Mariscos El Malecon - Puerto Penasco, Mexico

During our visit to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona, Sam and I drove into Mexico to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point) at the edge of the Gulf of California. We followed Mexico Hwy 8 all the way to the coast and then went one short block further to Circunvalacion y o Malecon Kino (which I understand to mean the bypass to the breakwater), the last street before the ocean. One of the first restaurants is Mariscos El Malecon, which happened to be the restaurant in front of the parking space we found. As we got out of the car we were surrounded by several men holding up raw shrimp and asking if we wanted some. We mentioned we wanted some cooked and one of them led us upstairs to a restaurant/bar on the second floor with a tremendous view of the ocean. 

View from the restaurant, the rocky beach next to the restaurant and hotels in the distance. 

We ordered some food and then spent time looking at the birds on the rocks below us, including various types of gulls, brown pelicans and even some blue-footed boobies, which I have always associated with the Galapagos Islands. 

First we got an 18 ounce octopus cocktail. A-1 tremendous, right up there with the best cocktail I've ever eaten. The octopus was cut into small pieces and was not chewy at all. The flavor of the cocktail is hard to describe, but it was almost a chipotle flavor without the heat, definitely a little bit different taste than most shrimp (or similar) cocktails I've tried.  

Octopus cocktail

Lots of octopus, no skimping here. 

Next we got some shrimp cooked "devil style" which was in a chipotle sauce (smoke-dried jalapeno). The salsa that went with the chips they brought to our table was very mild, so I decided hot would be the way to go to get some spice. It worked well, the sauce had a nice spice to it and was not too hot. The shrimp was cooked just a bit more than I prefer, but was still very good. We could have eaten many more.

Finally, we got some fish filets, we were told sea bass, but I would not be surprised if it was not sea bass, cooked in garlic. The fish was a little mushy, but the garlic and butter on it was very nice and we enjoyed it never-the-less. 

I love to eat seafood when the restaurant is right on the ocean and you know you are getting fresh ingredients. When I go back to Puerto Penasco, which I would love to do again later this year, I would like to go back to this restaurant both for the food and the view of the ocean. 

Not too far from the restaurant, further east down the same road, is a plaza with a large statue dedicated to the shrimpers of Puerto Penasco.

The shrimper riding a large shrimp.