DTLV: Bajamar brings the Sea to the Strip
In Las Vegas, it is often assumed that, to serve excellent food, a restaurant must be slick, expensive and elaborate. But Bajamar Seafood & Tacos’ blue-minimal decor and low-priced taco/tostada menu don’t mean that the food isn’t excellent.
Located in what was once that weird west coast hybrid, the Chinese food and donut shop, Bajamar serves up a small menu focused on seafood, served fast and fresh out of a two-man kitchen. The tacos are the stars of the menu, led by the classic Bajamar fish taco—thick chunks of lightly battered rockfish with shredded cabbage, salsa fresca and a drizzle of chipotle sauce—while the Gobernador features lightly spiced and sauteed shrimp with Monterey cheese and diced pepper. Tostadas are piled with finely chopped, lime-marinated seafood—a sashimi-style shredded fish or the ceviche-like Tostada Mixta: a mix of shrimp, scallops and octopus that’s rather like what one imagines mermaids eating. Simple, but done right.
Bajamar is a welcome addition to what has become a sort of lo-fi restaurant row between the Strip and Downtown: Viva Las Arepas, Vickie’s Diner, Luv-It Frozen Custard, Puerto Rico Express, the place you go to for asada fries when you’re drunk. It’s.......
