ricky's fish tacos

the home of my current food obsession is basically a parking lot with a tarp canopy, some cheap plastic tables and folding chairs, a couple deep fryers and a cash register. there’s no sign and the hours are very limited, but when they are open, there is almost always a line of hungry angelenos, eager to devour a specialty of ensenada, mexico. the place is ricky’s fish tacos in silverlake and the tacos there are insanely good. the menu consists of only baja-style fish tacos (made with catfish), shrimp tacos and occasionally lobster tacos, as well as drinks including homemade agua fresca.  for his batter, ownerrickypiña uses his grandmother’s recipe, which produces the most delicious, golden, crispy coating on the deep fried seafood.  the tacos are served on warm corn tortillas with shredded cabbage and pico de gallo made of fresh tomatos, onions and jalapenos.  to complete these incredible street delicacies, homemade salsas (mild tomatillo, medium tomato/garlic and spicy chipotle) and

every month, it seems as though dozens of new high-concept/fancy/$$$ restaurants open in los angeles. and yes, we do enjoy trying them out, although the speed at which that happens depends on the state of our bank accounts. but the fancy stuff? that's not the main reason why we love the l.a. food scene. much of the beauty of this city is the sheer number of quality cheap food options. and the place that epitomizes the glory that is street food? the parking lot operation you see below. ricky's fish tacos are bomb as hell. tucked away in a small lot right off sunset junction (around the corner from the vista movie theater),rickypiña mans the double fryer to produce the most amazing fish and shrimp tacos we've ever had. the batter is a thing of beauty - light, airy, and crunchy. both the fish and shrimp come out cooked perfectly, and when stuffed into a warmed tortilla along with shredded lettuce and your choice of any number of available salsas (don't forget the crema

ricky's fish tacos - private birthday party 11.17.2009 we recently happened to be invited to a birthday party for ricky's friend . now, i didn't know or even heard ofrickyuntil this party. but it looks like he sells fish tacos for $2.50 on the street in los angeles on saturdays and sundays and everybody just likes it. when we were at the party,rickywas frying each fish so we can eat really freshly cooked fish tacos. but it seems like he also deep-fries each order when he sells on the street, too. that could be one of the secrets why the tacos were so good. also the tortilla was warm. i only know fish tacos from fast food, where the fish has been sitting for a while, so it's not crispy or delicious. but this freshly deep-fried fish was so crispy outside and so soft inside. you really wanna try it. they also had homemade pupusa, rice, beans and tortilla chips. my first time homemade mexican food was great, and the best part was none of them had cheese.