El Muelle 8 Review - Downey - Los Angeles - The Infatuation

"El Muelle 8 is a restaurant for sauce freaks. The casual mariscos spot in Downey goes bananas with condiments and the results are glorious. They fry pulpo to a crisp and then top it with sweet coleslaw, which is not only uncommon but borderline bizarre. It works stunningly well. Every table comes equipped with a minimum of three chiltepín salsas, a few salsa negra options, and a family-sized squirt bottle of salsa roja. It's the kind of place where cheese and fish (and fans of the combination) can live in harmony together without shame. If the words “light” and “fresh” usually get you going, El Muelle 8 will still delight you, but this restaurant works best for an indulgent, drenched mariscos experience.  In its bland strip mall setting, El Muelle 8 pops. Blue signage glows bright, the textured, multicolored walls resemble the ocean floor, and Banda Top 40 booms out the front door. Families and coworkers come to split heaps of ceviche served with Saladitas and watch old Luis Fonsi videos on the TV (we’re talking pre- “Despacito”). The only reason El Muelle 8 remains the second most notable attraction at the intersection of Florence and Lakewood is because the oldest McDonald’s location in America occupies the top spot. The Sinaloa-style marisquería may look like another laid-back neighborhood restaurant without pretense, but the menu is as long and juicy as a celebrity NDA. On it, you’ll peep shiny pictures of quesadillas gobernador with deep grill marks, scallops stacked like Jenga towers, and shrimp molcajetes large enough to feed half a rec-league soccer team. The single non-negotiable dish is an aguachile verde tatemado made with smoky charred tomatillo hugging camarones. Beyond the shrimp mandate, we suggest mixing and matching cold and hot bar dishes. Then fill whatever table real estate you have left with ahi tuna steak tacos and cheesy, marlin-stuffed empanadas, both of which are doused in chipotle crema. How much you enjoy El Muelle 8’s saucy mariscos depends on how gut-heavy you prefer your fish dinners. But if you appreciate layers of texture and creaminess, the sloppy octopus and coleslaw taco and aguachile verde tatemado are worth going out of the way to eat. (El Muelle 8 closes at 7pm on weekdays, so if you’re not in the immediate area, mentally prepare to sit in rush hour traffic on your way to an early-ish dinner.) We all have a little sauce freak in us from time to time. " - Sylvio Martins