My 3rd visit at the Lakeview location, so I thought I'd weigh in. Admittedly, I haven't made much headway through the menu and have mostly had various fish tacos. Today, I had 3. A Samurai, a Bahn Mi, and a Big and Little's
First off, the fried fish in each taco was great, pretty much perfect. I also had the fish and chips at my last visit, and though I'm more of a cod man I guess, I've found the mahi mahi to always be excellent.
However, this time it seemed like they nuked the tortillas. I definitely like my tortillas to spend a little time on the griddle, but I prefer them more on the flimsy side. These are big tacos with an assortment of sauces, so perhaps that's why they feel they have to firm them up, but I really did not enjoy them. They were just overdone and almost difficult the eat. The tacos themselves are often a little hard to eat. I think the overloaded tacos and in-your-face image is on purpose, but I still haven't quite figured out the right way to eat these things.
Samurai - Had this before. Definitely my favorite of their tacos for now. The samurai sauce (teriyaki I"m pretty sure) is great. It just hit me today, but a good teriyaki sauce is really like a good barbecue sauce. It's sweet (but not cloyingly so) and it has that little bit of smoke and acid flavor too. I think pairing the Samurai sauce with the creamy Chili Mayo? sauce and the pickled jalapenos is really smart. The richness and heat really balance the taco and make it sing.
Bahn Mi - I love Bahn Mis and so wanted to try it. Okay, but I feel like it's still missing something. The cucumber and pickled onion are great. Giving it some crunch and a shot of Bahn Mi-like freshness to the taco, but I was left thinking the taco needed one more thing to tie it all together. Maybe a better sauce? Or more pickled carrots? I don't know.
Big and Little's - Good but kind of boring. If I remember right, it's fried fish with lettuce, tomato, tartar sauce, and chili mayo. I should have known it wouldn't knock my socks off based on those flavors alone, but the fish was really the only part of it that I liked.
All in all, super glad they are in the neighborhood. Service has been excellent. I don't know if the man behind the counter recognizes me each time, but he sure does a good job of making me feel like he does. I just wish they didn't nuke the tortillas.