Pescaderia Pacifico in West Ajijic

I was visiting my favorite retailer in the strip shopping center known as La Huerta this afternoon (great retail grocery store with many products available nowhere else in West Ajijic ,a nice new meat market and other places at which I shop religiously) ) and noted upon passing that the Pescaderia Pacifico Ajijic branch of the firm headquartered in the Mercado Del Mar in Zapopan is now barbequing zaranandeo style from of its retail/wholesale outlet on Saturdays and Sundays there so I bought a quarter kilo of barbequed shrimp which were delicious and am going back just before they close at 4:00PM for a fresh barbequed curvino for dinner and what a treat this is. I was able to pick the impeccably fresh curvino I wanted with the choice of having a whole, scaled fish or filets - and, incidentally could have chosen from a variety of fish from red snapper to tuna to you name it - and promised them I would return at 3:45PM to pick up my dinner.

This West Ajijic is on a roll.

Always remember to tip the guy who agrees that that is your fish and he/she will clean and filet for it you and assure you that that is the fish on your plate because cheapskates have no business in these places. If you are cheap, head for the nearest grocery store for tuna in the can. Don´t sully the extranjero community at Lakeside with untoward, selfish behavior.

So, what do you tip "the guy"?

borderreiver wrote:So, what do you tip "the guy"?

Well, the size of my tip is not the deciding factor but I would say it should never be less than 10% nor more than 20%. I tend to tip the fish preparation guy, whether at the Mercado del Mar in Zapopan or here at Pescaderia Pacifico, rather generously as he is the guy who takes care of me and, if he likes me and values my patronage. will always take care of me.

I was taught this back in 2001 by a local restaurateur who took me to the Mercado del Mar long before you could buy fresh fish here and taught me the important rules of the fish market. Find, through trial and error, a fish vendor you trust and always, get to know the guy who guts and scales and filets your fish. Make sure he knows you and and values your business and you do that by being congenial while there and tipping generously. I already knew this having grown up on the Alabama Gulf Coast with its exquisite seafood where I knew my fish vendor and always made sure he knew me as a pleasant recollection.

Wow, thanks for the heads up hound dog! This IS a big deal.

hound dog wrote:... is now barbequing zaranandeo style from of its retail/wholesale outlet on Saturdays and Sundays...

That IS very cool. Grilled fish to go, without all the (generally crappy) sides you get at the otherwise fine local fish restaurants. Brilliant.

Why do I want to say the word is "zarandeado"? My brain is tired and no matter, it's delicious and this is great news. Thanks.

It is zarandeado, and this is a SERIOUSLY cool culinary deal! woo hoo Thanks dawg for the heads-up.

Isn't this where the French bakery is moving to? Our waistlines are doomed - fresh grilled fish and fresh bread to mop it up with

hound dog wrote:

borderreiver wrote:So, what do you tip "the guy"?

Well, the size of my tip is not the deciding factor but I would say it should never be less than 10% nor more than 20%. I tend to tip the fish preparation guy, whether at the Mercado del Mar in Zapopan or here at Pescaderia Pacifico, rather generously as he is the guy who takes care of me and, if he likes me and values my patronage. will always take care of me.

I was taught this back in 2001 by a local restaurateur who took me to the Mercado del Mar long before you could buy fresh fish here and taught me the important rules of the fish market. Find, through trial and error, a fish vendor you trust and always, get to know the guy who guts and scales and filets your fish. Make sure he knows you and and values your business and you do that by being congenial while there and tipping generously. I already knew this having grown up on the Alabama Gulf Coast with its exquisite seafood where I knew my fish vendor and always made sure he knew me as a pleasant recollection.

Properly prepared fish is a very delicate thing...
Easy to undercook... even easier to overcook....
Unless yer across the street from this vendor.... like Dawgy is... your fine flavorful feast is gonna be as cold as that Tuna Dawg alluded to!!

Better to tip the guy well and have him teach ya how ta cook the damned thing...

I just arrived back home with my "zarandeado" grilled fish fillet from Pescaderia Pacifico - getting there at 3:50PM just before they closed. The fish filets I ordered were excellent and the price quite reasonable. Look, Dawg is just an Alabama redneck who, despite 30 plus years in San Francisco and 12 years in Mexico plus enough time in Paris to pick up a bride, is still just a piney woods goober picking his nose while driving down Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. How can such a retard be expected to spell or pronounce zarandeado? Dawg can sho ´nuff shove it down his gullet, however.

hockables wrote:

hound dog wrote:

borderreiver wrote:So, what do you tip "the guy"?

