Tacos with a view at Tacoma’s WildFin American Grill

In a quest for my occasional series highlighting the region’s best tacos, I hit a flavor-drenched jackpot.

WildFin American Grill, which opened in January at the Point Ruston development on the Tacoma waterfront, yielded the most successful taco journey since I investigated the tacos at Top of Tacoma.

Consider WildFin two taco destinations in one. Find a trio of street tacos on the starter menu in the sprawling dining room. But the restaurant also operates a walk-up fish-and-chips counter called The Daily Catch just outside the front door. There, you’ll find two fish tacos that should be on your must-try list.

Here’s my take on WildFin’s tacos. I didn’t hit a single stinker on two separate visits.

RESTAURANT TACOS

On the starter menu, find three styles of street tacos for $4.25 each (note that the menu does change, so what’s described here might not be what’s on the menu now).

Chipotle wagyu beef: Built on a grilled corn tortilla (like all of the restaurant’s street tacos), flame-grilled beef carried a smoky rub. Supporting crunch came from a corn and black bean salsa, with creamy reinforcement from diced avocados.

Cajun-seared fish: A jalapeno aioli sauce delivered deep heat to flaky grilled cod. Tomatillo salsa and a jicama slaw drove home the cool crunch.

Caribbean jerk chicken: Busy flavors dominated this taco built with a base of grilled chicken rubbed with jerk spice. Pickled red onions balanced the heavy-on-the-mint mango salsa.

DAILY CATCH TACOS

Find two fish tacos with a side of tortilla chips, $6.89-$6.99. I like that the paper wrappers were sealed on one end for easy portability — little nearby seating means you might be eating and walking with these.

Banh mi fish taco: Grilled cod carried a nutty-sweet-salty marinade with the same condiments on a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich: thick-cut jalapenos, marinated-and-shredded daikon radish, and carrots and fresh cilantro. A pepper-heavy sauce tamed the heat of the jalapenos slightly.

Fried cod fish taco: Cod encased in a puffy beer batter came with a cool drizzle of creamy sauce, diced tomatoes, avocado and a crunchy purple cabbage slaw.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Tacos with a view at Tacoma’s WildFin American Grill."