Dukes, Malibu

Dukes, Malibu
9/3/2010

Went here this past week for some Taco Tuesday festivities. It was a beautiful drive down Malibu canyon, as always. When we pulled up, the parking lot was full and cars were lined bumper to bumper down alongside the pch.
I had no idea what the crowd would be like, except that aaron had mentioned that it was a big restaurant, and lively. As we neared the intersection to cross several teenagers who were coming from Dukes giddily (or drunkenly ran across the street.)
Which is why i was suprised when we entered and walked down the steps to a quiet dining area and were seated at a table facing oceanside. There were small tea lights on each table and you could hear and see the waves crashing directly below the restaurant. We sat down and I immediately felt like we should be holding hands and gazing intimately into each others eyes. It definitely felt like an odd place to be ordering fish tacos.
It wasn’t until the waiter brought us our waters and told us that there were no fish tacos on the menu that we realized that they were only served at the bar area, on the other side of the restaurant.
We walked down the hallway and were immediately greeted with rambunctious yelling and shoulder jostling. We had stumbled what seemed like a typical frat house for Pepperdine students. Everyone looked 18-25 and touted the beach preppy look.
It took us about 20 minutes to find somewhere to sit.
It was a typical bar by the beach menu, with some Hawaiian twists, such as hawaiian poke salad, baja fish tacos, etc.
These are the first fish tacos I’ve had on flour tortillas. Although I usually prefer corn, flour was a nice change. I think it gives a sweeter taste to the taco, comparative to white versus grain bread on sandwiches. The fish was pretty well done. I had two large pieces of mahi mahi that was fried in a beer batter. My biggest qualm would probably be the fact that there was less cabbage and white sauce on my taco then preferred and 2.) they put the fish on top of the cabbage, not under it. I don’t know if this is typical, but this is problematic for several reasons; the fish heats the cabbage on top of it and also when you put it in your mouth the sauce and dressings just didn’t seem to hit my mouth quite right. As well done as the fish was, I still had to slather the top of it with hot sauce because it was just too dry. As much as I love my hot sauce it’s not ideal on fish tacos.
For 2.50, these large tacos are still a great deal. Coupled with the decent ingredients, freshness and size, I’d give them a 3.5/5 stars.