One Sentence Review - Like one big Mexican backyard barbecue that you accidentally wandered into.
The Experience:
El Sarape resembles a home that is secretly selling food from a kitchen that looks like it belongs in a garage (you Chinese and Pilipinos know what I'm talking about). The fact that the workers all seem related makes the experience that much more home bbq-like. FYI, they speak English but it is clear that they don't have the opportunity to practice it much based on the type of crowd that comes here.
As for the crowds, the crowds are tias (older, semi-chubby mexican auntie look-a-likes) in flip flops, swigging Pacificos and singing to the beat of the old school nortena favorites streaming out of a jukebox.
The eating area is like a make shift patio filled with fold up tables and chairs that you see at Big Lots, with a view of the alleyway and parked cars. It really reminded me of Mexico.
And like most home barbecues - BYOB.
The Food:
They start you off with small bowls of salmon ceviche, some deceptively spicy green salsa, and deep fried tortilla shells. Nice, unexpected touch for a place like this.
Ordered the zarandeado, the agua chiles, and the fish tacos.
The Zarandeado is a grilled fish, split in the middle, and typically marinated with garlic, soy and chiles. Not sure what type of fish it was, but it was white, meaty, and bursting with flavor. Comes with rice and corn tortillas for about 22 bucks for a fish that can feed two comfortably. I actually wanted the single portion (the una persona version) for 11 bucks, but I blame the miscommunication on the language barrier. Overall, it was tasty and not a bad deal.
The agua chiles was basically raw shrimp, mixed with avocados, onions, lime and chile. To paraphrase a line from Batman, these are NOT for the uninitiated. It is meant to be more raw than not, much more raw compared to the typical shrimp ceviche. 10 bucks.
The fish tacos were made with filets of the same type of fish used for the Zarandeado. It was not deep fried, baja style, but grilled. Great quality. You have an option to do it fresh or fried (the tortilla, not the fish). The fried version is covered with a tomato sauce that reminds me of a thinner sweet and sour fish sauce. 4 for 5 bucks. Very good deal.
Not a cheap rate date place, but more like a lazy 12-pack Sunday type of place. read more