Erizo Baja Fish House

Erizo Baja Fish House takes its name from the sea urchin harvested off the Baja California coast, and the restaurant's entire premise is that Tijuana, an hour from Ensenada's fishing fleet and within reach of the Sea of Cortez, should eat seafood as good as anywhere in Mexico. It sits on Boulevard Sanchez Taboada in Zona Urbana Rio, in a bright, informal room of pale wood, tiles and an open counter where shellfish is shucked and dressed in view of the dining room. Chef Javier Plascencia opened it as a more relaxed counterpart to his tasting-menu restaurants, and the format is deliberately approachable: no dress code, no ceremony, daylight service only. The kitchen works with Pacific and Gulf catch exclusively. The sea urchin tostada is the signature, the roe spooned onto a crisp tortilla with little more than lime and chilli oil so the sweetness carries. Aguachile, in green and black versions, is made to order with shrimp or scallop, and whole fish, usually corvina, snapper or sierra depending on the landing, comes grilled over coals and served for the table with tortillas and salsas. Oysters from Bahia Falsa, clams, shellfish towers and smoked fish dips fill out the rest of the menu. Drinks run to Baja craft beer, michelada variants, valley white wines from producers such as Monte Xanic and Bruma that suit raw seafood, and a short list of citrus-heavy cocktails. Prices are mid-range, with tostadas around 120 to 200 pesos each and whole fish charged by weight, typically 600 to 900 pesos for a fish that feeds two. The dining room is busiest for weekend lunch, when reservations are worth making; on weekdays walk-ins are usually seated without difficulty. Service ends at 9PM daily, so this is a lunch and early dinner restaurant rather than a late one, and seats at the shucking counter give the best view of the work.