Los Equipales's Blog

50% OFF Los Equipales Restaurant

August 25th, 2011 • Posted by LivingSocial Today's Deal is Los Equipales • Permalink

LivingSocial Says: "Staring at your seascape screensaver during the midday slump is a poor substitute for the real thing. If the cool breeze doesn't blow through your cubicle, transport yourself to coastal Mexico on the cheap with today's deal from Los Equipales Restaurant: For $15, get $30 to spend on food and non-alcoholic drinks at dinner, or pay $7 and enjoy $15 worth of authentic Mexican fare at lunch. Awarded four stars by the Albuquerque Journal, this family-owned eatery in historic Nob Hill serves up savory seafood inspired by traditional flavors from the Gulf. Leather equipales seating completes the dining room's al fresco ambiance, and the Martinez family keeps the menu fresh and flavorful by using seasonal ingredients. From the handmade sauces to the salmon al tequila and 12-ounce rib eye (for those that prefer turf to surf), this half-off deal is a delicious escape you'll want to more than monitor."

ABQ Journal features Los Equipales:By hook or ladlle, Equipales reels you in.

May 22nd, 2011 • Posted by By Andrea Lin / For the Journal on Fri, May 13, 2011 • Permalink

   Los Equipales is a business, and limiting its menu to only fish would hardly be a recommended strategy in the desert. Indeed, beginning with the appetizers you’ll see nods to meat and cheese delights including Queso Fundido ($6.25), a dish of melted cheese and chorizo messy enough to have you reaching around the table for additional napkins as you spoon decadent glops into soft corn tortillas. If your idea of heaven has less oil than a bowlful of chorizo, look over at the salad list and rest your eyes on Tostadas de Jaiba ($10), a delightful tumble of crab ceviche on guacamole-slathered tostadas. Make it a good light lunch with an order of chips and three salsas  ($2.75). 

    Warm summer days you’ll be tempted by the house-made sangria ($5.75), but I found it rather weak and might have opted instead for iced tea. After that delicious introduction to the kitchen’s seafood offerings, go for something creamy with the Camarones (shrimp) al Tequila ($10 lunch, $18 dinner) soused in a moat of tequila cream sauce around an island of perfectly cooked [Poblano] rice. You might reach for any remaining tortilla chips to scoop up every last bit of the sauce — a family recipe. During lunch we’ve enjoyed a trio of Fish Tacos ($6.25) stuffed with battered cod and coleslaw, a dish of medium-hot salsa on the side for drizzling. Beyond fish, your meat aficionado companions will find house specialties such as Pollo en Mole and Carnitas de Puerco (marinated and fried pork).

   The staff and cooks have put together a menu that truly has something for nearly every diner, with the treats for the end of the meal worth saving at least a little room for. Dessert begins with Pastel de Tres Leches ($5) — three milks cake. For the uninitiated, think of it as a variant on pudding cake. A fully cooked white sheet cake is stabbed hundreds of times to perforate the crumb, then soaked for at least a day with a three-milk combination. A whipped cream topping seals in the richness while the milks turn the cake below into a quivery puddle of white. Los Equipales’ version can vary, with some days ending up drier than others, but it is still a worthy candidate for cake fans.

Los Equipales Featured in March 2011 Local IQ Albuquerque

March 28th, 2011 • Posted by Los Equipales • Permalink

Coastal breezes Thursday, 24 March 2011 Former bank instills sense of ‘Old Mexico’ and offers a haven for seafood lovers By Cristina Olds Los Equipales evokes coastal Mexico. You can almost hear the waves lapping the beach where the shrimpers just landed their fresh catch. This isn’t the Mexico of drug wars and border patrols. Rather, this is fine seafood dining and complex salsas served with a cold beer and lime. The chords of tranquil acoustic guitar and the smell of salty, freshly fried tortilla chips floated through the air on a recent Friday night as my companions and I visited Los Equipales. This building (formerly a Sunwest Bank, of all things) transports diners to old Mexico, despite the incongruous drive-thru construction outside. Inside, red dew-drop lamps shed warm light on the lavender and pink walls adorned with old photos and paintings of Latinas. Los Equipales is named for the comfortable handmade chairs from the Mexican state of Jalisco, a design that dates to the time of the Aztecs. The creaky furniture is the preferred outdoor setting of old Mexico.  Click here to read the entire review at Local IQ Albuquerque's website.

What is Huitlacoche?

March 8th, 2011 • Posted by Los Equipales • Permalink

Also known as cuitlacoche, corn mushroom, mexican truffle, or caviar Azteca, it's a fungus (Ustilago maydis) that can naturally develop on corn. Records from the 1500s indicate that indigenous Mexicans had been eating huitlacoche for some time. Other indigenous peoples, such as the Hidatsa’s of the Dakotas also consumed huitlacoche. The flavor is a cross between mushroom and corn.

What is Ceviche?

March 7th, 2011 • Posted by Los Equipales • Permalink

Ceviche got its name from the Quechua word "siwichi". However, it is more likely for the name to be a cognate of the Spanish word "escabeche" (marinade), derived from the Arabic term "sikbaj." A marinade used in ceviche is citrus based, with lemons and limes being the most commonly used. In addition to adding flavor, the citric acid causes the proteins in the seafood to become denatured, which pickles or "cooks" the fish without heat.