Well, the size of my tip is not the deciding factor but I would say it should never be less than 10% nor more than 20%. I tend to tip the fish preparation guy, whether at the Mercado del Mar in Zapopan or here at Pescaderia Pacifico, rather generously as he is the guy who takes care of me and, if he likes me and values my patronage. will always take care of me.

I was taught this back in 2001 by a local restaurateur who took me to the Mercado del Mar long before you could buy fresh fish here and taught me the important rules of the fish market. Find, through trial and error, a fish vendor you trust and always, get to know the guy who guts and scales and filets your fish. Make sure he knows you and and values your business and you do that by being congenial while there and tipping generously. I already knew this having grown up on the Alabama Gulf Coast with its exquisite seafood where I knew my fish vendor and always made sure he knew me as a pleasant recollection.

Properly prepared fish is a very delicate thing...
Easy to undercook... even easier to overcook....

Uunless yer across the street from this vendor.... like Dawgy is... your fine flavorful feast is gonna be as cold as that Tuna Dawg alluded to!!

Better to tip the guy well and have him teach ya how ta cook the damned thing...

There is wisdom in this post, Hox even if you are an unrepentant Canadian backwoods frozen tundra redneck freak who thought, until you moved to Mexico, that fart odors were sealed in the house until mid-July and that the release of those odors when you opened the windows for the first time then since September of the previous year you awoke the bears up from their annual hibernation by said stimulous. Now, quite seriously, Pescaderia Pacifico is aware of the problem you pose and (I only learned this today) packs their freshly babequed seafood carefully into three layers of protection to make sure that their seafood BBQ is hot and tasty when you getahold of it later that day. I don´t know much about your Canadian habits but Alabamians must consume a bottle of bourbon before commencing to eat dinner and, I imagine, living on the frozen tuntra encourages alcolhol consumption as does swimming with alligators as we do in Alabama.

By the way, the fish filets I brought home from Paescaderia Pacifico tonight were barbequed perfectly. Tender and juicy. Barbequed, as I observed, over hot charcoal flames a modest amount of time and, thus, delicious. I didn´t eat them until about two hours after arriving home but the sealing packages kept my dinner fresh. A great treat even if you live as far away as Chapala or Jocotepec.

Yeah, for sure I could BBQ my own fish but from 10:00AM to 4:00AM Saturdays and Sundays theyll do it for me. I did not just exit the turnip truck.

I might be swayed.... I'll try this delicacy & get back to ya!!

Saw the sign for the zerandedo but wasn't sure what was going on. I buy all my fish at the Pacifico and always tip the guy filleting my fish. Anxious for next weekend so I can get a fresh cooked fillet. Yummis. Lucky me, I live in West Ajijic.

Please remind them we are awaiting their arrival in Vallarta.... we have NOTHING as good as Pacifico here!!!

Thanks for the info, Dawg. This service elevates an already-fine fish shop to the next level. (BTW, it's spelled corvina, and for the same kind of treat but with a little more zip, try the parrot fish.)

That tienda HD refers to is also very interesting. He doesn't seem to be catering to what he considers 'gringo' tastes, but rather to what he knows tastes good. A lot of unusual products, and good prices too. We bought a large citrus squeezer there for 450 pesos, a smaller version at Superlake was 740. Lots of grains and beans (pulses) too.

I can also see why he admires the zarandeado fish - it contains that magical Maya ingredient he is unable to resist - Maya Nesa

[quote="HelperGuy"]Thanks for the info, Dawg. This service elevates an already-fine fish shop to the next level. (BTW, it's spelled corvina, and for the same kind of treat but with a little more zip, try the parrot fish.)[/quote]

Well, HG. those morons here spell it "curvina" and where I grew up on the Alabama coast, I had no expectation that fishermen out of Bayou La Batre could spell but I knew for a fact they could tell a flounder from a red snapper and they would never sell me the crapbt hey were freezing and shipping to Chicago. I also knew that any crabs they sold me had been scurrying about the sands of the Gulf that morning. Don´t think your ability to spell will guarantee you good, freah seafood when you're dealing with a lowlife fisherman in Alabama, Mexico or France. They will eat you alive and screw you to the wall

Bought some Red Snapper at Pacifico today, and he asked if I wanted to try the Zarandeado. Tasty. I asked him if he'd sell me some of the sauce so I could grill it Zarandeado style at home. He sold me a baggie full for only 20 pesos. Even better than having him cook it and taking it home to sit.