Letter to El Zarape Mexican restaurant

Manager
El Zarape
4642 Park Boulevard
San Diego, California 92116

Phone: (619) 692-1652

Dear Sir or Madam:

We visited your restaurant for the second time on April 17, 2009. We were very excited because the first time at El Zarape we really enjoyed your Mahi Mahi taco, lobster taco and fish taco. Though we were disappointed with the salmon taco, our first overall experience was good. The Mahi Mahi and lobster were flavorful and cooked properly, as was the fish taco. However, the fish taco benefited more from its sauce than from the flavor of the fish or breading, both of which were totally unseasoned.

On our most recent visit, we tried the fish taco plate and calamari burrito, along with the hot salsa rojo and avocado salsa verde. As usual, both salsas were excellent. The avocado salsa had a very clean, refreshing flavor. It was creamy and still provided the kick we wanted. It had fresh avocado flavor that did not dominate the salsa but rather enhanced the overall flavor. The salsa rojo was fiery while still letting the other fresh ingredients shine.

The salsas were necessary, unfortunately, because the tacos and burrito were extremely bland and unseasoned. We ordered from the specials board outside, which advertised a calamari burrito found for the same price ($5.99) on the regular menu inside. My favorite seafood tacos are the calamari tacos at the Brigantine so I was excited to see the calamari burrito on the menu.

The fresh green leaf lettuce in the burrito was a good choice and served as a perfect textural contrast with the other ingredients. However, the burrito contained large cubes of totally unseasoned calamari. These large chunks were extremely unpleasant in the mouth because of the texture they held due to their thickness. It was clear that a large piece of calamari was breaded and deep fried and simply cut into big pieces, causing most of the breading to flake or fall off. My dining partner tried the burrito and spit it out because the texture was too much for her to stomach. She normally loves calamari. The calamari had no flavor whatsoever, which made the burrito even harder to eat. I was also sad to see large pieces of obviously refrigerated and mealy tomatoes in the burrito. I had to hand pick them from the burrito because they were revolting.

The freshly fried chips served with my burrito were well salted and terrific. They and the salsa were easily the best part of our meal.

The fish taco plate (also on the specials board) featured two of your famous fried fish tacos and the standard rice and beans on the side. While the fish was cooked perfectly and the batter was light and flaky, salt and pepper had completely missed both fish and batter. Simple, basic seasoning would have significantly enhanced their flavor. Sadly, the beans and rice were equally bland and the crust on the refried beans announced that they had been cooking for too long. The rice, totally lacking flavor, left an oily ring on the plate.

While we were dining, we noticed a very long line and wished that we had asked the people in line what they were ordering. The calamari burrito I was served was not good enough to be on the menu, let alone the specials board. If you are going to continue serving it, we would suggest that the calamari at least be prepared with basic seasoning (salt and pepper) and cut into much smaller pieces or, better yet, served as individually breaded and fried strips.

Although your restaurant seems to use a fair amount of fresh produce, the tomatoes on my burrito were not properly cared for and robbed of all flavor. It is far better to put no tomatoes on a dish than mealy, refrigerated tomatoes. We were excited about your large, unique menu and use of mostly fresh ingredients. However, attention to detail (e.g., simple salt and pepper on fish before frying) would have made all the difference. There are hundreds of taco shops in San Diego County and although many are barely mediocre, we traveled 20 minutes to eat at El Zarape because we loved the concept you were working under. More Mexican restaurants in San Diego should be conscious of making food with fresh ingredients and quality seafood. Our only criticism is that the obviously high-quality ingredients didn’t live up to their potential because you didn’t take the time to do the small things that would allow them to taste as good as they should have.

Yours Very Truly,

San Diego Restaurant Review