Must Stop Here! Puerto Nuevo's Ortegas. Baja's Original and Best Lobster Shack!
Apr 23 '02
The Bottom Line If your heading down the Baja California coast and have a hankering for lobster make sure to visit Ortega's for a fantastic meal at an unreal price!
INTRODUCTION:
You owe it to the surfers of So Cal for putting this restaurant on the map! More than 30 years ago the California counter culture clan would take weekend trips to Baja for the surf, the adult playground that the land south of the border offers, and the great deals on, what in the good old US of A would cost you and arm and a leg, lobster!
HISTORY:
The Ortega family began preparing dinners for these surfers out of their house. You know- someone would be visiting, they'd see the fantastic lobster that the Ortegas were catching in their oceanic traps and get bummed because they had no way of cooking it. Well, the Ortega clan, being decent human beings, invited these weary travelers to dine with them at their dinner table. Word of mouth spread (free lobster dinners! How could it not!) and pretty soon this family realized that there was a buck to be made cooking up their catches. The rest is culinary history as Ortega's success has spawned a community of over 25 restaurants in the little Bajamian village of Puerto Nuevo.
I've referenced this little lobster village in other Epinions but, as it was not under the heading of a restaurant review, I refrained, up until now, from going into detail about the mouthwateringly delicious seafood delights this restaurant prepares for it's guests. Get ready cuz it's a doozy! One of my all time favorite places to throw back a couple of cold ones and dine on delicious Baja style lobster.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Take the 5 freeway south until you pass the border and follow the signs to hwy.1. Continue south, passing two toll booths ($2.45 ea.) and take the exit for Puerto Nuevo. Hang a left and look for the arches on the right side of the street where you enter the restaurant village. Park in the spaces on the right and find Ortegas at the end of the road standing 3 stories tall.
NOTE:
Don't let the guys that accost you when you exit your vehicle make your dining decision for you. They are there to entice you to eat at the restaurant they are hawking. Just tell them in no uncertain terms that you will be deciding which restaurant you patronize.
Also, do not pay that guy who "directed" you to your parking spot. He's pimping for a tip for "watching" your vehicle while you eat. He won't watch your vehicle, and even if he was there would be nothing he could do about a would be theft.
NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE:
The hostess will greet you upon entering the establishment and ask your seating preference (first, second or third floor). I like to sit on the third floor as it provides a great view of the ocean and the surrounding countryside. There is usually a mariachi band playing somewhere inside providing customer's with a song for a fee. $5.00 will be enough for the mood music.
Your server will arrive shortly enough and take a cocktail order while dropping off your piping hot basket of tortilla chips, 2 types of salsa, lime and jicama. This stuff is the bomb! Tasty, freshly made chips, a salsa fresca (fresh tomato, onion, cilantro, chile), and a fire hot cooked salsa composed mostly of chile de arbol. Sometimes I wonder how they sell appetizers when they give this gold away.
When the server comes back with the beverages you will have had some time to peruse the menu. I pay attention to two of the dishes that made Ortegas famous. Baja style lobster dinner and Camarones Papagayo!
Let me start with the latter of the two as the former is the showcased item in this Epinion.
CAMARONES PAPAGAYO ($13.00):
Fresh shrimp stuffed with spinach, crab meat, and queso fresco all wrapped up in bacon and baked to perfection. This meal comes with rice, beans and tortillas and is to die for! I've had this meal a couple of times and have never been disappointed.
BAJA STYLE LOBSTER (Small $9.00; Medium $14.00; Large $18.00):
The crown jewel of Ortegas is the dish that they created and put on the map: Baja style lobster. "What is Baja style lobster?" you ask. Well, it's your crustacean split down the middle and deep fried! "Deep frying lobster is sacreligious!" you say? One bite of this elegant edible is enough to put any doubts you may have had to rest.
The meal is served family style, complete with rice, beans, flour tortillas, drawn butter and tortilla soup.
HOW TO EAT IT:
Pull the meat from the tail, line your tortilla with the beans first, then the rice, next the lobster and last top it off with drawn butter. Fold it up like a burrito and view that which you have created. You now have in front of you the most incredible lobster burrito ever conceived. I speak the truth when I tell you that it is one of the finest things my mouth has ever had the pleasure of hosting.
CONCLUSION:
No journey requiring a drive down Baja California's scenic Hwy 1 would be complete without a stop in Puerto Nuevo for some lobster. I've been here many times and have always come away satisfied and longing for a return trip. Try it out and let me know what YOU think.
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Epinions.com ID:
krbsurf
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Location: Vista, CA USA
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
A So-Cal Surfer with a couple of things to say!
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