Tickle On the Road: East Oakland

Back in June, I headed west to Cali - the Bay Area specifically - for work and leisure and spent a little over a week there (love you, T!). While T took me to some of Oakland's finest restaurants (the gourmet ghetto) and to the best sushi joint I have ever set foot in (Kabuto Sushi), the highlight of my trip was my unplanned voyage to Taqueria Sinaloa, a taco truck (actually 2 taco trucks) in a lot with actual seating for patrons in Oakland's San Antonio neighborhood.

How and why did I end up in this neighborhood? Well, my real job took me there, and my trusted work colleague knew of my fish taco obsession and decided to tickle my fancy! I must say, my fancy was surely tickled! Indeed, this was quite a unique experience for me, as I'm used to a taco truck or cart here and there in NYC, but not a whole lot with two taco trucks (one seafood & one for meat, poultry, chorizo, etc.) and an actual shaded brick and mortar area for outdoor seating and chillin'! Before I dive into the fish tacos themselves, I must say that the establishment itself was pretty damn great! It was quirky and very NOT New York, which is a good thing (don't get me wrong, I love New York, but when you leave New York, you really want to feel like you've gotten away). Now, this type of Mexican food setup may be common for those from Cali, but not to, well, me.

It was simple. I walked up to the mariscos (seafood) truck and ordered two fish tacos. Within seconds, I became the Sinaloa taco guy's amigo, and he forever became mine. The fish tacos were layered with a lot of stuff, maybe a bit too much though. The fish taco had a carrot, tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro relish/slaw that was mighty tasty and mighty spicy. They also threw in additional fully seeded sliced jalapenos that gave the taco enhanced heat - I like heat! I'm not quite certain what type of fish was used, but I'll guess to say that it was tilapia. Unfortunately, the fish was far from the best or freshest, but the collective flavor of all the ingredients slightly made up for the fish's shortcomings. Thankfully, Sinaloa serves their tacos in corn NOT flour tortillas!

A bit too much going on? Yes, but still damn good!

In all, the fish tacos were good and definitely the spicest I've had to date, but I was not convinced that Cali offers better fish tacos than NYC - San Diego & LA, prepare yourselves! The true reason to go to Sinaloa is for its very down-home atmosphere. Sinaloa, I will be back, so get ready T!

Tickle gives Taquera Sinaloa 3.5 out of a possible 5 tickles!