The Fish Taco Bike Crawl

On Saturday I had the pleasure of taking part in "The Fish Taco Bike Crawl."  Along with eight others, I biked through Minneapolis sampling fish tacos.  The weather started as overcast, but unfortunately turned to rain. That did not stop me from making it to all four fish tacos stops, although I admit the last one was via car.

Stop one was The Tin Fish located on the shores of Lake Calhoun.  Normally there would be an incredibly long line, but due to the overcast weather there was no line at all.  I enjoyed a grilled mahi mahi taco, while Charlie had a shrimp taco.  Both tacos were great, but I preferred the shrimp.  Tin Fish puts ranch on the tacos, and while normally ranch is not my favorite, it worked really well on the tacos. With a bit of cabbage and cheddar these tacos were excellent.  On a side note--check this off my Star Tribune Taste 50 list.

Our next stop was La Sirena Gorda (the fat mermaid) in Midtown Market.  Apparently, these are some of the best fish tacos in Minneapolis. Our whole group ordered mahi mahi tacos because there was only one person working and it would be easier and quicker to just order the same thing. The mahi mahi was in a delicious pineapple marinade and the avocado/salsa verde mixture accompanying the tacos was a nice addition.  However, I have to admit I was slightly disappointed in these tacos. Maybe it was the corn tortilla (yuck!) or the marinade, which was good, but overpowered the fish.

After a beer in Midtown Market, we began the ride to Sea Salt Eatery.  This portion of the trip involved getting drenched by the rain. I  learned what bike fenders do and unfortunately I do not have any, so I had a big wet, muddy stripe going up my bike. Oh well!  At Sea Salt I had shrimp tacos and Charlie had marlin.  The tacos were okay--not particularly notable.  However, a few people had fried scallop tacos and they were apparently very good. I did love the hot sauce bar at Sea Salt and it was so pretty that I would love to go back and enjoy it on a sunny day.

The last stop was Masa in downtown Minneapolis.  I confess that after sitting in the frigid air conditioning while soaking wet at Sea Salt,  Charlie and I opted to skip the bike ride to Masa in favor of dry clothes and cleaning up.  So maybe we did not technically complete the Fish Taco Bike Crawl, but we technically make it to Masa.  I really liked the mahi mahi tacos at Masa. They were second only to the tacos at Tin Fish.  I feel like I got a bit more for my money at Tin Fish and the tacos there overall just had a better and had more real flavor.

Anyways, I can't wait for the next food related bike crawl! My vote is a hot dog bike crawl, but I think the consensus is the next one is pizza. No complaints here!