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I visited Mariscos Chente for the first time after being tipped off by this Chowhound thread about them. Boy, am I glad this is just a short drive from work. I’m definitely going to want to come back to try all of the shrimp dishes.

I ordered the Camaron a la Pimienta: shrimp in pepper oil and sauce. People who know me will know that I don’t like black pepper. I don’t know what made me order this, but I’m glad I did. The sauce was finger-lickin good. I couldn’t stop eating this. The pepper oil had a nice heat to it that just magnified the juicy sweetness of the shrimp. I’m glad they included the helping of rice on the side because it sopped up the sauce really well. A mouthful of rice soaked in sauce, a bite of shrimp — I was in heaven.


One of my dining companions ordered the Camaron a la Diablo: the devil’s shrimp. Heat-lovers, this dish is for you. The sauce for this dish is a little smokey and has a heat that just builds and builds. I love it when restaurants aren’t afraid dealing out painful amounts of heat. This dish is next on my list of plates to order when I re-visit. I bet it would be fantastic with a cold beer.

Other than my group and the family who ran the restaurant, there weren’t any other people at Mariscos Chente when we entered. About halfway through our lunch, two other parties came in. The place just recently re-opened and they seem to be still in the stages of getting all the kinks worked out. They only accept cash, but there’s an ATM in the little market a little south and across the street, as well as one in the liquor store by the donut shop across from the police station on Culver.

Most of the shrimp dishes range from $11-13. They also have ceviche, which I had a taste of and liked. I saw a member of another party order a huge fried fish which looked good, so I may have to put that on my list of things to try too. The menu is mostly in Spanish, but the waitress spoke English and explained what a couple of the dishes were.

Since Mariscos Chente is a Sinaloan restaurant, don’t expect to see things like bean and cheese burritos on the menu. It’s best to go elsewhere for those. But if you’re a fan of seafood (shrimp especially), there’s no way to go wrong when ordering one of their seafood plates. Just remember that it’s okay to use your fingers to pull off the head and suck out the insides. That’s where all of the good stuff is.

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Mariscos Chente
4532 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles CA 90066

Louise absolutely LOVES filthy, cheap places! (See more of her posts). You can also find more of Louise's writing at her own website NakedSushi.