.

The steak and shark strips of the fajitas came lightly seasoned along with sauteed onion, tomato, and green bell pepper. On the side were three hot, medium-sized flour tortillas, guacamole, and sour cream.

I always enjoy good steak fajitas but the addition of the shark seemed to be a nice add-on and they were tender, meaty, and flaky strips with a very mild seafood taste. A little bit of lime over these fajitas and they are some of the best you fill find in the city.

The Fish Tacos came in an even larger plate portion, and what was left of plate area was covered with french fries and white rice. This was the plate that reminded me of some cooking shows, as the tacos were served in a row of small, soft corn tortillas that spanned the plate, individually garnished with avocado, tomato, and lettuce. What made them so good is that the corn tortillas were very sweet and soft, filled with a good amount of fish sauteed in a rich seafood glaze.

Another time I went there and copied what looked good from another table, starting with a bucket of mini coronas and a plate of oysters. Forget the wine, if you want to live it up in this restaurant you have to order a chilled bucket of coronas. The oysters on the half shell come in half and full dozen orders ($7.95, $12.95), they were pretty good quality and presented nicely with limes, horseradish, and hot sauce. For my main dish I had the Filete Marinero ($12.45) which is a Red Snapper fillet stuffed with scallops, shrimp and octopus, wrapped in cheese, the ovenbaked. I enjoyed this dish as the stuffed seafood was tender, the fish was flaky, and it had a very good blend of seafood flavor. For my taste I would have left out the octopus because the texture, but it was nice for me to eat these pieces by themselves. On the side was the combination spanish rice, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.

The only drawback for this restaurant is the average price per entree, which is a little high compared to the competition. It seems that along with the menu they brought over Santa Fe prices. An example of the difference is that the average kid’s entree is $6, which is just crazy to pay that for the same chicken nuggets and fries that you can get a McDonald’s. The cook time for the entrees is about 15 to 20 minutes (which is a little long), even during slow hours.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is very light and fun with a lot of beach art of the walls and tables. It is not a very large restaurant, but there is still plenty of room between tables. If you are looking to sit down and watch the game or the news (or your novelas), they have two flatscreen tv’s located in the corners of the restaurant floor. The service is good here and the cups are so big you really won’t need any refills on your drinks.

Overall Mariscos is a very good restaurant and I’m glad to see it make the expansion here to Albuquerque. They don’t seem to fall into the trap of making Mexican food taste New Mexican. This is one restaurant that I will be visiting again, I had shark for the first time here and look forward to trying some more unique and authentic tasting Mexican dishes.

Pros: Flavor, Service, Portion Size
Cons: Prices

Taste:
[rate 9]
Service:
[rate 8.5]
Ambiance:
[rate 8]
Overall Reader Rating
[ratings]

Mariscos La Playa, 7.0 out of 10 based on 3 ratings

Popularity: 61% [?]