This weekend Nate and I went to San Pedro for some coastal sight seeing and some fresh seafood.
The seafood places are set up cafeteria style. You order your food in the market, choosing from an array of fresh fish, crustaceans, and mollusks, and they cook your food to order. Nate and I shared a shrimp tray, which seems to be the specialty at many of these places. Shrimp are cooked in a spicy, lemony, buttery sauce with peppers, onions, potatoes, and tomatoes, then served with huge griddled pieces of garlic bread.
We also got a whole fried tilapia. It was really good! We got to choose the fish we wanted, too. I think I shocked Nate with my choice (the tilapia was my idea) because traditionally I don't like seafood. Well, the situation is rapidly changing the more I try! The tilapia was delicious, moist on the inside with a crispy, salty skin. With a little lemon juice it was perfect.
There was an arcade-like atmosphere at the port. Cafeteria-style fish markets and restaurants line the docks, churning out shrimp trays; families peel and eat their shrimp while mariachi bands play; kids run around, staring at the raw fish in the markets or at the boats lining the harbor. Most of the people seemed to be Spanish-speaking, and the menus were all bilingual, which was cool. It felt somehow less touristy and generic than the Santa Monica pier. I got a sense that these families were all local and this is what they do for fun on the weekends - get a huge shrimp tray for the whole family and let the kids run and play and look at boats while the adults drink cheladas and feel the cool ocean breeze.
Other highlights this week included a homemade pizza that came out perfectly, topped with fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, roasted red pepper sauce, and chicken...
...and vibrant, juicy melons. We had orange cantaloupe, green cantaloupe, and watermelon:
Other highlights included these creamy baby potatoes that we had for breakfast on Saturday...
...and my favorite cold-brewed iced coffee:
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