Mitch’s Seafood

San Diego, CA (The Joy of Food) — For a San Diego local, Mitch’s Seafood is the ultimate Instagram-worthy #ilivewhereyouvacation spot. The deck is where it’s happening, a sea of Tommy Bahama shirts and Bongo sandals, beers in every hand, and the marina literally inches away. It’s a hard life in this part of the city.

Inside is a wood-paneled dining room no bigger than a shack, a tiny room with a handful of tables and a few inches of real estate where drinks and food are served up. To get here, you must wait, and the menu is to your right for the 15 or 20 minutes you will spend in line. Yet it’s not until people get to the register that they start thinking about what they want, hence the line moves slowly.

You’d do well to focus on the grilled seafood here, the likes of which helped put Mitch’s on the map. The fish, perhaps a good, thick piece of halibut from Ensenada, is lightly spiced, then tossed onto the flattop to cook until just done, adding a slight crust to the moist fish inside. On any given day, there are slabs of opah, ahi, swordfish, and yellowtail, each so tender they threaten to fall apart at the touch of a fork. Seasoning is usually on point so skip the oily chimichurri-like ‘herb salsa verde’ sauce that accompanies most dishes, this adds fat but not much flavor.

A cod taco is a huge portion of lightly battered cod, both juicy and flakey, deep-fried until crispy but still light in color and flavor. The fish is the type that sends you back to days spent in Puerto Nuevo in Baja, a place I’ve gone to eat fish tacos and stare at the sea. The rest of the taco is not so great, the double corn tortillas obviously from a bag and the cabbage, tomatoes, and crema don’t add much except some color. 

There is an entire section of the menu devoted to fried seafood, like the huge sampler platters that could feed a small country, the breaded jumbo shrimp skewers that are pretty great, or the fish and chips with the perfectly flakey beer-battered cod and some decent fries if they’re not soggy on the day you visit. 

The ceviche is made by whatever the fresh catch of the day is, perhaps Cabrilla grouper fish, marinated the traditional way with lime and mixed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. It’s good ceviche, impeccably fresh, though not quite up to the standard set by Mexican or Peruvian restaurants such as Oscar’s or Eli’s.

Oysters on the half shell can be among the most simple and satisfying of raw seafood options, utterly fresh and briny and, though served with all of the usual accompaniments, needing but a drop of lemon juice to come alive. I have never had a meal here without ordering some, and I have never been sorry I did. If you prefer your oysters breaded and grilled with bacon, they have those too. 

Of course, Mitch’s has some faults. Any of the tacos can be ordered as a platter which nets you chips and salsa, but these are decidedly below average for San Diego. For starters, they could chip a tooth. Sides of coleslaw are also disappointing, barely dressed so it feels like you’re chomping on plain raw cabbage. The stuff called ‘clam chowder’ here is not great, incredibly gooey and thick and not in a good way.

If we’re going to do comparisons, I’d rate the cleaner cooking at nearby Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill slightly better than the plancha preparation at Mitch’s. Still, the food here is reliably delicious, give or take an item here and there, and is by far my most consistent referral for out-of-towners looking for seafood without the markup of a developer group restaurant or the tackiness of Joe’s Crab Shack. Here, it’s an extremely pleasant place to spend an afternoon.

Written by Joy

Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.

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