El Coraloense

101 Best restaurants of Los Angeles

@latimes

"#80 The Orgasmo-style caldo de siete mares at El Coraloense has a name that implies a level of pleasure incommensurate with a bowl of seafood stew. But there you are, swilling steamy, chile-spiked broth like fine wine, scintillated by quivering spoonfuls of springy, lime-tinged prawns and plump mussels. It’s a “When Harry Met Sally” moment waiting to happen. El Coraloense is a small, laid-back mariscos joint tucked into a Bell Gardens strip mall with some of the cheekiest, most over-the-top Mexican mariscos in the city. The heart of the menu is the kitchen’s baroque ceviches. The Changeonada is a hillock of lime-sluiced shrimp smattered with candied bits of mango and chile-dusted peanuts; the Rompe Catres is a citrus-ratcheted spectacle of plump shrimp and baby octopus. The aguachile revels in the twin pillars of the Nayarit-Sinaloan kitchen: acid and heat. The shrimp, marinated for a long time in lime juice and serrano peppers, is a life-giving equation of citrus and spice. No alcohol. Lot parking. Credit cards accepted."