La Esquina Del Camaron’s octopus taco.

Fish tacos are tricky business. The batter fried ones are OK, but to this eater they seem like little more than fish and chips gone South of the Border. I prefer my fish tacos with a batter and a hard fry like they do at Tortilleria Nixtamal, where they use skate wing. The other day though I encountered a kind of seafood taco I never tried, octopus tacos.

They come from my friend Pedro Rodriguez of La Esquina Del Camaron Mexicano, a gent who knows a thing or two about how to cook octopus. I count myself a huge fan of his seafood cocktails. “Tacos de pulpo!!?” I exclaimed in my best bad Spanish. “Verdad!!?”

About five minutes later the chef presented me with a double tortilla stacked with charred octopus and sautéed onions. “Try it with the salsa,” he said a handing me a bright red concoction made from chili de arbol. The smoky tender tentacles and fiery salsa were a match made in heaven, that is if heaven is a spotless kitchen in the back of a Jackson Heights bodega.

Pedro’s taco de pulpo is the best octopus taco I’ve eaten in the back of a bodega or a anywhere else for that matter. When he opens a restaurant, you can bet I’ll be first in line.

La Esquina Del Camaron Mexicano, 80th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights