Food and Fire!

Laurie and I are always looking for new and different restaurants, although with inflation, we’ve avoided some new and costly ‘high-end’ establishments, saving them for when we have company in town, dine out with another couple or just for that ‘special’ occasion. 

In any case, this particular building has housed a few different restaurants with a variety of cuisine being offered.  The fact that Mariscos Pacifico Nayarit, the latest occupant in this location offers a wide variety of Mexican seafood dishes made especially intriguing to Laurie and me… When we lived in Mount Prospect Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, a top notch Mexican seafood restaurant was just a couple of miles from our home.

FYI, mariscos…means seafood, pacifico…refers to an ocean and Nayarit refers to Nayarit State in Mexico.

Our waitress appeared fairly promptly and delivered a basket of tortilla chips and a modestly spicy but tasty salsa accompaniment.  We were glad to have the chips and salsa as it took us a long time to work our way through the huge spiral bound menu! 

There were a number of diners in Mariscos despite the fact that it was past the lunch hour and much too early for those seeking their evening meal.

We started out with the Camarones Rellenos (bacon wrapped shrimp) as our appetizer. ($15.99) As you can see, there were 8 nice size shrimp for us…mostly me…to devour.  Laurie thought that the shrimp were overdone but I thought this appetizer was fairly good.  I’m not sure how you could make the shrimp tenderer when the bacon has to be thoroughly cooked to crisp it up. 

After the tortilla chips and a couple of the Camarones Rellenos, Laurie wasn’t very hungry so she ordered one of her favorites, ceviche…in this case Tostada De Ceviche De Pescado…based on her previous positive experience in Chicago. ($6.99) She thought that this version was bland she felt that only one type of raw fish was involved in this particular iteration.  FYI, in case you aren’t familiar with ceviche, the main ingredients is fish/seafood cured/marinated in citrus juices.

My entrée was the Huachinago Frito, a fried whole red snapper with 2 sides. ($19.99) The fish was nicely done and quite tasty.  For my sides I chose French fries and rice… The fries weren’t something I’d order again.

Laurie wasn’t in love with Mariscos but I’d give it another try especially if we were dining with other so we could do a better job of sampling the menu.  Service was not the best as our waitress rarely checked in with us.

Mariscos Pacifico Nayarit Mexican Seafood Bar and Grill also offers a large Tex-Mex menu as well as an equally expansive selection of adult beverages.  This restaurant is located at 9507 Kingston Pike in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-288-4129.  The large menu can be found on-line and the Mariscos is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Seafood-Restaurant/Mariscos-Pacifico-Nayarit-110118521315980/.

Dining at home, we keep trying various prepared/semi-prepared food looking for a winner.  In this case, I think that these were from Tyson.  In any case, but although there was a little spice/heat, they weren’t amazing, just convenient.  I will note that I had a couple of tasty and easy chicken tender sandwiches from the leftovers.

I had my chicken tenders with a ‘special’ side salad consisting of iceberg lettuce, yellow squash, and radish, plus…cheating a little bit, a few little pieces of celery.  This medication dictated green veggie ban is a bummer.  Iceberg lettuce goes a little way toward satisfying my palate…and its ‘legal’ as it contains little dietary value.

By now you may be wondering about the title of this post, “Food and Fire”.  Well, the fire reference does tie into food…but not to the cooking or grilling of food, but rather a local disaster and community loss, at least for the foreseeable future

The Tanasi Clubhouse with its golf pro-shop, cart rental and restaurant suffered what appears to have been a spectacular and destructive kitchen fire that leveled the facility.  Not only was Tanasi Grill a convenient dining venue for Tellico Villagers, but it was a great place for any hungry travelers rolling along TN Hwy 444 from Lenoir City toward Vonore and Madisonville Tennessee. 

One bit of positive news is that no one was hurt despite the fact that the fire happened during a busy time on the weekend.  The other good news for the staff is that given the labor shortage, other local restaurants are reaching out to offer immediate employment.  Arrangements are already underway for the resumption of golf on the Tanasi Golf Course.  Fortunately, at the time of the fire…the new golf carts had not been put into their garage under the building so they weren’t damaged.  If they’d been in the garage, their lithium batteries would have added a whole new dimension to the fire!

Just click on any of the photo to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave