Ron Bechtol
The shrimp tower at Aguachile is price its steep $22-plus price ticket.
Octopus looms giant on the menu at San Antonio’s Aguachile Seafood.
In case you’re a sucker, because it have been, for complete octopus, be ready to shell out greater than $70 for any one in every of 5 iterations accessible on the Mexican seafood spot. That’s absolutely an area pricing file for a delicacies that many reflexively consider solely by way of tacos.
Octopus can be controversial. Its burgeoning U.S. recognition has led to proposals for the creation of oceanic octopus farms. That’s result in opposition from those that argue that the cephalopod is such an clever and charismatic creature that it deserves particular safety. Farms are already banned in Washington State, and the motion is gaining momentum nationally.
Be that as it could, when octopus is minimize up, as it’s within the joyous jumble of seafood that fills Aguachile’s caldo de mariscos, it’s simpler to plead ignorance and easily benefit from the tender bits.
The soup’s rusty broth additionally sports activities squid rings, chunks of abalone, bay scallops, meaty mussels and shrimp. The flavour solely will get extra intense because the tide recedes. Consider the caldo as a harbinger of the menu’s bounty to return.
Even a easy tostada de camaron cocido at Aguachile, flanked by chile-dusted cucumbers and sliced avocado, comes throughout as over-the-top. Entire shrimp laced with a spicy mayo crown a mattress of the chopped shellfish, in flip bedded on a duo of shatteringly crisp tostadas sandwiching a layer of plain mayo.
It’s all too large to choose up and too immune to slicing with a fork to make consuming straightforward. Nonetheless, the mess is finally price it. Simply don’t fear about ending for those who’ve ordered an excessive amount of. Responsible as charged.
A michelada, served in a weighty schooner with a closely crusted rim, appears applicable at that time. It arrives with a bottle of your alternative of beer — Pacifico, on this case — dunked headfirst into the spicy brew. Extracting it with out further mess is half the enjoyable, and a few beer will stay for topping off as the extent sinks. There’s additionally a Tajin-crusted wand caught within the glass to up the spice quotient as wanted. You’ll be able to, and will, do that whereas additionally celebrating occasional bursts of music from roving troubadours.
It’s a toss of the coin whether or not a seafood torre, or tower, is definitely worth the $22-plus it prices. I say sure — no less than this as soon as. It’s principally a repackaged shrimp aguachile that’s been packed right into a cylindrical type and unmolded on the plate. Surrounded by a moat of salsa verde — roja and negra are different decisions — it’s each spectacular and enjoyable, to not point out eminently Instagrammable.
The geologically layered cooked shrimp rise above a mix of chopped onion and cucumber that hides just a few uncooked shrimp “cooked” by the aguachile’s lime. You’ll in all probability wish to use the house-packaged tostadas as scoops to deconstruct the dish.
The molcas and molcajetes at Aguachile are spectacular.
The distinction between molcas and molcajetes at Aguachile is outwardly one in every of measurement and worth, with the previous beginning at practically $20 and the latter, match for a foursome, topping out round $40. At $19.65, the molcacampechana is an ample introduction to the class.
Buttressed by extra crenelated cucumbers, the mix of seafood once more consists of each cooked and chile-cured shrimp, octopus, abalone and surimi, the tinted fish composite that U.S. entrepreneurs have dubbed krab.
Fortuitously, the fake crab dissolves into shreds within the salsa negra — an umami-rich Sinaloan sauce of soy sauce, Worcestershire, Jugo Maggi and chiles. Simply picosa sufficient, the salsa helped make this a favourite spooned onto extra of the toasty tortillas.
Different choices at Aguachile embody tacos, tortas, fried seafood and even fajitas and burritos. Oh, and hamburguesas with every little thing from beef to rooster to shrimp because the centerpiece.
On the worth level of most seafood, I’d personally want a extra edited menu, however the proprietors apparently know their market. Slowly, the place started to replenish with households because the night progressed and the noise stage mounted.
Fortuitously, it was a pleasant noise.
Aguachile Seafood2123 Culebra Highway | (210) 276-0302 | 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday by means of Thursday, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday | $9-$70
Finest bets: Caldos, tostadas, seafood towers, molcajetes
The thin: Aguachile lacks the plain ornamental allure of a family- and tourist-friendly restaurant comparable to Mi Tierra, but it surely compensates with related noise ranges and an nearly too-comprehensive menu heavy on seafood. Although dear in comparison with less-ambitious Mexican eating places, visually spectacular choices comparable to layered seafood towers and brimming bowls of seafood soup benefit the tariff. The hefty stone molcajetes stocked with something from abalone to octopus are additionally price their weight.plates, some created from house-cured fish, can be found to those that favor meals over type.Subscribe to SA Present newsletters.
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