Cocteles Mazatlan is not a cocktail bar serving drinks from the famous Mexican seaside resort, rather the name refers to the shrimp cocktail that is the restaurant's specialty. Located in an area of El Paso that seems to be saturated with seafood restaurants, it is hard to choose one place over another, especially when they all seem to have equally unpromising looking exteriors. Cocteles Mazatlan, however, has surprisingly good food when compared to outside appearances.

The shrimp cocktail seems to be one of the more popular items, but the menu contains all the standard Mexican seafood restaurant offerings, including fish fillets and fish tacos. This establishment also offers oysters, along with a health warning posted on the wall that you should not eat them raw if you are young, old, or pregnant.

Upon learning that the fish used here is orange roughy, I decided to try the Tacos, looking forward to the prospect of having a much better quality meal than the standard fish used at most El Paso restaurants-- anything from pollack to catfish. The tacos turned out to be as good as I expected-- not the quality you would find in San Diego, but very good for El Paso. The pieces of fish were substantial, and they did not have the slightest "fishy" taste. I find orange roughy to have one of the more boring flavors, but I was not looking for a taste sensation, just good quality, and it was delivered.

The Baked Potato served with the tacos was better than most-- it was cooked evenly and seemed to be from an oven rather than a microwave. Vegetable Soup served as an appetizer was flavorful but lacking in vegetables. The Salsa was better than average. The only thing that was missing from the traditional Mexican fish taco meal was a slice or two of bread, but with the potato and a side of white rice (not to mention the tortillas used in the tacos), it really did not need any more starch.

All of the fish items, including the fillets, were more expensive than I have seen at other restaurants, but it was worth it to me to get orange roughy (again, not the best fish you can get, but probably one of the better ones you can get in El Paso). I thought the food here gave good competition to the other east side seafood restaurants.