El Marinero: Authentic Mexican Food in Wilmington
A restaurant review from Susan, extracted from a long discussion in Real Pizza? -ed.
Last night was the first time at el Marinero, but won’t be the last. I liked it because it’s mighty authentically Mexican - of 2 dozen people in there while we were there, there were 4 gringos - and also because it’s different from the usual. You know what I mean, no matter how authentically Mexican, most of them seem to share the same menu printer, at least, if not the same ownership you suspect sometimes.
We had a good fish ceviche, one of 2 or 3 options but the only one we could get as my friend Connie is allergic to shrimp. Didn’t say what kind of fish, but it was probably tilapia as their menu has a lot of it. It was rather finely minced, but the sauce/marinade was fabulous, very limey, plenty of heat and cilantro and a little salty. It was presented rather oddly, on a flat salad plate, but it included avocado slices, and it all went away pretty quickly with the usual house chips.
I got the 7 Mares soup, only available Friday-Sunday, with a rather salty broth (that actually was just right when soaked up with the very nice bread, probably the kind they use for their tortas, that I got a whole loaf of) full of very tender octopus, a couple of clams, a couple of mussels, and a handful of woefully overcooked shrimp that the dogs got for breakfast today. There were also several vegetables, including cabbage, carrots, onions, a slice of corn on the cob, and a mystery one that may have been un-spiny chayote or perhaps very young yuca. When I asked for lime to squeeze in it, I got a very nice whole one, cut in half.
Except for the shrimp, which at least did a good job of adding flavor to the broth, and one clam that failed to open, it was all very good. I brought the leftovers (mainly the broth and vegetables, with a little octopus, and half the loaf of bread) home and had a nice lunch of it today.
Connie got the whole grilled tilapia called “huachinango (something, perhaps sarandeado)” which was also very good. Apparently in Mexico it’s usually snapper, but the tilapia was nice, although very bony – not necessarily more bones than other fish, but very hard bone, which did make it fairly easy to pick the meat from them. It came on a big platter by itself, with the usual rice, beans and salad on a separate one, and some very nice fresh, homemade tortillas.
Either of our meals would have been fine for two to split, especially with an appetizer. They were out of frozen margaritas so I got something mango that was OK, but I really should have switched to beer. Connie had a rocks margarita and then a Pacifico beer – she had had pretty much the same meal and quite a few Pacificos while visiting “Arizona’s beach” on the upper Sea of Cortez for her brother’s wedding last year, and said the whole experience was pretty much a carbon copy, except for the tilapia, and she was highly satisfied with the choice. The whole meal was 50 dollars — not bad but not a great bargain either.
Try La Fondita on Carolina Beach Rd. for some seriously authentic Mexican food, as well. Not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination; but for $5 you can get a real Mexican meal.
Where is it on CB Road? I can’t place that one.
Here it is, Susan, corner of Stadium and CBR.
Gotcha. I went there last year once, by myself for lunch, and was exceptionally disappointed. Not so much by the food, which I don’t particularly remember but also don’t remember being bad, but by the price. Maybe they’ve gone down now, or maybe they gave me the “gringo lady in a convertible” menu, but there was no lunch menu.nd I ended up spending more for a lunch of tacos al carbon, rice and beans than I would have for the Asian buffet down the road. Now, I realize there’s more to value than just price, but my comment at the time was that I didn’t care how good it was, I wasn’t paying that much for lunch. So I haven’t been back.